Press Release: Payment systems: Commission unveils plans to tackle payment card fraud and counterfeiting

On 19.2.01, the European Commission launched a three-year Action Plan designed to crack down on the growing problem of fraud and counterfeiting on cards and other non-cash means of payment widely used for cross-border transactions. Such fraud amounts to an estimated € 600 million a year in the European Union (approximately 0.07% of the industry's turnover). In the year 2000, fraud grew by approximately 50% and a large proportion of that increase concerned payments made by phone or across the Internet. Fraud undermines the effectiveness of the EU Internal Market, reduces public confidence in cross-border payment systems and threatens the successful development of electronic commerce. The Commission, working closely with the payments industry, Member State legislators and regulators and consumer groups, intends to use the Action Plan to foster a coherent, global approach to crime prevention.