US: 64% of consumers consider identity theft and credit card fraud a growing problem

According to the latest research from Cardbeat, a syndicated market research report published by management consulting firm Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG), over one third of all respondents have never experienced any fraudulent activity on their credit cards or been notified by a bank, merchant, or other institution that their personal information may have been compromised (37 percent and 36 percent, respectively). Nevertheless, even among those who actually were victims of fraudulent activity, 67 percent of consumers have stated that they were actually made aware of the possible security breach by their financial institution.

Furthermore, consumers who have actually experienced fraudulent activity on their credit cards continue to show extremely high levels of satisfaction with their credit card issuers in handling the situation - almost all (92 percent) report being satisfied with the outcome, while 73 percent of victims have reported satisfaction with merchant involvement in rectifying fraudulent activity. These results have remained unchanged from the Cardbeat results when this topic was previously examined in 2009.

When it comes to the actions consumers can take to protect their personal information, the incidence has actually declined since Cardbeat first began analysing it in 2007. For example, not giving credit card information to people over the telephone (77 percent) or via mail (68 percent) are both commonly mentioned prevention methods. The prevalence of both measures has declined since December 2009 and December 2007.

Cardbeat provides insights into how consumer perceptions impact the payments industry, including credit card acquisition and usage. The study is carried out monthly in the US and quarterly in the UK. ACG also conducts research in the debit and prepaid space, and publishes a quarterly report known as The Payments Report.