Comeuppance for credit card rogues

By JAYATI GHOSE

Banks and credit card firms are trying hard to combat the menace of plastic money fraud. There are 45 million cards in circulation (13 million credit and 32 million debit) in India and a 40 per cent year-on-year growth.

Many banks and card companies have issued chip-based credit cards to stop fraud.

Introduced by UTI Bank, a chip-based card has computer chip technology in lieu of holograms. It has a microprocessor memory chip and data encoded on the magnetic strip with PINs for extra security. The chip is inserted into sale-point terminals, which validates the card. This does not require swiping, eliminating the risk of details being hacked during the swipe.

“Chip cards are virtually impossible to counterfeit and powerful encryption prevents unauthorised access to information stored on the microchip, making electronic payments safe,” said a spokesperson for Visa.

“The card prevents frauds because the chip cannot be duplicated. However, the annual fee for these cards will be more than that for regular ones,” he said. These cards require chip-enabled terminals that are mostly installed by banks, adding to the cost.

According to a senior ICICI Bank official, chip-based cards cannot have a major impact unless the industry as a whole introduces them.

In India, the mail order telephone order (MOTO) type accounts for the bulk of credit card frauds, said industry analysts. In such transactions, the card is not presented, but the details are given on the application form to buy goods or over the telephone.

To check misuse during MOTO transactions, ICICI Bank allows high-value transactions on new cards only by manual authorisation. The bank also calls up a cardholder if it finds a transaction abnormal or suspicious.

A call centre payment gateway is also insecure. With more air tickets being booked through an airline’s call centres where an agent takes the credit card details, including the 16 digit number and the bar code (the last three digits on the back side of the card), misuse of data is high.

Air Deccan has introduced the credit card masking system. This system allows credit card payments through an IVR (interactive voice response) instead of a call centre agent. The IVR will procure the credit card details without any manual interaction, thereby allowing the caller to provide credit card details to a more secure system.

MasterCard has also introduced innovative measures to prevent the misuse of cards. “From holograms and the tamper-evident signature panel to card validation codes, MasterCard security innovations have been adopted as industry standards. We have introduced MasterCard Internet gateway and MasterCard 2-factor authentication service,” a MasterCard official said.

According to a HDFC Bank spokesperson, the consumer monitors the card account regularly and ensures that the card is swiped in his/her presence.

Credit Card Firms Work Proactively to Check Frauds

Built-in security systems are proving to be useful in checking credit card frauds, a top executive of a credit card company said yesterday. As fraudulent use of cards is a global phenomenon, "we, on our part, work proactively to protect our cardholders, prevent fraud, and safeguard financial information," MasterCard vice president and country manager Shaun K. Rashid told Arab News in an interview. "They are our top priorities," he pointed out. He said the company has also built-in security systems to address their concern.

Efforts are being made to check frauds with the help of local authorities. In fact, frauds are not limited to a country or a region. Identity thefts, fraudulent use of cards, use of lost or stolen ones, and unauthorized use of cards are among the frauds that have been committed and continue to be detected.

"Preventing fraud is the shared responsibility of everyone involved in this industry. The reality is that it has never been safer for consumers to use their MasterCard cards," he said.

"We take the lead in fostering collaboration among merchants, banks, law enforcement professionals and counterpart organizations throughout the world to help facilitate investigations and prosecution those involved in card fraud," Rashid said, who is based at the MasterCard regional office in Dubai that oversees markets across South Asia, Middle East and Africa.

"MasterCard provides a sophisticated set of transaction processing and other payment solutions and with the emergence of "smart" cards, number of frauds could go down further," he said. "Our cardholders should have the peace of mind knowing that if their card was ever compromised, they would ultimately have the protection of our zero-liability policy, as with all MasterCard payment programs in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa‚" Rashid assured.

Moreover, credit card companies are making efforts to raise the awareness and growth in the use of credit cards grows. "The Kingdom and the rest of the Gulf is still depending largely on cash transactions, but the usefulness of credit cards as a mode of payment is being considerably realized," Rashid said.

Aside from the convenience and security associated with the use of cards instead of cash, cardholders "benefit from promotional offers, discounts and loyalty programs as well," he said.

Payment card companies have been coming up with novel ideas to promote their products and, as a result, "whether prepaid or postpaid, demand for payment cards is increasing steadily," Rashid noted.

MasterCard has launched its holiday season campaign across the Kingdom, which ends on January 17. "Together with participating customer banks, we're offering our cardholders the chance to win one of the 35 prizes worth SR20,000 each when using their MasterCard credit card," he said.

Payment card companies have been processing billions of transactions each year. MasterCard alone processes approximately 14 billion transactions each year and through its family of brands, serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.

In Saudi Arabia, MasterCard claims to take the lead — from entry level to very affluent, platinum products. It has Islamic credit cards that are accepted in four banks — the National Commercial Bank, Samba, Riyad Bank and Arab National Bank.

Source : menafn.com

Mortgage Refinancing – How to Qualify for the Best Mortgage Rate

By Louie Latour

Qualifying for the lowest interest rate when mortgage refinancing will save you thousands of dollars, even lower your monthly payment amount. There are several steps you can take to improve your financial situation before applying. Here are several tips to help you qualify for the lowest mortgage rate and avoid costly mistakes when mortgage refinancing.

Mortgage Refinancing: ARMs Can Save You Money

If you fully understand the risk associated with variable interest rates the easiest way to qualify for a low rate is with an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. When interest rates are falling, homeowners with Adjustable Rate Mortgages are able to take advantage of lower payment amounts. The risk you take with this type of mortgage is that when interest rates are rising your monthly payment will go up as well.

Mortgage Refinancing: Check Your Credit First

You can also qualify for a lower mortgage rate by improving your credit. If your financial situation is better now than when you purchased you home, you may qualify for a better rate just by applying. If you have credit problems, investing some time rebuilding your credit could be worth thousands of dollars with a lower mortgage rate. The first thing you should do is request your credit reports from the three credit agencies.

Once you have your credit reports look for any mistakes or negative information. If you find mistakes you need to dispute the mistake with each credit reporting agency; if you have negative information you need to settle with the creditor to have that information removed. Having mistakes or negative information in your credit reports will damage your credit score and the mortgage rate you qualify.

Mortgage Refinancing: Term Length Affects Your Interest Rate

Term length is the amount of time you have to repay the mortgage loan. Traditional mortgage loans come with a term length of thirty years; however, there are also forty and fifty year terms available. The longer your term length the riskier the lender considers your loan, and the higher your interest rate. Short term mortgages usually come with lower rates because there is less risk for the lender.

No matter which type of mortgage rate you choose it is important to shop for the most competitive mortgage rate. When you compare mortgage offers make sure you take lender fees and closing costs into consideration before choosing a lender. You can learn more strategies for mortgage refinancing, including costly mistakes to avoid by registering for a free mortgage tutorial.

To get your free mortgage tutorial visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.

Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid costly mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders. For a free copy of "Mortgage Refinancing - What You Need to Know," which teaches strategies to find the best mortgage and save thousands of dollars in the process, visit Refiadvisor.com.

Claim your free mortgage refinance information guide today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com

Arcelor Mittal gets 17 bn euro credit to restructure debt

Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel maker, today announced the signing of a 17 billion euro credit facility to restructure its existing debt.

This debt would be used to refinance existing credit facilities of Mittal Steel company N V and Arcelor Finance SCA, a subsidiary of Arcelor SA, a company statement said.

The credit line consists of two tranches in form of a euro 12 billion term loan amortized over a five-year period and another euro 5 billion revolving credit facility with a maturity of five years.

"The strong demand for this offering underlines the financial community's trust in Arcelor Mittal," company CFO Aditya Mittal was quoted as saying.

The new credit facility, signed with a syndicate of 26 banks was oversubscribed by around 40 per cent.

As per the arrangement, the credit facility pays an initial margin of 0.375 per cent above Libor, based on a ratings grid, it said.

Arcelor Mittal with a production capacity of about 130 million tonnes a year, represents around 10 per cent of world steel output.