Are you concerned about cheque fraud?
The latest figures from the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC), the UK payment association, illustrate that cheque fraud losses decreased from £41.9 million in 2008 to £29.8 million in 2009. It is highly encouraging to learn that the overwhelming majority of attempted cheque frauds get stopped before the cheque is paid. The industry’s ongoing work to prevent cheque fraud has played a key part in driving these losses down, however the continuing decline in cheque usage has also played a part in the 29 per cent fall in overall cheque fraud losses.
The C&CCC is responsible for coordinating a whole range of activities to help tackle payment related fraud. With cheque fraud being such a major problem, the C&CCC introduced a scheme whereby all cheques for use in the UK are produced by accredited printers who have adopted stringent security standards. These measures have increased the security of cheque production by enabling standards to be introduced across the industry.
Cheques can be attacked in many ways, from altering details to making illegal copies, so businesses need an arsenal of security features to make them more secure. Cheques using advanced paper, ink and printing technology are available, but until now businesses have been fairly resistant to using them as they are blinkered to the issue of cheque fraud, only wising up when they become victims of this crime.
Like credit cards, over the years cheques have evolved from being simple pieces of paper to becoming highly sophisticated and technologically advanced documents. They now include intricate layers of security and unique features such as UV patterns, Copyvoid and holograms to make them harder to defraud.
Further to the security features incorporated in the cheque, more and more businesses are increasingly looking for solutions to make the process of cheque payments more secure. As employee theft grows, emphasis needs to be placed on security procedures, not just cheque usage. This is affecting businesses across the board, but SMEs are particularly at risk due to the lack of investment in equipment that would secure the process, such as specialist printers that fill in the details on cheques.
A designated cheque printing system helps businesses to control access to their cheques, limiting individuals who are authorised to raise cheques and enables companies to implement robust audit trails.
Although the latest statistics show a reduction in cheque fraud, it is important to recognise that cheque fraud is still a major problem for businesses and that security needs to be at the heart of everything a business does. Kalamazoo Secure Solutions Limited provide expert guidance to help ensure customised cheques fully comply with C&CCC requirements and that suitable precautions against fraud have been put in place. For more information call 08445 766 770.
Published 29th July 2010
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