e-PAYMENT: INTERSWITCH, BANKS INAUGURATE CARDHOLDERS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

In its quest to educate cardholders and create awareness on payment card in the country, InterSwitch in alliance with participating banks has inaugurated a “Cardholders Awareness Campaign”. Over the last few months there have been various messages requesting cardholders register their Debit, Credit or Cash card details under the guise of participating in non – existent promotions or with the promise of winning bogus prizes.

These phony messages are circulated through internet, (electronic mail (email)) and telephone (Short Message Services (SMS)). In some cases the messages claim a network upgrade by the Bank or Interswitch has affected the performance of cards, and then request the cardholders re-register their cards and personal identification numbers (PINs) on a re-directed website or phone number.

In similar instances, cardholders have fallen victim to nefarious activities having divulged their personal identification numbers (PINs) voluntarily to friends and family, not understanding the importance of their PIN numbers.

Since the introduction of payment cards in the country adoption of, all forms of electronic payment channels ranging from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (POS) terminals, Kiosk, Voice, Internet Banking and Mobile Banking have been on a steady rise. The rapid growth in card adoption and usage only goes to indicate the potentials of well-orchestrated nefarious activities targeted at not only the unsuspecting cardholders but also the bank. Whilst instances where cardholders have fallen victim to these activities represent far less than 1% of all transactions, they have raised fears amongst current and potential cardholders as to the security of the cardholder and payments done using cards.