Just over 1 in 5 (22%) Americans told Gallup that they or someone in their household had credit card information stolen by card criminals in 2015. That’s down from 27% the previous year. The same poll suggests that while Americans remain concerned about card crime, the percentage of those who worry “frequently” about having their card information stolen is down. That’s just some of the good news in the good fight on fraud. Sure, there’s a lot of hassle associated with card fraud and data theft resulting from breaches and hacks. There are unauthorized charges, new card issuance and having to update your account data with the businesses with which you do business.
Still, it’s not just the bad guys who are working hard on card crime. The good guys are too. That last few years alone have seem rapid evolution in the activation and innovation of efforts to stop fraud in its tracks. First, there’s the full-scale roll out in the U.S. of the chip card technology (EMV) standard—designed to stop in-store, in-person fraud at the point of sale. Further roll-out of detection and protection tools, as well as more empowerment of cardholders in the fight on fraud, is just part of the face-off with card crime.
Payment technology and processing company Worldpay, and its research partner Socratic Technologies, recently asked 500 consumers how they’re managing through fraud as it happens, as well as what they’re doing to prevent it before it occurs.
Here are some of the key findings of that survey:
Personal experience with card fraud
43% of the consumers surveyed had had personal card fraud experiences. That’s up versus the experiences of the Gallup consumers the year before. Nearly one third (32%) knew someone who’d experienced card fraud in the prior six (6) months.
Chips are up
Peace of mind comes with chip cards. 77% of the Worldpay-Socratic consumers said they prefer to use their EMV card because of the added security it provides.
Replacing compromised cards
On average, it takes about five (5) days to replace a card that’s been compromised. More than 2/3 of consumers (69%) said they’re ok with that.
Alerts are a popular card security feature
“Card controls”, features that let consumers put curbs in place and/or alert them to card activity, are popular. Among the most popular, with nearly half of consumers aware of the feature, is the ability to set-up alerts for purchases above a certain dollar amount. While 48% of consumers are aware of that feature, just about 1/3 (32%) use the feature on their cards.
Good news if you’re financial institution
Asked how their banks and credit unions are doing when it comes to keeping their cards safe, a full 95% of the survey respondents rated financial institutions satisfactory or better. More than half of consumers, 53% of respondents, said their financial institutions are doing a great job at keeping their cards safe.
It’s a fight that we’re all in together. And, while the threat of fraud and card crime is omnipresent and real, advances in how we’re fighting fraud, as well as great empowerment of consumers, in the war of card crime, is making a difference—perhaps even ticking up confidence.
