Banks up internet security

(03-10-07) - Hundreds of thousands of card readers have been sent out to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest customers in a bid to prevent online fraud.

The card readers - which look like calculators and work in a similar way to Barclays’ PINsentry system - produce a unique code each time a customer wants to set up a new online payment.

The banks began sending the readers out to personal and business customers in May and while they have initially been targeted at people who regularly set up new payments, such as direct debits, online. However, the RBS group, which owns both banks, has announced that from next year any customer that sets up a new payment will automatically receive a card reader.

“A card reader is not needed to log in to online banking or making payments to existing third parties, it is only required to set up new payees,” an RBS spokeswoman told the BBC. “We see it as the most advanced proposition for security at the moment,” she added.

This new measure against online fraud and phishing emails comes amid new statistics from APACS, the UK payments association, that while domestic card fraud had fallen, by four per cent, thanks to chip and pin and increased awareness, fraud abroad increased by a massive 126 per cent since 2006.

Chris Eagle, CreditChoices.co.uk commercial manager, said: “There are now loads of extra security precautions available for both online and in-person card payments. Customers using MasterCard and Visa credit cards should sign up for MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa, while anyone with online banking from the RBS group should make full use of their new security measures.

“While awareness about plastic card security has increased, there are still times when people let their guard down by answering phishing emails or on holiday - when they actually need to be more vigilant,” he added.

Click here to 10 tips on avoiding credit card fraud.

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