FNB Zambia and VISA on debit/credit card security

With a cash-loving society as Zambia is, there are several ways that financial institutions are trying to help citizens see a debit cards as more than just an ‘ATM card’, using it only to withdraw money from their accounts.
FNB in partnership with VISA created the Card Security Week to help their clients understand how to protect themselves from fraud especially when making ePayments, to encourage them on how much safer it is to carry a card than cash around, and also how they can avoid bank charges from ATM withdrawal especially from those of another bank’s, and make payments by swiping for free.

This morning we had the pleasure of listening tips in card security and efforts being made to curb fraud in eCommerce by Mako Ndumba, Head of Risk at FNB Zambia and Sally Makau, Country Manager for Visa in Zambia. Mako shared results of surveys that showed that there is still a lot of consumer education about cards that needs to be taught. “Most of the consumers never let their cards out of their sight during a transaction, and most consumers feel secure when making a purchase with their bank card, yet over 60% are not aware of the ways in which fraudsters operate and over 80% believe that fraud will not happen to them,” he said.

Some of the top tips against card fraud security are:
– Always treat your card and PIN as you would cash
– Never let anyone see your PIN
– If you suspect that someone has seen your PIN change it immediately online or at an ATM.

Sally said Visa is working with financial institutions and law enforcements to curb the risk of fraud because that’s their biggest counterproductive enemy. They have put in place cyber systems that are able to analyze spending patterns and determine the location of cards to ensure that they are being used by the rightful owner. The law enforcement agencies give feedback to Visa of suspected crime syndicates and the banks whose cards may be compromised are put on alert, even asking them to shut down some card accounts that may be at risk.

She said, “At Visa we employ multiple layers of security that work together to help us manage fraud. We invest heavily in advanced fraud-fighting technologies and continue to develop new innovative programs to mitigate fraud and protect cardholders.” She also said fraudsters keep innovating just as much as cyber security systems by FNB or Visa are, they are keeping up with new technologies so they are able to commit fraud remotely. She urged cardholders to always make payments online on sites that have Visa accreditation, which is usually in the form of a padlock on the site’s url. You can also see an ‘s’, after the ‘http’ part of a url which means that the site’s a secure one.

Johan Maree, CEO of FNB Zambia also urged clients to try as much as possible to use ATMs that they are familiar with, as fraudsters may attach gadgets to them that may capture users’ information whilst making a deposit or withdrawal. It would be much easier for them to detect if something was amiss and report it to security.