09 January 2007
It is the responsibility of banks to prove customer negligence in instances of card fraud, it has been claimed.
The comments from consumer magazine and website Which? follow a Financial Times investigation which suggested that banks are less willing reimburse victims of card fraud for losses than they were in the past.
A spokesperson for Which however noted that he had seen no evidence that banks are less likely to compensate for chip and pin fraud than other types of banking fraud.
"Obviously there has been fraud were people have managed to get hold of card numbers and pins, so we would be concerned if banks were using chip and pin as an excuse to not pay out compensation to genuine victims of fraud," commented Mike Naylor of Which?.
Mr Naylor added that the banking code clearly states that banks have to refund people their lost money, unless they can prove that they have been negligent.
The banking code is a voluntary code aimed at setting standards of good practice for banks and building societies to follow in relation to personal or business customers in the UK.
