Brits Say No To Credit, Debit Cards Over Hacking Fears

New research shows that more than one in 10 Brits have cancelled a credit or debit card in the past year due to online fraud.

Finextra reports that the number of people canceling cards has risen from 4.5 million to 5.5 million since the research was last conducted in September 2016.

The research found that the average amount stolen from a consumer due to a hack rose from £475 to £600 compared to the last survey, and the largest cause of hacking was online payments, which accounted for 46 percent of those surveyed. Almost one in 10 of those who were the victim of a hack had their card duplicated at an ATM, while identity theft accounted for 11 percent of hacks.

Hacking has caused a customer retention problem for banks, with almost one in four customers who had money stolen changed, or are in the process of changing, banks or credit card providers. Yet 91 percent of customers who were the victim of a hack were satisfied with the way in which the company handled the issue.

And while the impulse is to blame the banks for a hack, many customers admitted they aren’t doing enough to ensure the safety of their accounts. Almost one in five respondents said that they have the same PIN for all of their cards, while one in 10 had the same online password for all of their accounts.

To help consumers, comparethemarket.com has created a password generator to give people secure passwords that can help protect them online.

“These are worrying findings,” said Shakila Hashmi, head of Money at comparethemarket.com. “While banks and their customers are becoming wiser to the serious threat of cybercrime, this research shows that there is a lot more work to be done to stem the growing tide of attacks. Both the card provider and customer have a responsibility to protect their accounts from intrusion and theft. While banks need to improve investment in cybercrime defense, there are some things that people can do to protect themselves. Beyond making sure you have different PIN numbers for different cards and changing your password regularly, the most important thing is to check your accounts on a regular basis to look out for any criminal or suspicious activity, as in many cases small but regular thefts take place which are harder to spot.”