Canadians use their banking cards millions of times each day for purchases and cash withdrawals from Automated Banking Machines (ABMs).  In fact, Canadians are one of the biggest users of debit and ABMs in the world.  With the Interac shared services, cardholders have convenient access to their cash 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

While Interac shared services are among the most secure in the world, debit card fraud can occur.  Interac Association and its members continue to work together to protect cardholders from debit card fraud and remind them to protect their Personal Identification Number (PIN).

I have been hearing a lot of messages reminding me to protect my Personal Identification Number (PIN), is there a problem?

Debit card fraud incidents are rare when compared to the billions of transactions that take place at an ABM and at the point-of-sale.  In excess of 18 million Canadians use their debit cards monthly with virtually no problems.

However, any debit card fraud is of concern.  Interac Association and its members are working to combat these incidents on several fronts.  As part of this, the Association has identified the need to increase the awareness of PIN security among cardholders to help prevent debit card fraud in Canada.