Payments fraud experienced by retail businesses remains persistent, despite declining for a third consecutive year, according to the 2013 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey.
The survey states that 61% of surveyed organisations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2012 - down from 66 % in 2011.
The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) surveyed more than 5 000 corporate practitioner members with the job titles of cash manager, analyst or director, resulting in 625 responses. This is the ninth year AFP has conducted this survey.
The study found that 67% of organisations with annual revenues of over $1 billion were victims of payments fraud, compared to half of those with annual revenues under $1 billion. It also notes that 27% of survey respondents from affected organisations report that the number of fraud incidents increased in 2012 compared to 2011, while 16% indicated a decrease, and 58% reported no change.
According to the report, cheques continue to be the dominant payment form targeted by fraudsters, with 87% of respondents from affected organisations reporting this as the case.
Fraud was also experienced via other payment methods, including: corporate/commercial purchasing cards (29%, up from 20% in 2011), automated clearing house (ACH) debits (27%, up from 23%), wire transfers (11%, up from 5%), and ACH credits (8%, up from 5%).
Lionel Slowe, head of the SADC project at BankservAfrica, says, though the survey shows some positive results, the level of fraudulent activity remains high, and it is even more important that payments industry players comply with the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) to ensure the security of cardholder data is not compromised.
According to Slowe, PCI security standards are technical and operational requirements set by the PCI SSC to protect cardholder data. The standards apply to all organisations that store, process or transmit cardholder data, he notes.
He says, as part of its contribution to the SADC Payments Integration Project, BankservAfrica is aiming to create a regional ACH to process card- and EFT-based transactions, in accordance with agreed system standards and timelines.
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