Photo Credit cards would cut fraud
In the light of the 70% increase in identity fraud (Metro, Thursday 12th April 2007) I think one of the biggest contributors to the problem is chip and PIN credit cards.
While the principle of requiring a customer to have a card and a number that only they know is a classic two-factor identification process, its implementation is flawed. It is too easy in most cases to read the PIN of someone in front of you in the queue at a counter or a cash machine.
Given this, plus the fact that many people still keep cards in a position that can be pick pocketed, I find it alarming that there are no further checks in place for fraudulent use.
The best solution to prevent this is to have a photograph of the cardholder printed on the card which would allow the store assistant to visually check for a match. With identity fraud costing the country £1.7bn a year, how much more do we have to lose before such cards are introduced?
