Technology review 2010: Controlling fraud – payment cards

The dynamics of payment card fraud are clearly changing as VISA Europe’s analysis of the evolution of payment card fraud in Europe, described in Figure 1, shows. Payment card fraud has become a global business dominated by international crime rings. It is a major problem, with losses estimated at around $5 billion globally. But although this is a huge number it still represents only a very small percentage of the total amount spent on cards worldwide. Even in the worst-affected countries, such as the UK, the ratio of payment card fraud to sales stands at only 0.101% compared with VISA Europe’s average of 0.06%.