Lloyds TSB automates fight against debit card fraud

Lloyds TSB is to introduce an automated phone fraud alert service for all its debit card holders.

The system is already used on the bank’s credit cards and now debit card holders will receive an automated call whenever the bank’s systems believe a card could be threatened by a fraudulent transaction.

The automated calls will kick in when the card is being used for particular transactions when the customer is not present during the deal, such as web, phone or postal purchases.

The customer will have to give permission for the transaction to go ahead; if they don't, they will be put through to an operator who will be able to freeze the account and prevent the transaction completing.

The system used is a combination of Lloyds TSB’s own technology and the First Alert solution provided by systems provider Adeptra.

Other banks in the US and UK already provide similar fraud detection schemes.

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