Bank card fraud is UK consumers' number one security concern

Banking fraud is the number one concern for UK consumers, according to the latest Security Index from IT services firm Unisys.

The firm has being taking the pulse of the public for four years, and reckons that security concerns have reached new heights, jumping a whopping 42 points in just six months.

Some 93 per cent of respondents said they were worried about bank card fraud, and 91 per cent said that identity theft was their main fear.

The stats show that fears persist, despite the banking industry's efforts to arm customers with two-factor authentication devices to improve security.

Yet these fears may not be entirely justified. The latest figures from the UK Cards Association and Financial Fraud Action UK in March show that online banking fraud losses totalled £46.7m in 2010, a 22 per cent fall on the 2009 figure of £59.7m.

In addition, internet fraud, which is wrapped into card-not-present along with phone and mail order fraud, fell by 15 per cent from £266.4m to £226.9m

There's no doubt that the banking industry has made significant efforts in the past 10 years or so to improve security for its customers, but they will need to keep innovating to stay one step ahead of the criminals.

Man-in-the-middle attacks, phishing and the broader umbrella term of identity theft are all still possible and current systems are doing little to prevent them.