Online banking on the rise

Europe's first survey of online banking shows that almost one-third of all users are now monitoring their finances via the Internet, says The Herald.

According to analysts ComScore, the UK had the second-highest share of online banking customers, with digital experts citing the recession as a major reason why people are paying closer attention than ever before to their bank balances.

ComScore co-founder and chairman Gian Fulgoni said: "Banking has become an important online consumer activity and this is especially true in these uncertain economic times”.

ElectraCard Services, an Indian electronic payment solutions provider, has released electraSwitch for Foreign Trade Bank, Cambodia, according to Finextra.

The switch will drive biometric ATMs in Cambodia, the first of its kind in the country.

The bank has deployed ATMs with fingerprint recognition technology, voice instruction and simple screen graphics to help customers get the most out of a new way of banking. The system also saves them the trouble of remembering their ATM PIN as they can use their fingerprint to withdraw money through ATMs.

Privacy experts, banks and others are warning consumers about another threat to their personal financial information: electronic 'skimming' devices that record credit card and debit card numbers at ATMs, gas pumps or vending machines, reports Baltimore Sun.

Using tiny technology disguised as part of the machine, the thieves then press new cards with customers' numbers and run amok, to the dismay of cardholders.

There's no central source of data to determine the extent of the problem, said American Bankers Association spokesperson Margot Mohsberg, but anecdotal evidence suggests skimming is cyclical, like other types of fraud. "As the economy gets worse and people get more desperate for money, the amount of fraud tends to go up," she said.