By Munir Kotadia, 6 July 2004 15:10
NEWS Almost 70 per cent of UK Internet users don't believe it is safe to use a credit card online, while around 40 per cent have an irrational fear of the internet, according to a survey published by Visa.
Visa, along with Barclaycard, started testing a portable credit card reader that is designed to work with the new chip and PIN credit and debit cards to help prevent fraud and reduce exposure to phishing attacks.
The survey's results indicate that both Barclaycard and Visa needed to strengthen the security of credit card transactions in order to persuade more people to shop online.
According to the survey, although most Internet users have made at least one online purchase, 69 per cent of users didn't think online retailers were doing enough to make users feel safe.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents admitted to having an "irrational fear" of the internet.
This could be because entering credit card details online feels like "a dangerous public disclosure" according to Dr Cynthia McVey, a psychologist at Glasgow University.
"People need to be reassured that safeguards are in place and that the card providers continuously monitor the situation and understand their fears. The anxieties arise from the feeling we're not as intimately involved in the purchase as we are when standing at the counter," said McVey.
Munir Kotadia writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
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1. Adrian Lee
Do these same people who dislike using Credit Cards online hand over their cards happily enough in a restaurant? How secure is that? You usually let your card out of your sight, giving it to someone you don't know. They can quite easily make a note of your details, copy the card etc...
At least online there is some protection.
2. Allan Shriver
Innovative? Inventive? Good point, Adrian. So... all you inventive IT folks out there (and innovative restaurateurs!), why can't restaurants, shops et al use wireless credit card readers at the diner's table? There is no reason (other than a lack of a wired connection) why credit cards have to be taken 'into the back room' to the till which is hardwired to the on-line credit card authorisation terminal.
Afterall, in a small pizza cafe in Menorca, my order was taken on a wireless PDA and sent to the kitchen direct from my table! Is big business (e.g. Tescos, Sainsburys, M&S, et al in High Street UK) SO FAR behind little pizza restaurants in sunny Menorca?!
Maybe UK restaurants will only seek a new wireless solution when more consumers/diners insist on personally accompanying their credit card to the kitchen to keep an eye on it?!!!
3. Allan
Contradictory Silly Silicon.com - Do you guys read your own stories? Munir Kotada wants us to believe on 6/7/04 that the 'Webphobic UK (is) Terrified of On-Line Shopping' , when only a couple weeks earlier on 1/6/04 Will Sturgeon wants us to believe that 'Brits Go Mad for On-Line Shopping.'
Which is it, hmmm?