Debit cards and fraud

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the prevention of complacency regarding payment card fraud, particularly the debit card. Design/methodology/approach Based on research already carried out on payment card fraud in France, Spain and the UK, the paper extends the analysis of fraud to the payment with respect to cards in use in Australia. Findings It was found that payment card fraud, particularly on MasterCard and Visa branded debit cards, is often hidden amongst the statistics for overall payment card fraud and yet, with the enhanced functionality of such cards, re: online and international transactions, added to the increasing sophistication of the card fraudsters, there is a present and ever increasing risk of debit card fraud. Originality/value Whilst payment card fraud is often dealt with under credit cards, there has been no prior work on debit card fraud.