Credit Card Security Features

Credit cards offer a convenient and easy way to make purchases in person, online or over the telephone. Credit card fraud, however, is not uncommon and it is important to safeguard your card information from misuse by unauthorized persons. Credit card issuers and banks attempt to protect their credit card customers by adding security features to credit cards.

 

Security Codes

• Many cards are now providing their customers with security codes, which are similar to a personal identification number (PIN) that a customer uses at checkout instead of a signature. Visa, Mastercard and American Express also place a code on the back of your card called a CVV2, which online and phone merchants should ask for to verify that the cardholder has the card in his possession.

 

Security Chips

• Many credit cards are now embedded with chips, which contain the data associated with your credit card. This prevents fraudulent counterfeits from being made.

 

Photo ID

• Some credit card companies offer you the opportunity have your photo on your credit card. This is an advantageous feature, if the merchant bothers to check your photo against the person using the card.

 

Signature

• You should always sign the back of your credit card once you have activated it and don't substitute this for the words "Check ID" (it can be easy for a thief to make a fake ID with your name on it). Signatures are fast becoming replaced by security codes, but if you have an older card, this is a primary safety feature.

 

Transaction Monitoring by Provider

• Your issuing bank should review transactions regularly for anything out of the ordinary. If a transaction is flagged, the card provider will contact you to confirm that the transaction has been authorized. Your card may be temporarily suspended until verified, so be sure to notify your bank of any foreign travel or large purchases before you make them.