2007 Statistics on Payments Fraud In Australia
The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) has released its latest quarterly statistics of payments fraud data 
for cheques, debit cards, credit cards and charge cards in Australia for the 12 months to December 31, 2007 showing that Australia’s total rate of fraud (on cheques and payment cards) has remained steady, dropping only slightly from 6.3 cents (2006) to 6.2 cents for every $1,000 of payments.
Key findings:
- Fraud remains a fraction of an overall increasing number of payments. By payment type, the rate of:
- Cheque fraud dropped from 1.9 cents to 0.8 of a cent in every $1,000; and
- Payment card (debit cards, credit and charge cards) fraud increased from 23.9 cents to 27.9 cents in every $1,000
- Debit card (that is, EFTPOS and ATM) fraud dropped from 7.7 cents to 7.1 cents in every $1,000.
- Credit and charge card fraud (that is, signature permitted and card-not- present) increased from 36.9 cents to 44.5 cents in every $1,000.
The largest component of Australia’s credit and charge card fraud relates to card-not- present (CNP) fraud and cross-border fraud activity. CNP includes fraud conducted over the internet, phone, mail and fax.
APCA’s Chief Executive Officer, Chris Hamilton said “Australia’s increase in CNP and cross-border fraud appears consistent with trends reported in the UK and the Asia- Pacific region over the last few years.”
“While Australia’s payment card fraud rate has increased over the last 12 months it still remains low by global standards. For example, the UK’s payment card fraud rate is the equivalent of $1.18 in every $1,000 as against slightly under 28 cents in Australia,” Mr Hamilton added.
“What the statistics are telling us is that even as today’s technology makes it possible to buy anything from anywhere, it is also making it possible for fraudsters to operate globally. It’s no surprise that Australian consumers and retailers need to take particular care when not dealing face-to-face,” Mr Hamilton added.
“Fraud prevention remains more than ever a priority for the industry,” said Mr Hamilton. “Just recently, APCA and the ABA (Australian Bankers’ Association) held an industry workshop to identify priorities for tackling payments fraud. This is on top of ongoing efforts within individual financial institutions and card schemes.”
The industry has continued its work in systemic fraud prevention. This includes a world- wide focus on compliance with enhanced Data Security Standards and a progressive rollout of chip cards with their enhanced fraud prevention capabilities. A Chip Payments Programme for Australia has been established to ensure a coordinated industry approach with active participation from card issuers, acquirers and the cardschemes.
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