An updated version of "Inside Fraud" published by Payments, Cards and Mobile and sponsored by Visa Europe is now available online.

The report finds significant variations in losses between France, Netherlands, Spain and UK with losses much higher on internet and international transactions. The report suggests there is an "urgent need to complete roll-out of EMV and continue implementation of online security measures."

Taking Visa Europe’s figures as a barometer for the region as a whole, card fraud losses fell from 0.07% (7 basis points) of card turnover in 2007 to 0.06% in 2008. But comparing national figures for France, Spain, Netherlands and the UK, losses ranged from fewer than 3 basis points of card turnover in Spain to 10 basis points in the UK.

Further, the picture is not static. In Holland, which historically had one of the lowest levels of card fraud in Europe, the loss rate has risen almost threefold during the last four years. With Dutch debit card transactions still 100% based on magnetic-stripe cards, losses continue to rise due to skimming. In contrast, UK figures for first half of 2009 show total card fraud losses down 23% to £232.8 million.

You can download the full report here.

In a press release today, the European Commission said it "can confirm that it has sent a Statement of Objections (SO) to Visa on 3rd April 2009. The Commission's preliminary view is that the multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) set directly by Visa restrict competition between banks for accepting consumer payment cards without benefiting consumers by contributing to technical and economic progress."

Visa Europe and Visa Inc. have announced plans to work with the GSMA to advance the delivery of mobile financial services around the world. As part of the continuing collaboration between the two organizations, the GSMA has selected Visa as a provider for mobile money transfer solutions globally, and is working to execute an agreement to formalize participation terms. Visa is already a leading provider of money transfer solutions with active programs in 14 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. READ MORE »

Visa Europe has announced signing a five year managed services contract with BT to migrate its transaction network onto BT’s 21CN Global network. According to Visa Europe, "the agreement will move Visa Europe onto an efficient Internet Protocol (IP) based network, promising its 4,600 member banks in 36 countries a superior level of service through increased support, improved business continuity and enhanced network security." READ MORE »

Metavante Technologies Ltd. has announced that it has been granted Payment Application Best Practice (PABP) certification from Visa Europe for both card issuing and transaction acquiring. Metavante Technologies Ltd., a provider of prepaid and debit card processing and licensed software in Europe, is part of Metavante, a U.S.-based provider of banking and payments technology. READ MORE »