Security systems not updated after SEPA introduction
04/04/2008 10:40:12
Failure by corporate firms to upgrade anti-fraud systems to deal with payments made as part of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) has left them exposed to data security risks, it has been claimed.
In a poll of telecoms, insurance and utility companies by Experian Payments, 86 per cent were found to have made no assessment of the payment fraud risks linked with the new payments zone, which was introduced earlier this year.
In addition, 98 per cent said they are have no plans to change their security policies, despite three-quarters having some business abroad.
"As we go into a more global payments world we have to make sure we have got the right systems in place," Jane Barber, head of product devlopment at Royal Bank of Scotland, told Computer Weekly.
SEPA aims to work as a single domestic payments market where payments in euros can be made and received under the same conditions, regardless of the consumer's location.
The figures, recorded by SIA SSB, show around 200,000 European credit transfers were made during the first week of the SEPA - totalling 1.36 billion euros (£975,000).
