The BBC ran a programme in April in which individuals from the University of Cambridge claimed that Chip & PIN is broken. It is our opinion that the complex method shown by individuals from the University would not be practical in reality in Ireland.
Similar claims were issued by the Cambridge team just prior to the roll out of Chip & PIN in 2004 in which it claimed that Chip & PIN would not work. This was proven not to be the case. IPSO will shortly be issuing its fraud figures for 2009 however we can confirm that since the rollout of Chip & PIN cards the industry has seen a significant drop of more than 60% in fraud committed on lost and stolen cards as well as skimming and counterfeit frauds. In other words, Chip & PIN has worked and has been proven to be successful.
Commenting on the claims, Úna Dillon, Head of Card Services at the Irish Payment Services Organisation stated that; "We could simply compare the claims with a so-called expert suggesting that house alarms can be broken. It may be possible to put them out of action however in reality they are an excellent deterrent, continue to prevent break-ins in our homes and they continue to be updated to the latest technology. In a similar way Chip & PIN can be attacked but to date there have been no breaches to the technology as suggested by this recent report.
IPSO takes card fraud very seriously and deals with the live issues affecting people in the day to day payments environment. If we find, from real statistics, that cards are being compromised, we work with the industry stakeholders to ensure that identified weaknesses are removed and solutions implemented".
It is true to say that the type of fraud described in the programme can be detected by the banks’ fraud systems. In addition, under the banking code all card issuers are obliged to investigate every fraud claim. Where there is evidence of fraud, customers will always be reimbursed. The reputation of the payment card industry is based on the reliability of the cards systems and on customer protection. IPSO continues to work with banks, card processors, retailers and consumers to make them aware of the latest fraud prevention advice through the work of the SafeCard Task Force.
IPSO continually works to raise awareness of security advice and on how to protect against card fraud through media interviews, press releases, fraud seminars and conferences, specialised workshops and website updates. While criminals persist in testing the payments systems, IPSO monitors the activity and continues to take the necessary preventative measures in partnership with its members.
Card fraud figures in Ireland are well below the European average at 0.06% fraud to turnover, compared with latest figures of 0.14% for the EU. This low fraud figure is as a result of the fraud prevention work being done by the industry as a whole as well as the diligence of our cardholders and merchants.
For information on current payment fraud issues and fraud prevention tips see www.SafeCard.ie
