The war against ATM crime is ongoing

NCR is distributed in South Africa by Bytes Managed Solutions, part of Bytes Technology Group, wholly owned by JSE-listed Altron.

Despite a range of risk mitigation solutions, criminals continue to seek out any weak link in the chain of defence. ATM deployers are winning individual battles, but the war against ATM crime is ongoing, says Phylippa Smithson, EMEA and India Solutions marketing manager, NCR Corporation.

In order to counter the evolving nature of ATM crime, a multifaceted response that includes innovation, collaboration, people, technology and processes is required. As an industry, we can remain proactive and vigilant in undermining criminal activity with this approach, and this includes an appropriate level of consumer awareness.

Since fraud is a global problem and the criminal modus operandi migrates and evolves quickly, ATM attack and fraud communication are essential in enabling deployers to respond to the latest trends and to stay ahead of criminals.

Risk mitigation is always a balancing act between optimising the consumer experience in terms of usability and service versus securing the ATM against current and future threats. There also needs to be an assessment of risk relative to the cost of deploying counter-measures.

NCR believes in choice and flexibility when it comes to deploying counter-measures to ATM crime. We are committed to listening to our customers' priorities and sharing best practice when it comes to countering global threats. That's why our work with deployers in South Africa is so important to us, as is the opportunity to share insight into ATM crime, global and local, together with best practice approaches to risk mitigation to help us stay one step ahead of criminal activity.

South Africa is not unique in the proliferation of ATM crime. ATM crime often emerges in one country or region, but can then swiftly migrate to another geography without warning. Organised crime has no boundaries and always migrates to the weakest link.

For example, the use of solid dynamite has been an experience not just in South Africa but also in Brazil. In Europe, the use of explosives in the form of gas is typical in a few countries, such as Italy. Regular communication with customers has the benefit of advising of preventative counter-measures to such attacks and securing requirements to be translated into new product development.

Card-skimming, for instance, has a long history and still represents the biggest cost to the industry globally in terms of hard cash losses. Despite the introduction of EMV (with 97% of all European ATMs now compliant), the continued existence of the magnetic stripe on cards provides an opportunity for skimming. However, the good news is that though criminals remain persistent and card-skimming attacks at ATMs have increased by 3%, losses have fallen by 14% (EAST Report 2010).

The fight against ATM crime involves innovation, collaboration with law enforcement agencies and deployers, the provision of best-practice advice to clients and via them to consumers, as well as the development of new technologies and processes that make the ATM more secure and at the same time support the industry requirement for PCI compliance. The ATM is, and will remain, the most trusted consumer banking channel if we as an industry continue to proactively stay one step ahead of criminal activity.