APACS has published its latest quarterly Statistical Release covering the first quarter of 2008. "In the first quarter of 2008 there were 1.8 billion plastic card purchases made in the UK totalling £91.1 billion. The number of purchases was 8.9% higher than in the first quarter of 2007, and spending was 8.9% higher. Debit cards accounted for 72.8% of all plastic card purchases compared with 71.1% in the first quarter of 2007."

APACS, the UK payments association, has released figures showing that the debit card retains its popularity at retailers, with spending on debit cards increasing by 11% last year. According to APACS, this increase stands in stark contrast to paper cheque spending which declined by 7.5% in terms of value and 13% by volume over the same period. Credit card spending at retailers in the UK has not grown over the last three years.   » Continue Reading

APACS has confirmed plans for the launch of the new Faster Payments Service on May 27th. Beginning then, the FPS founding banks will be gradually implementing their own plans to deliver the new service to their customers. According to APACS, 'the new service will benefit customers by speeding up one-off payments made over the internet or by phone, reducing the current three-day clearing timescale to enable these payments to clear within hours, not days. For the very first time it will also be possible to make these payments all day every day.'   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, said today that 'almost 1 in 3 people don’t have any anti-spyware software on their computer' as it discussed the increasing numbers of phishing attacks in the UK and reminded consumers of the tips to help them avoid falling victim to such crimes. According to APACS, 'phishing has become far more frequent in recent months with the latest APACS data showing more than 10,000 reported phishing incidents in the first quarter of 2008 – up over 200 per cent from the same period last year.'   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has announced that "donations to charitable organisations on plastic cards reached £1.013 billion in 2007- up from £842 million in 2006. This is the first time donations on plastic have gone through the £1 billion barrier."   » Continue Reading

In the UK, APACS has reported 2007 statistics for both card fraud losses and online banking fraud losses. Card fraud losses were up by 25% with the increase being driven by a £90.5 million increased in fraud abroad as more UK card details were stolen for use in countries yet to upgrade to chip and PIN. Online banking fraud losses went down 33% to £22.6 million.   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has announced the creation of the Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit (PIPJIU) as an integral part of its Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU). According to APACS, "this enhanced intelligence unit is the result of the amalgamation of the banking industry’s Fraud Intelligence Bureau (FIB) – the body that formerly distributed information between the banking industry and law enforcement throughout the UK – and the intelligence section of the DCPCU."   » Continue Reading

In the UK, there's a special police unit called the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit that's responsible for cheque and card fraud. APACS reports that the DCPCU was responsible for £107 million in estimated fraud savings in 2007 compared with savings of £130 million achieved in the five years following the Unit’s launch in 2002.   » Continue Reading

In a press release today, APACS, on behalf of the UK credit card industry, said it "welcomes the OFT’s report on improvements that can be made to help consumers compare credit cards. The industry is committed to working with the OFT and the FSA to deliver the full package of recommendations including the impartial comparison website. APACS believes this new website – to be developed and hosted by the FSA – will be an important additional tool in a customer’s arsenal to enable them to make informed choices about the card that best suits their need."   » Continue Reading

APACS has reported December 2007 spending figures showing that spending on plastic over the Christmas period reached £32.2 billion, with £5.4 billion spent online. Up four per cent on the 2006 figures, the figure marks the slowest year on year increase over the same period for four years. The increase was due to the rise in spending on debit cards, which grew by 6.8 per cent to £20.9 billion – although this was less than half of the increase between 2005 and 2006 (15.3 per cent).

Credit card spending at Christmas fell for the second year running - £11.3 billion in December 2007 compared to £11.4 billion for the same period in 2006. There was a decrease of 2.8 per cent in the volume of credit card transactions, down from 197 million transactions for December 2006 to 192 million transactions in 2007.   » Continue Reading

According to APACS, "from today (28 January) the new SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) Scheme will enable euro credit transfers to be made within a maximum of three days, and without any deductions from the principal amount. The customers who will benefit most are those larger businesses for whom it will make cross-border trade easier, and UK consumers who make regular euro payments because they may, for example, maintain properties abroad."   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has just published a new report titled "Payment Myths" that it says "uncovers the facts behind payment trends in Britain." According to APACS, the booklet uses statistical evidence to help consumers better understand the payment options available to them and offers advice on the best ways to manage their finances; no matter what payment method they use. The report uses APACS statistics to show examples of the way we use cash, our susceptibility to fraud and the new demographic make up of online bankers – to name but a few.   » Continue Reading

APACS has announced it expects holiday shoppers to spend over £5 billion online this December - with next Monday, December 3, expected to be the busiest online shopping day. APACS estimates that total spending on cards, cash and cheques will reach £53.0 billion in December. APACS figures show that the number of adults shopping online has more than doubled in the last five years to almost 30 million. "To help online shoppers stay free from fraud this Christmas, APACS has also launched http://www.shopsafeonline.org.uk, which contains details about Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode – systems that make online shopping payments more secure for both consumers and online retailers."

APACS has released its latest quarterly statistical summary on UK payments. Among the statistics reported, debit cards continued to grow in usage representing 71.7% of all plastic card purchases in the UK, up from 70.1% last year. Outstanding credit card balances in the UK have declined by £1.4 billion over the last year to £32.2 billion.

APACS is advising consumers in the UK "to be mindful of the postal strikes over the next week as important post could be delayed that could have a knock on affect on finances."   » Continue Reading

APACS reported today that total card fraud losses on UK issued cards "increased by 26 per cent in the six months to June 2007 compared with the first half of 2006. This increase has been driven by a 126 per cent rise in fraud on UK-issued cards being used overseas. In contrast, domestic card fraud continues to fall thanks to chip and PIN, with losses at UK retailers down 11 per cent (see notes to editors and losses at UK cash machines down 57 per cent."   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has launched two new advice guides "offering practical advice on choosing a plastic card for a teenager or young adult. One of the guides, Choosing cards - a guide for the under 18s , is aimed at young people, and the other, Using cards - a guide for parents , is for their parents. These form part of a series of consumer advice guides produced by APACS aimed at simplifying personal finance."   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'New card is small change", Jill Papworth reports for The Guardian about Barclaycard's new OnePulse "touch and pay" card that also includes Oyster capability for paying on Transport for London's services. She writes "the all-in-one card will allow Londoners to buy newspapers and coffee, then jump on the tube without ever using cash."

In a longer article titled "The plastic replacement for your loose change", James Charles writes for The Times about the new contactless technology. He notes that "by the end of next year Apacs, the UK payments association, expects five million contactless cards to have been issued in the UK."

APACS has published a new retailer advice guide – Transactions with your chip and PIN terminal (PDF) – that it says is designed to "remind card-accepting businesses of some of the necessary security measures to help keep their chip and PIN equipment safe and secure."   » Continue Reading

APACS has announced a new report finding that "the number of cheques written by individuals has halved from 2.0 billion to 1.0 billion in the last ten years. The Way We Pay 2007: UK Cheques reveals that in 2006 cheque volumes declined at their fastest ever rate, falling by eight per cent. Last year, only 54 per cent of adults made payments using cheques and only 47 per cent received a cheque payment. On average we now write 1.6 cheques a month and receive just one every two months, with half of adults no longer receiving any. For personal payments, cheques have fallen from one in four non-cash payments in 1996, to just one in 14 in 2006. In the retail sector the decline has been particularly rapid, with cheques accounting for just three per cent of all non-cash transactions."   » Continue Reading

APACS has announced that "ten million UK-issued payment cards have now been registered with MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa services – making these cards more secure when shopping online. Using these services is quick and easy. Cardholders sign up and choose a private password, which they then use when shopping at participating retailers." APACS has published a new guide for consumers titled "How to protect cards against online fraud" (PDF).   » Continue Reading

Saying that its research shows that "20 per cent of cardholders ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ shield their PIN when entering it at a cash machine", APACS, the UK payments association, has published a new consumer advice guide - Protect your PIN (PDF) - to remind cardholders of the need to keep their PIN safe and secure at all times.   » Continue Reading

According to a new report from APACS titled "The Way We Pay 2007: UK Plastic Cards", £321 billion was spent on plastic cards in the UK in 2006 representing a three-fold rise in the last decade. Cards now account for just under one third of total consumer spending in the UK. Debit cards accounted for 61 per cent of the plastic card spend (£195 billion and over five times that spent in 1996) and credit cards 39 per cent (£126 billion and over twice that spent in 1996). In 2005, cards exceeded cash in all retail spending for the first time and the gap between cards and cash accelerated in 2006 with cash spending of £274 billion.   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, and ABTA, the UK travel association, have published a consumer advice guide - Payments Abroad (PDF) - providing UK consumers advice on how to make their trip overseas safer and easier.   » Continue Reading

APACS has highlighted this week as the 10th anniversary of online banking in the UK, calling it a significant milestone in the evolution of UK banking and payments. "Over the last ten years online banking has become increasingly popular and the number of people using the service has risen five fold in the last six years alone. In 2006 there were a record 18.1 million Britons banking online and for the first time the number of adults using internet banking exceeded those using telephone banking. Today, half of all internet users in the UK bank online."   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has launched "a new advice guide to help consumers better understand their credit card statements. The “Understanding your credit card statement” (PDF) guide explains everything consumers need to know about the common features and terms used and offers advice on what to look out for when they are checking their statements."   » Continue Reading

As of Sunday,April 1, 2007, new procedures went into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland requiring that "banks and financial institutions become the first point of contact for cheque, plastic card and online fraud offences. In most cases consumers will be required to report instances of this type of fraud straight to their bank or building society and not to the police. It will be up to the financial institution involved, and not the account holder, to pass details of the relevant crime on to the police."   » Continue Reading

APACS reported today that the 2006 card fraud figures for the UK show that total card fraud losses fell by three per cent in the past year to £428m – a decrease of nearly £80m over the past two years. Card-not-present fraud losses have increased by 16 per cent over the last two years and now account for just under 50% of all card fraud losses.

APACS yesterday celebrated the first anniversary of the transition in the UK to chip and PIN technology on payment cards. APACS provided a number of statistical updates on the progress and impacts of this technology upgrade.   » Continue Reading

APACS has issued December 2006 spending figures for the UK showing that spending on plastic over the Christmas period reached a record £31 billion. There were 669 million plastic card transactions in December 2006, six per cent more than during December 2005, equating to a record 250 transactions per second - day and night - through the month. Spending on plastic cards accounted for 63 per cent of total retail sales.   » Continue Reading

Clement James reports for vnunet.com that "researchers at Cambridge University claimed last week that a flaw in the system could lead to consumers being duped by fake machines" and describes the response by APACS to the news. Jaikumar Vijayan covers the story for Computerworld. Dave Birch shares his opinion about this "threat" on the Digital Money Blog. The basic issues is that chip cards, when they also contain the mag stripe, can be skimmed and, in the right environment, the consumer's PIN can also be captured and then used to perpetrate fraud at a non-chip reading POS or ATM location (for example, in Spain or the US or many other countries).

Earlier in December, the UK's House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, as part of their investigations into personal Internet security, heard evidence from representatives of APACS, VISA and the FSA. eGov Monitor reports that story - saying that "the witnesses were pressed on what mechanisms the financial industry in the UK had put in place to protect people using online banking and other online financial services." A transcript (PDF) of the oral evidence presented is available online.

The Inquirier's Chip Mulligan reports on plans to deploy contactless card technologies in the UK, beginning in London in September 2007 with the deployment of 4,000 new contactless/chip and PIN-capable POS readers to merchants and the issuance of over a half a million cards. In the UK, contactless payments will be limited to payments less than £10 (vs. $25 in the US) and the cards themselves will include "built-in counters that will only allow a certain number of contactless payments to be made before a PIN must be entered." According to Mulligan, "APACS expect that by 2011, 70% of debit cards and 45% of credit cards will have been converted to support contactless payments."

New figures released by APACS, the UK payments association, show that overall card fraud continued to decline in the six months through June 2006. Total card fraud fell by 5% during this period, from £219.5m to £209.3m, largely due to the rollout of chip and PIN. Internet, phone and mail order fraud (card-not-present or CNP fraud) has increased but at a much slower rate than seen previously. CNP fraud now accounts for 46% of all losses but grew by just 5% year-on-year, compared to a 29% increase between 2004 and 2005. Online bank fraud losses rose by 55% from £14.5m in the first six months of 2005 to £22.5m in the same period this year.   » Continue Reading

APACS has announced its latest report into "transparency and responsibility in the credit card industry." The report, - ‘Sharing Best Practice’, "details the steps the industry has undertaken to benefit the consumer, and provides an update on responsible lending initiatives such as increased data sharing."   » Continue Reading

APACS has released its latest review of the highlights and trends of plastic card use in the UK saying the data reveals a shift in cardholder behavior – with spending on credit cards is levelling off while credit cardholders are concentrating on making repayments. APACS reports that 59 percent of cardholders are now paying off their credit card bill in full each month.   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has published a new guide, Cards and Students, providing "comprehensive financial advice for students about to start university."

APACS, the UK payments association, has published a new report titled "The Way We Pay: UK Cash and Cash Machines" reporting that the number of UK cash machines has more than doubled in the past six years (from 27,379 in 1999 to 58,286 in 2005) and that Britons make the largest number of cash machine withdrawals of any country in the EU, some 2.7 billion transactions in 2005, or more than 42 per person.   » Continue Reading

Eiger Systems has announced that its BANK WIZARD and BILLER WIZARD solutions have been enhanced to support banks implementing the UK Faster Payments initiative, which is designed to deliver same day clearing for electronic payments.   » Continue Reading

Yuba Bessaoud reports for the London Sunday Times on plans by banks in the UK to provide hand-held terminals to bank customers that will generate unique eight-digit codes on every transaction - and plans to use them for online banking access. If successful for bank access, Bessaoud reports that APACS might later extend the use of the terminals to retail websites as well.

Dan Ilett writes for Silicon.com about yesterday's APACS news about the success of the Chip and PIN rollout in the UK, six months in, and asks whether it's really been a success.

APACS, the UK payment association, has announced that six months after "PIN day" (Valentine’s Day 2006, February 14th), the UK is the world's first chip and PIN success story - with more than 99.8% of all chip and PIN card transactions are now PIN-verified and more than 150 chip and PIN transactions take place every second. (compared with 125 a second six months ago and 85 a second a year ago).   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association representing card companies, has released 2005 e-commerce figures. The results show that 14 per cent of the 34 million adults who use the Internet (4.9 million) made their most recent purchase from an auction site in 2005. There were 79 million transactions over this period, and £2.8 billion was spent. Looking at the wider e-commerce market, for the first time more than half of all adults made an online purchase during 2005 - 25 million or 52 per cent of all adults (and 74 per cent of internet users). This is an increase of 11 per cent of Internet users over 2004.   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association representing card companies, has released spending figures for the UK that show that debit cards continue to dominate as the more popular method of plastic payment, accounting for 70 per cent of the purchases made in the UK in the first half of 2006.   » Continue Reading

The BBC reports on APACS latest statistics finding that UK credit card spending was £58.4bn, down from £60.6bn during the first half of 2005. Spending on debit cards rose during the same period to £92.5bn, from £88.8bn at the same time last year.

APACS has announced figures for retail spending in 2005 that show debit card spending in retail outlets exceeded cash spending for the first time ever last year.   » Continue Reading

Nicky Burridge reports for the Scotsman that credit card holders in the UK are collectively wasting nearly £116 million a year through credit card penalty fees resulting from overspending on their credit cards or being late with payments.   » Continue Reading

The BBC reports that the new chip and Pin bank card system cut UK card fraud by 13% in 2005 according to the Association of Payment Clearing Services (APACS). Losses due to the fraudulent use of credit and debit cards fell last year by £65m to £439m.   » Continue Reading

With the implementation of Chip and PIN completed, Phil Muncaster reports on how banks and industry group APACS are turning their attention to how to better authenticate ecommerce purchase transactions - using either hardware displays keying off of the chip cards already in consumers hands or pressing expansion of the Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode schemes.

Alastair Jameson reports for The Scotsman on the final transition this Tuesday to Chip and PIN card usage in the UK. The combination of a chip on the card that's much more difficult to counterfeit than a magnetic stripe plus requiring the cardholder's PIN to authorize a transaction is designed to reduce the potential for fraud at physical point of sale and ATM locations.   » Continue Reading

Based upon a research finding that consumer confidence in online banking is fragile, the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that its Financial Risk Outlook 2006, to be published on Wednesday, will encourage banks to further engage consumers in their fight to combat the rise in online banking fraud.   » Continue Reading

Sam Dunn reports for the Belfast Telegraph on debit card spending in the UK that is expected to outpace that of cash this holiday season.

Debit card payment volume in the UK is expected to grow 20 percent over last year while credit card payment volume is actually forecast to decline by 3.5 percent.   » Continue Reading

The Scotsman reports on the impact on card fraud from the introduction of chip and PIN technology in the UK, reducing credit and debit card losses by 13 percent in the first six months of 2005.

The figures showed counterfeit card fraud fell by 31%, fraud on lost or stolen cards dropped by 27%, losses on cards that went missing in the mail was 37% lower and identity theft on payment cards was down by 16%.

The UK's APACS reported yesterday on the release of its 2004 yearbook "The Way We Pay - A Market Review of the Plastic Card Industry in 2004".   » Continue Reading

Michael Clarke reports for the UK's This Is Money on the slowing of credit card growth rates in the UK.

Apacs director of communication Sandra Quinn said: 'Instead of consumers simply taking out a new card to switch balances, they are contacting the issuers of cards they already own and asking 'what can you do for me?'.'

Dan Ilett reports for ZDNet UK that APACS believes that online banking customers are waking up to the threats of online phishing attacks.   » Continue Reading

Miles Brignall reports in the Guardian on last year's UK results with respect to bank and credit card fraud.

Bank and credit card fraud rose 20% last year, costing British banks £505m, with part of the increase due to the introduction of new chip and pin cards. Apacs, the clearing payments association that compiled the figures on the banking industry's behalf, said the amount stolen using bank cards rose from £420.4m in 2003 to £504.8m in 2004.

The BBC reports on Chip and PIN taking effect today in the UK.

An Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) spokesman said shops who had made the upgrade would gain protection "regardless of whether it's an old card or a new chip-and-PIN card, as long as the retailer conducted the same security checks they previously did to ensure that the card is not lost or stolen".

The article goes on to point out that the upgrade is far from complete. Card issuing banks need to issue an additional 53 million replacement chip cards and retailers have upgraded about 600,000 of an estimated 860,000 card acceptance locations.