Apacs talks up take-up of online card security schemes

Holders of over 25 million credit and debit cards have signed up to the MasterCard and Visa schemes over the past two years, says Apacs and around 1.5 million customers are registering for the services every month

But the rapid rise in take-up can largely be attributed to moves by banks - such as Barclays and Natwest - to make subscription to the password-based online authentication services mandatory for customers.

Commenting on the figures, Sandra Quinn, director of communications, Apacs, says: "This is an important milestone as it means that more than half of all online shoppers have now registered their cards. The banking industry continues to urge those cardholders not yet signed up to do so, as we all need to play our part to make life harder for online shopping fraudsters."

However the schemes have been targeted by cybercriminals and have also come under criticism from cardholders concerned about handing over personal data.