Australian payments fraud report suggests biometrics for customer authentication

The Australian Payments Network released its 2016 Australian Payments Fraud Data Report, which revealed that recent increases in card fraud have largely been driven by identity theft and large scale data breaches through malware or phishing attacks, according to a report by Sydney Morning Herald.

There number of transactions made using stolen card details more than doubled since 2011 to total $417.6 million in 2016.

The figure represented 78 percent of more than $530 million in total netted by fraudsters last year, according to the study.

The widespread adoption of chip technology has made it more difficult for criminals to operate in the face to face environment, the study said.

Australian Payments Network CEO Leila Fourie said the figures prove just how fast criminals had followed Australian consumers to online platforms, where spending is now growing five times faster than conventional retail spending.

“As Australia transitions towards even higher levels of online payments, customers and merchants need to increase security awareness,” Dr. Fourie said. “Australia is well-advanced in fraud prevention technology, thanks to the industry’s leading investment in [chip technology], tokenization and online customer authentication tools.”

Dr Fourie said “biometrics, geolocation and social media” could all be used in the roll-out of risk-based customer authentication.

The study estimates that by 2020, only 20 percent of transactions will involve the input of card details in internet browsers due to the growth of mobile wallets and advanced shopping carts.

Suzanne Steele, managing director of credit reporting agency Experian Australia, said it was vital that the industry moved “from a culture of remediation to one of prevention”.

“Fraud prevention approaches must be holistic, utilizing detection and prevention technologies that enable businesses to be nimble and reactive to emerging fraud threats, without impacting genuine customer experience,” Steele said.

Previously reported, Visa recently released its sponsored YouGov study that found that Australians are slowly accepting the idea of making payments via Internet of Things (IoT), as long as they can use biometrics for authentication.

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  fraud prevention