(Oslo, 19 September 2006) A number of Norwegians will have returned from their summer holidays not knowing that their credit cards have fraudulently copied. Card fraud is a growing problem, both internationally and in Norway. In order to meet this challenge, DnB NOR uses the services offered by EDB Business Partner to monitor the use of its customers' cards in order to reduce the risk of fraudulent card use and stop it when it occurs. EDB estimates that it prevents fraudulent transactions totalling over NOK 60 million annually for its banking customers by monitoring card use.

 

So far this year, DnB NOR has contacted around 2,500 of its customers who have been exposed to card fraud. Bjørn Tore Westby, Head of Card Services at DnB NOR, knows from experience that the bank will contact many more customers during the autumn months. In many cases the bank contacts its customers even before they become aware that their card is missing or has been fraudulently copied.

As soon as the security systems run by EDB's subsidiary Tag Systems "flash red" at its card monitoring Centre in Mo i Rana, either DnB NOR or Tag immediately try to contact the customer to confirm whether the transaction in question is genuine or not. If the customer knows nothing of the transaction, the security system flags the transaction as incorrect or fraudulent, and the card is immediately blocked. If it is not possible to contact the customer, the bank will make its own enquiries to establish whether the transaction is fraudulent and whether the card needs to be blocked.

 

"Even though Norway still has one of the lowest rates of fraudulent card use anywhere in the world, card fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The fraudsters use technology and networks to exchange card information across national boundaries with just a few keystrokes. The most widespread types of card fraud are card copying, known as 'skimming', and fraudulent use of card information. DnB NOR is a good example of a bank with a very advanced approach to ensuring efficient monitoring of card use for its customers", explains Jon Neraas, Managing Director of Tag Systems.

 

While DnB NOR already has good systems for detecting fraud, Bjørn Tore Westby is committed to ensuring the best possible co-operation between the bank and its customers. If the customer has good recall of his or her card use and can immediately confirm that a transaction is false, the fraudster can be stopped even before the first fraudulent transaction goes through the system. The bank is also reliant on customers contacting the bank immediately if they suspect that someone may have made fraudulent use of their card. This is of course also important if a card is lost or stolen.

 

"Card fraudsters are becoming ever more professional, and this represents an important challenge for Tag's monitoring systems, but I am confident that we are fully up-to-date with their activities. We are developing new techniques all the time to deal with new methods of fraud", comments Jon Neraas.

 

Bjørn Tore Westby concludes by explaining that paying by card is still a safe method. He also points out that the scale of card fraud is actually extremely small relative to the volume of card transactions. "It is also important to note that Norwegian card users are well protected by law and will be reimbursed for any losses caused by fraud so long as they have followed the rules for card use. However, it is always unpleasant to find that you have been a victim of fraud", he adds.

 

  

• In 2005, DnB NOR avoided losses of around NOK 14.3 million by early detection of card fraud.
  
  
• The equivalent figure by the close of July 2006 was NOK 13.5 million, so DnB NOR will avoid significantly higher losses in 2006 than in 2005.
  
  
• By the end of July, DnB NOR had blocked 2,000 cards in response to security warnings from the Tag System card monitoring system.
   
• DnB NOR has become the first bank in Norway to monitor use of debit cards in the same way as credit cards.
   
• Tag Systems estimates that, in total, security warnings from its card monitoring systems will lead to around 5,000 cards being blocked over the course of 2006.
  
  
• Tag Systems estimates that its card monitoring services avoided losses of over NOK 60 million for its customers in 2005. DnB NOR is by far Tag's largest customer.
  
  
• Tag Systems is the leading company in Norway for card monitoring services.