Banks are increasingly investing into security measures

The study declared by non-governmental organization EAST demonstrates that in Europe alone the number of ATM robberies, thefts of card data and similar crimes grew by 149 percent in the course of last year.

This was mostly determined by much more frequent cases of payment card skimming. In 2008 more than 10.3 thousand of such cases were registered.

Last year the losses related to similar crimes amounted to 485 million Euro (more than 1.6 billion Litas). This is 11 percent more than the preceding year. According to representatives of EAST, the number of losses didn‘t grow as fast as the number of crimes due to bank investment into various security measures.

“Recently the demand for complex security measures has increased significantly. During the last several months it was reported about security measures, installed at several largest world banks, such as HSBS, RBS and other smaller banks,” says Mantas Barsys, BS/2 Marketing Manager.

According to him, there are several reasons for it. First of all, payment cards are becoming increasingly popular mean of payment. The more people acquire them, the more potential victims criminals have.

Furthermore, while financial crises is gaining momentum, criminals become much more audacious – the increase in crimes is observed not only in Lithuania and in Europe, but in the rest of the world as well. In reaction to this, banks are investing into security measures. These are significant investments, but they cost much less than spoiled reputation or customer dissatisfaction if the crime becomes public.

“Many banks use hardware and software, produced by different manufacturers. This may hinder integration of new security measures. However, we are offering a comprehensive solution, which is highly effective both as preventive remedy and as a tool for analyzing committed crimes,” explains M. Barsys.

According to him, solution BS/2 encompasses ATM external environment monitoring and data analysis (video cameras, sensors, data monitoring, alert system, etc.), systemic protection of ATM network, operational protection from unfair actions of employees, comprehensive audit of security systems, implementation of international safety standards (EMV, PCI DSS, EPC).