Unfortunately many of our members using VISA Debit Cards are
all too familiar with recent merchant data breaches over the past few years
that have resulted in unauthorized activity on some member accounts. So far in 2013 the credit union has seen
card fraud losses of over $35,000 on fraudulent transactions resulting from
data breaches taking place with merchants. Neither the credit union nor the
members have done anything wrong with these well publicized data breaches.
Zaxby’s and Mapco Express are the most recent well publicized merchants
involved with data theft of cards used at their establishments.
Members are not responsible for unauthorized charges on
their accounts. That leaves the credit union to cover the losses associated
with these data breaches and the counterfeit card activity that comes
afterwards. To reduce the losses being realized by North Alabama Educators
Credit Union, the following data changes are being made to VISA Debit Card
operating rules for members when they utilize their cards. (Please note that
all card issuers have similar operating rules in place);
A daily max limit of
$3,000 for purchases will be in effect for VISA Debit Cards. If members
know that they will have purchases that will exceed this daily amount they can
call or visit one of our branch offices to request a temporary purchase limit
increase for that day. Members could also write a check for larger purchase
amounts if accepted by the merchant.
An hourly number of
individual VISA Debit Card purchases will be limited to no more than 7
transactions per hour. Scammers and stolen card thieves hit hard and
quickly when using someone else’s card. Our Fraud Monitoring Service constantly
monitors VISA Debit Card transactions and scores them according to a risk score
created by where and how the card is being used. Purchasing multiple gift cards
with stolen cards is becoming more commonplace among card thieves. Once a card
is declined, card thieves move on to another card.
The Credit Union is also pursuing more aggressive live fraud
monitoring options that could decline a fraudulent transaction BEFORE it
occurs. Denying transactions live before they receive an authorization is a
balancing act between actual risk and perceived risk. Members these days can
wake up in Huntsville, Alabama and be anywhere else in the country later that
same day. It is very important that the credit union have accurate cell phone
and other contact phone numbers to contact members when a card transaction is
deemed to be suspicious. Our Fraud
Monitoring Team will never call and ask for your personal information but will
instead ask you about specific card activity taking place on your card to
verify if they are valid or not.
We regret having to make these operational changes with
regards to VISA Debit Cards. Consumers have grown very accustomed to using VISA
Debit Cards like cash. Unfortunately the thieves have also grown fond of VISA
Debit Cards. Since North Alabama Educators Credit Union is ultimately
responsible for all unauthorized card activity, we have no choice but to take
appropriate steps to reduce the card losses that affect the entire credit union
membership.
