Card-related fraud under control in UAE

Card-related frauds were well under control even during the global financial crisis as the banks in UAE took sufficient measures toward the same, a senior executive of an electronic commerce and payments processing services company told Emirates Business.

"Most banks took the issue very seriously due to which there has not been any significant increase in frauds," said Brian Quarrie, Managing Director of First Data.

"Banks have the tools that mitigated the risks around fraud," he said.

The company combines local market expertise with industry leading technology solutions and analytical techniques to provide solutions for fraud management, he said.

The region holds immense opportunities for service providers in the industry, he said, particularly given that a significant proportion of transactions are conducted in cash.

"We still have 50 per cent of transactions in this region conducted in cash whereas the world average is 90 per cent. This provides a clear opportunity for us," he said.

"However, it is important that the transfer from cash to electronic is simple, convenient and cost effective," he added.

The UAE Government's measures to include more people under banking net are adding to the opportunities for companies in this industry, he said.

Regarding the company's expansion plans, Quarrie said it would focus on expanding channel management and supporting card merchant business.

The company recently entered into an agreement to host credit card portfolio for International Bank of Qatar and would provide a full range of card processing services from front end services in card application management, transaction processing, authorisations, clearing and settlement to card account management, loyalty processing and fraud management solutions.

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.