Credit Cards Rated for Fraud Still Needs Improvement

A new research study of the top 25 largest credit card
issuers suggests many of those firms need to upgrade
their identity fraud prevention and detection tools to
better serve consumers according to a story published
by ComputerWorld.

The story continues with the excerpts from a recently
released study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research
which found some of these deficiencies:

56% of the 25 card issuers surveyed continue to require
full Social Security numbers to help identify their
customers, whether by phone, online or by mail.

"This is a risky practice that unnecessarily increases
the customer's exposure to identity fraud," the report
states.

Consumers are not allowed to set transaction limits or
block certain types of transactions using their credit
cards, such as restricting card use to purchases only
made with U.S. vendors, according to the study.

In fact, only 24% of the surveyed card issuers allow
consumers to set so-called user-defined limits and/or
prohibitions (UDLAPs) on their accounts to help prevent
unauthorized use, the study concluded.

While more card issuers now offer consumers e-mail or
telephone "transaction alerts" to advise them of account
activity, the number of participating card companies is
still small -- about 8%.

So, our tip for today is to check what is really in your
wallet. Make sure to contact your credit card company
and inquire into what fraud prevention services they
offer - most usually for free.

We recently learned of major card provider which
uses account numbers as the default mode for
customers to access their online web site.

The consumer has to call the card issuer's customer service
department and request an alternate user id be setup for
web site access.

In any event of "what's in your wallet", take proactive
action to minimize your risk of becoming an easy target
for identity theft.