First Alert from Lloyds TSB
1 commentThe experts say that using plastic is safer than cash, and that card fraud is actually less common that it used to be, thanks to the introduction of the Chip and PIN system. However, fraud is on the increase - by 16% in the cases of “card not present” transactions (for example internet, mail order and telephone sales) - and cases of card cloning are up by 3%. According to the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, it takes an average of 201 hours to unravel the harm done by card thieves, so the thought of someone getting their hands on our card details is understandably worrying.
For customers of Lloyds TSB it seems that help may be at hand in the form of their First Alert service. This is the first of its kind to warn customers by automated phone call of the possibility of suspicious activity on their current account.
The service for credit card holders has been available since 2005, but earlier this year the bank decided to extend it to holders of debit cards. It means that valuable time will not be lost in recognising fraudulent transactions and will help customers negotiate the red tape involved when things do go wrong. Gerrard Schmid of Lloyds TSB, explained: “The system proved a huge success on credit cards and by extending it to our debit card customers we're planning to crack down further on card fraud... the expansion of our 'First Alert' system to debit cards, will be a real asset.”
The call to the customer asks whether they recognise the transaction and, if they can confirm that all is well, that is the end of the matter. If, however, they are unable to give the all clear, they are put through to a Lloyds TSB employee who will assist them in making arrangements to freeze the account and obtain a refund for the fraudulent transaction. The system used, combines Lloyds TSB’s own fraud detection technology and a system provided by Adeptra, experts in the field of automated contact and resolution services for Consumer Credit and Risk Management.
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