News

Japanese govt. urges banks to step up card fraud prevention efforts

January 9, 2005

Japan Times: Financial Services Minister Tatsuya Ito urged commercial banks to work out measures by the end of February to combat bank card forgeries. His request follows a sharp increase in cases of cash withdrawals involving forged bank cards.

A package under commercial banks' consideration is expected to include lowering the upper limit on money that can be taken out from ATMs and embedding integrated circuits in bank cards. The government is mulling legislation that would compel banks, rather than victims, to bear losses stemming from the use of forged cards.

According to the Japanese Bankers Association, illegal withdrawals from bank accounts surged to 270 million yen (U.S. $2.5 million) in fiscal 2003 from 12 million yen (U.S. $114,900)the previous year. In the April-September first half of fiscal 2004, an estimated 460 million yen (U.S. $4.4 million) was stolen via card counterfeiting.

Japanese banks have been criticized for failing to take any measures to stop unusual transactions, including several cash withdrawals on the same day and leaving data transmissions between banks and ATMs unencrypted.