Canada: Strong Protections for Debit Card Users Enhanced

The changes which have just become effective are being made to the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services (the debit card code), an industry code of conduct which outlines the rights and responsibilities of debit card users and industry practices and responsibilities surrounding the use of debit cards. The debit card code has been developed and updated in consultations among consumer groups, financial institutions, retailers and federal and provincial governments. These new changes provide debit card users with more specific details and timelines for the information they will receive from their financial institution after reporting an unauthorized transaction.

Incidents of debit card fraud are relatively low in Canada. In 2004, about one-tenth of one per cent of the debit cards in circulation were impacted by a debit card skimming incident and card issuers fully reimbursed victims for their losses. Banks have extensive electronic account monitoring in place which automatically detects unusual transactions in accounts. They also dedicate substantial resources to preventing debit card fraud from occurring and cooperate with police as part of their criminal investigations.