Ways To Protect Your Plastic Money

Consumers can fortify their cards against fraud by following small steps. Rimme Dirchi throws light on some of these measures

Do you worry about a credit card fraud every time you swipe it? If you do, then you are not off the mark. Research shows that there has been a 24 per cent increase in the credit card frauds in financial year 2016-2017. With introduction of slew of measures to promote cashless economy, digital payment systems have witnessed a rapid growth. According to Experian APAC and India Fraud Report-2017, by Experian India: “India is among the top four countries surveyed in the Asia Pacific region, with highest digital adoption, digital banking account sign-up and utilisation.”

This isn’t a coincidence, with the world becoming a “global village” —a term, which Marshall McLuhan popularised in his books. In his 1964 book Understanding Media, McLuhan spoke of “...one world that is interconnected by an electronic nervous system.” Closer home, the Digital India Programme has been a flagship programme of the Government of India to turn the country into a more digitally synchronised society.

With greater thrust on financial inclusion, there has also been a surge in cases of fraudulent transactions. Hence, customer protection to mitigate risks has taken front seat for banking institutions.

In order to analyse customer behaviour and patterns, banks use big data. It enables banks to track factors like how often a user typically accesses an account and the geographic location from which the user most often accesses an account. This helps them spot frauds.