Safety net

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated:

 

EVEN though 33m Britons use the internet, most are worried about giving out their credit or debit card numbers.

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After years of arguing over the best way to prevent online fraud, Visa and Mastercard are ready to introduce new systems. But one card-issuer, internet bank cahoot - part of Abbey National - says the new systems don't go far enough and will take months, if not years, to get up and running.

Visa and Mastercard's systems both need the cardholder, the retailer and the banks dealing with them to co-operate to make the scheme work. In addition, Switch and American Express are looking at different methods.

Tim Sawyer of cahoot says: 'Everyone wants their own standard. But all customers want is a hassle-free way of paying online without having their card number stolen and the worry of rogue transactions cropping up on their bill.'

Mastercard is introducing a Unique Cardholder Authentication Field (UCAF), which sits on the retailer's website. When you buy online, you will be asked for your card number and the extra three digits printed on the signature strip on the back of your card. Anyone copying your card or getting the card number from an old transaction strip will not have this number. Your card company authorises the transaction, and the retailer has to check that the delivery address you have provided is the same as the one held on file with the card issuer.

Visa's system, called 3D secure, is being rolled out across Europe this year. You have to register to get a password from your card issuer. The password is used whenever you shop over the internet to prove you are the genuine owner of the card. The retailer and the bank have to bring in new systems to be able to recognise the password.

But both these systems mean that you still have to put your credit or debit card number on the web. Cahoot has introduced a virtual card, called the webcard, which it says has already stopped £1m of fraud since it was started at the beginning of the year. With the webcard, your real credit card or debit card number is never given out. Instead, you load the webcard software on to your computer, which gives you a new number every time you make a purchase. Anyone getting hold of the number and trying to use it will have the transaction blocked straight away, so you don't have to query your statement when it arrives days or weeks later.

It also tackles another problem - that of the retailer taking more than you have agreed to. Each time you use the webcard, you set the upper limit that can be used to pay. This not only helps to prevent fraud, but stops disputes between you and the retailer about the amount to be charged, one of the major problems with online shopping. You can also use your webcard for phone and mail order transactions, where only the number is needed.

'Even though you are not responsible for fraud committed with your card, this removes a lot of hassle,' says Tim Sawyer. 'The customer doesn't even realise someone has tried to use a webcard number. After the number has been used once, we turn any other transactions away.'

Advertising art director Bonnie Horton, 24, from London was one of the first to try out the webcard. She says: 'It was really quick and easy to use. I was pleased to find I was getting bargains, too, though not all the prices undercut the High Street by as much as they had boasted. You can even find major High Street stores' own web sites which sell things cheaper than in their shops.'

In a shopping test with her twin sister Charlotte, left, who works at the same agency, Bonnie's buys worked out at almost £100 cheaper. Charlotte says:'I definitely drew the short straw. I dashed out in my lunch hour to shop. The weather was awful and the shops were crowded. And I had to pay more for my purchases than Bonnie did.'

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