Payment fraud is down in 2017, except on the check

Fraud on means of payment issued in France sharply down (-6.8%) in 2017 for a total of 744 million euros, except on the check, preferred target of crooks, according to a report published Tuesday.

"We had never seen a decline as strong "the amount of fraud on non-cash means of payment, 54 million less than in 2016, welcomed François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, during the presentation of the report of the Observatory of the security of the means of payment.

However, the number of cases of fraud increased in 2017 (+ 8%) to 5.1 million fraudulent transactions in 2017.

This figure "progresses because As we become more secure, fraudsters their attacks to try to circumvent the increasing efficiency of our devices but without succeeding in terms of amounts, "detailed the central banker.

Fraud à la carte bank, preferred payment method of the French, represented nearly half of the total amount (48%) of the scams registered, ie 360.7 million euros. They also accounted for almost all (97%) of the fraudulent transactions recorded last year.

However, the fraud rate on card transactions issued in France decreased to 0.054% (vs. 0.063%). % in 2016), the lowest rate since 2009, mainly due to a significant decrease in frauds on remote payment, details the report.

And while the total amount of card transactions in France and the foreign exchange has increased significantly (+ 5.8%) to 664.6 billion euros.

The rate of fraud on the "contactless" has emerged stable (0.02%) while the The growth of this means of payment is confirmed. The number and amount of transactions thus doubled between 2016 and 2017, with 1.2 billion transactions totaling nearly 13 billion euros.

Respectively the second and third most used in France, the levy and the transfer saw the amount of their fraud decrease.

– Vulnerable check, bitcoin disqualified –

"All means of modern payment, electronic or dematerialized (based on the card, the transfer or the levy) benefit from this downward trend of fraud, in a context of growth in the flow of payments, "says the Observatory on the security of means of payment, a body dependent on the Banque de France, in its report. [19659003Ontheotherhandthefraudonthecheckwhoseusedeclineseachyear(-10%ofoperations-7%inamountin2017)hasfranklyclimbed(+9%)toreachanamountof296milliondollarseuroscotobe272millionayearearlier

The check alone represents 40% of the total amount of payment fraud last year when it is only the fourth means of payment used.

Fraudulent use of checks lost or stolen and the falsification of a regularly issued check, the average amount per fraud amounting to 8,100 euros, constituted the bulk of recorded check scams.

This finding encourages the "development of means of innovative payments "and to secure and alternative payment solutions" such as (the) card or the transfer, and soon the instant transfer ", the check containing" vulnerabilities related to the difficulty of putting in place prevention devices of the fraud ", observatory observatory.

However" innovation should never become an obligation ", nuanced Mr. Villeroy de Galhau, pleading for the maintenance of access to" all means of existing payments " louse r avoid "a rejection of certain means of payment felt as excluding for some", including the elderly.

Finally, the central governor recalled that "the bitcoin is not a good means of payment", the qualifying as "crypto-active" for "highly speculative" investments. "Those who invest in these badets do so at their own risk," he warned.