New EU accession states such as Hungary, Poland and other eastern European countries, already lead western European countries in fighting bankcard fraud, according to Visa International’s Radu Obreja. Card fraud in the states joining the EU on May 1, 2004, totaled 0.05 per cent of total transactions in Q2, 2003, or half that of existing EU states, Obreja is quoted as saying by news site, Interfax.com. Banks in the new EU states, where cash handling accounts for 30-40 per cent of costs, will benefit from cashless payments, says Obreja, who reveals that accession states will join Visa’s EU division on October 1, 2004.
Retailer acceptance of card payments is still relatively low in the new EU states, with Obreja advising card issuers and banks to take the necessary steps to maximize market growth. At end-2003, Hungary had 21,849 Visa-enabled POS terminals, 19,000 of which were installed at retailers, versus 30,000 in the Czech Republic, which has a similar population to Hungary. The Czech Republic, where card payments almost doubled in 2003, to 67 billion Kc (USD2.48 billion) is fighting fraud which totals tens of millions of crowns a year, even if officials emphasize the safety of card payments, according to the Prague Post.
MasterCard meanwhile said suspect transactions accounted for just 50 hellers per 1,000 Kc of electronic payments in the Czech Republic in 2003.Chip-based payment cards are being issued by Komercni banka and CSOB, with Ceska sporitelna, the country’s largest bank, planning to follow suit soon. Card security will however move up banks’ agendas as the Czech Republic expands its POS network nationwide in an endeavor to increase convenience. In comparison with EU countries, the Czech Republic, with four bankcards per 10 citizens, ranks ahead of Germany, Italy and Belgium, the Prague Post reports.
The Prague Post