cjs@cynic.net writes:
>Credit card issuers are not interested in the least in reducing
>fraud if it means they have to give away a cent to do it.
I take this to mean: "Credit card issuers are not interested in the least
in reducing
fraud if it means they have to give away more than they gain by doing so".
>
>
>The one measure that would do far more than anything else to reduce
>fraud would be to put a picture of the owner on the card.
<neutral tone>Do you have evidence of this? </neutral tone>Most of the
reports I (vaguely) recollect having seen suggest it would have very
little effect.
cjs@cynic.net writes:
>and thus has a PIN
>keypad. Yet you'll notice that the credit card issuers don't care to
>use this technology.
I am skeptical - lots and lots of smaller places do not have this
technology at all. (Do Taxis have it? - Can it be used in different
countries? I am not sure) Are we sure that the reason cc companies do not
use the tech is because they do not care - rather than for other reasons?
Also - a PIN is PURELY "what you know" security - if the phone is being
identified by Vodafone then it is "what you know and what you have"
security, possibly with "and where you are" security thrown in as well.
>Bascially, fraud is good if someone else pays for it, because that's
>just a bit more money for the credit card company. So reducing fraud is
>no good if you have to pay very much at all to do it. I can't see how
>they're going to make enough off of this to make it worthwhile paying
>someone a cut of a *lot* of transactions.
Weeeeell - I suspect you are being just an incy wincy bit
cynical@cynic.net here. On a superficial reading of your argument, credit
card companies should be downright ENCOURAGING fraud! (It is just more
business, on your argument.) Of course, they don't. But I take your real
point, which is that anti-fraud measures have to pay for themselves - and
pay the person undertaking the measure. What we really need here is
figures from someone who knows.... (I don't - do you?)
But for the cc company, fraud (or any disputed payment) means:
1) expensive administration.
2) the possibility of having to carry the can and take the loss (which
must exist at SOME level)
3) Possible loss of consumer confidence in cc - which hits transaction
levels.
So lets take your "fraud is just another transaction and transactions mean
business" argument. Lets agree that the more people use their credit
cards, the better for the cc company. lets also agree (can we?) that lots
of customers are cautious about using their cc online - in part because
they have heard "there is a lot of fraud on the net" (for lots of reasons,
customers may not distinguish). If this makes customers feel more secure
about using their credit cards for online transactions then that will up
transaction volumes - which is good for the cc company. Note, this is
increasing the size of the pie - they are buying off the net where they
might otherwise pay cash at a bricks and mortar place.
As for paying in a bricks and mortar place, well
Imagine a credit card:
1) That did not have your details printed all over it, but which was
identified as a token belonging to you. ("what you have" security")
2) That required a pin. ("what you know" security.)
3) That you could specify could only be used in a certain area. ("where
you are" security.)
4) That did not require your details to ever become known to the "girl
behind the counter" ("need to know" security - there is nothing on the
card)
5) That was part of something you ALWAYS carry, and is so personal you
instinctively (not the right word, but) know where it is at any time of
night or day. (Go on - where is your keitai?)
Would that credit card be of interest? It would for me (certain searching
questions about the security with which the PIN is sent wirelessly,
notwithstanding)
Is that not something similar to what is on offer? It may not replace
conventional credit cards, but if customers taking up this option used
their wireless credit card for more transactions than they would have used
their non wireless card for, the cc company is ahead.
I have lost everything, repeatedly, from car keys to credit card, - but my
keitai is "part of my body", so it would be of great interest to me.
nick
Received on Tue Jan 15 16:52:01 2002