Financial Crime World

Credit Card Fraud in Croatia Sees Significant Decline

According to a recent report by the European Central Bank (ECB), credit card fraud in Croatia has experienced a significant decline, reaching its lowest level since data collection began.

Decline in Card Fraud

The report, based on information provided by 20 card payment scheme operators, shows that card fraud in 2021 accounted for only 0.028% of the total value of card payments made using cards issued in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). This represents a decline of 12% compared to the previous year.

Factors Contributing to Decline

The introduction of strong customer authentication under the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) has been effective in reducing remote card-not-present fraud. Additionally, cross-border transactions accounted for 63% of the total value of card fraud in Croatia, despite only accounting for 11% of the total value of card payment transactions.

Types of Card Fraud

The ECB’s report distinguishes between two types of card fraud:

  • Card-Not-Present Fraud: This type of fraud involves fraudulent online or telephone payments using stolen card details. In Croatia, card-not-present fraud accounted for approximately 84% of the total value of card fraud in 2021.
  • Card-Present Fraud: This typically occurs at retail outlets and ATMs using counterfeit cards. Card-present fraud fell by 6% in 2021 from its previous year level, due to the continued global roll-out of industry standards aimed at reducing opportunities for magnetic stripe counterfeit fraud.

The ECB closely monitors trends in card fraud and collects statistical information on the volumes and values of card transactions and corresponding fraud. The latest report provides a more detailed overview of the impact of recent regulatory measures and the COVID-19 pandemic on card fraud.

  • Cross-border transactions are increasingly targeted for fraud, despite making up a smaller proportion of overall transactions.
  • Card-not-present fraud is the most common type of fraud in Croatia, accounting for 84% of total value.
  • Industry standards aimed at reducing magnetic stripe counterfeit fraud have led to a decline in card-present fraud.