ATM Machine & cards
The volume of ATM transactions in Nigeria has reached N80bn monthly, the Chief Executive Officer, Valucard Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kyari Bukar, has said.
Bukar, who disclosed this at an information security conference in Lagos on Wednesday, also put the monthly transactions of Point of Sale machines across the country at about N1.4bn.
He, however, noted that poor information security and data protection in Nigeria‘s e-Payment system might hamper the multi-billion naira ATM transactions.
According to him, optimising the security components of card transactions is important to protect users‘ funds as well as sustain confidence in the country‘s card payment system.
“Losses from card fraud affect card usage rates, authorisation parameters, operational process and staffing while also decreasing profit margin. These losses can endanger the most valuable asset that acquirers and issuers have – their relationships with business partners and consumers,” he said.
Bukar, therefore, said the country must pay close attention to new technologies and processes that might prove to be effective in combating e-payment fraud.
He said depositors should embrace “the chip/PIN-based EMV (Europay, MasterCard and VISA) payment cards already in circulation, following directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the replacement of magnetic stripe cards in use until September 30, 2010.”
The Valucard boss, however, noted that there had been a drastic reduction in the incidence of ATM fraud in the country since the introduction of chip/PIN cards.
He said, “I would say categorically that there has been a serious reduction in the cases of ATM fraud in the country. This has been adduced to the various campaigns by both the government and regulators on the need for ATM users to ensure that they keep their cards safely, without given their PINs out to people who will defraud them.
“One thing that has been done is the issuance of EMV Chip/PIN cards to the people. We still need proper legislation on this to get the message circulated. People can use their ATMs safely for now. Operators are still working on more security features that will make us to be ahead of fraudsters.”
He noted that there was a need for Nigerians to ensure that “their cards were EMV-compliant, stressing that “it should not just be chip/PIN alone.”
“Though, in Nigeria, we are already EMV compliant, I can tell you that, even in the US, they are going to be EMV compliant by 2011. The level of fraud in the US is put at $1.2bn per annum because they have yet to be EMV complaint,” he added.
Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman, School of Management and Security, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, reiterated the need to secure the country‘s information system for the future.
He stressed that it was a challenge that must be addressed now to prevent the future of Nigerian children.
Ekhomu noted that information security transcended ordinary IT security because the latter was a subset of information security.
“Information system exhibits some loopholes exploited by fraudsters across the globe through malicious attacks and hacking, among others. But we must, by all means, ensure that we have a convergence by information security and physical security,” he said.
Source:http://www.punchng.com
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