Security of bank cards

News article
Article tags:
  • Detecting Financial Crime

The Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad of 1 December features an article on the security of bank cards that can be used to make cashless payments. According to the article, these cards are secure only if they are placed in a metal case or wrapped in aluminium foil. This is untrue.

No fraud committed

The type of fraud described by the newspaper has only ever been demonstrated in a research setting. The likelihood of this fraud being committed in reality is negligible. As far as we know, it has never been committed.

Laborious and time-consuming

This type of fraud is laborious and time-consuming: the criminal has to get very close to the card physically in order to steal the balance. They must also have access to a payment terminal in order to receive the payment and a bank account to collect the money, meaning they have to be a business customer of a bank. As such, the identity of the criminal can be easily detected. What’s more, this type of fraud is hardly worth the effort: a maximum of 25 euros can be stolen from each customer in each instance of theft, and the maximum total that can be stolen is 50 euros.

Damages compensated

In the unlikely event that a customer is a victim of this crime, ABN AMRO will compensate the damages (including the customer’s deductible).