Be Card Smart Online

APACS, the UK payments association, has announced the launch of a new advertising campaign called Be Card Smart Online, which is backed by the UK's banking and retail industries and the international card schemes, Visa and MasterCard. The campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, is designed to raise awareness of the steps that consumers can take to help them stay safe whilst shopping online - advice that will prove useful for the busy Christmas shopping period and beyond.

The key theme of Be Card Smart Online highlights the importance of following the information below when shopping over the internet:

Keep your PC protected by ensuring you have the latest operating system, browser and up-to-date anti-virus software.

Look for the padlock symbol - especially if you're buying from a website for the first time. It's a good indication that they are reputable.

Register your cards with Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode when prompted. It is quick and easy and makes shopping online even safer.

Always log out after shopping online and save the confirmation e-mail as a record of your order.
The first burst, breaking on 20 October, will see a series of credit-card shaped print advertisements across national and regional press. This will be supported with banners and leaderboards on online shopping websites until the end of December. The campaign has been planned and bought by ZenithOptimedia.

The campaign follows the release of the half-year fraud figures, which show that losses from online, phone and mail order shopping fraud (known as card-not-present fraud, or CNP fraud) continue to increase, with the figure currently standing at £161.9 million - around 54 per cent of all card fraud losses.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, said: "Tackling card-not-present fraud continues to be a focus for the banking industry, and this advertising campaign will help to raise awareness to cardholders of the simple steps they can take to make life harder for online shopping fraudsters.

"As more and more of us are shopping online with our cards, we all need to take an active role in protecting our personal information - working together to combat the fraudsters."

Online advertising will direct consumers to a dedicated website - www.becardsmart.org.uk that sets out the simple security steps highlighted by the campaign. In addition, a number of banks and retailers are implementing their own customer-focused communications campaigns to support the initiative.

Peter Lovatt, Saatchi & Saatchi, comments: "With internet shopping becoming increasingly popular and online card fraud with it, cardholders need to take a few sensible precautions. The Be Card Smart Online campaign uses a simple card-shaped graphic device to carry relevant safety messages and ensure maximum impact in both print and online media."

Richard Shotton, ZenithOptimedia comments: "We have a high frequency, targeted media strategy in place that will give us a strong campaign over a short period of time. We are targeting a specific online shopping audience. The press advertisements will act to launch the campaign and raise awareness, while the online display will promote the initiative on shopping sites when online shopping is at its peak in the run-up to Christmas."