Card Sentry is designed to help banks proactively manage the risk associated with card fraud. The product detects fraud by scanning transactions and comparing them to industry standard, identified fraud trends. CSI constantly updates these known trends based on new criminal strategies, reported incidences of fraud and best practices from industry peers.

Card Sentry has been quickly adopted since its launch in February 2007. The system was first released to CSI's Visa customers, then offered to banks using MasterCard debit solutions, shortly thereafter enhanced to include regional network point of sale activity monitoring, and updated further to now include a letter generator feature to ensure timely and consistent communication with cardholders who cannot be reached via telephone.

CSI offers two levels of service to assist banks in informing customers of potential fraudulent activity detected on their debit card accounts. Most Card Sentry users are taking advantage of the premium service that allows CSI Card Sentry fraud analysts to contact cardholders directly. As evidence, fraud analysts were calling an average of 50 cardholders per month when Card Sentry was initially released, but in recent months call volume has increased to nearly 2,000 per month. Banks can also choose to retain the responsibility for contacting their cardholders.

According to Mary Yelton, CSI Card Services Fraud Manager, statistics confirm that Card Sentry is not only saving banks time but also saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars each month. "Card Sentry calculates savings based on the balance in a customer's account at the time possible fraud is identified -- the total amount that could have been lost if the fraud attempt had not been detected and stopped," Yelton said. "Today CSI reviews over 120,000 alerts, blocks an average of 500 cards with confirmed fraud and protects over $750,000 in funds at risk each month."

"Industry statistics indicate that we will continue to see a steady increase in card fraud in coming years because fraudsters are taking advantage of consumers' ever-increasing use of plastic," stated Yelton. "And while no system can eliminate card fraud completely, Card Sentry offers valuable -- and proven -- protection for banks and their customers."