In the era of online retailing and shopping, along with Christmas drawing closer by the day, more and more customers are protecting themselves and their accounts by registering their debit and credit cards with MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa - online payment systems. These systems help to make online shopping safer and less likely to become victims of fraud.

According to recent figures that were given out by APACS the UK payments association, around 25 million customers have registered their credit or debit card in the past 12 months, this shows a 150 per cent increase in the number of people registering, from 10 million registered shoppers and a 600 per cent increase in the space of two years, up from 3.6 million.

Card protection for online shoppers

Cardholders are able to sign up quickly and can choose a private password, which can be used when shopping online. Registering to the credit card, provides the card holder with safer usage online and a lower chance of unauthorised use of their card for online purchases and it also gives a straightforward service, that is complementary to the online shopping process. Moreover this application is completed without the need to download any new software onto the computer. The number of online shoppers registering their credit cards has increased from 200,000 per month in 2006 to 1.5 million applicants within the same period of time this year.

The card holder also has a variety of ways in which they can register their card, including signing up their details on the website that they shop at or if they chose, they can record their details with the financial provider that they get their card from. An increasing number of online retailers provide this security service and currently around a third of online shopping revenue goes through these secure payment methods. Moreover details of the application process are available for downloading and it supplies the credit card users with a safety guide to the SecureCode application.

Sandra Quinn, Director of Communications at APACS, said: "Shopping online is now very much part of our everyday life and it is excellent news that more than 25 million cards have registered with MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa. 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."

An online shopper however, expresses a disliking to the process of registering their card online. They said: “The page appeared on the website that I was shopping on, it didn’t give me the option of thinking about it and I couldn’t go forward or backward without putting my details on the form.”

Within this year, APACS will launch a new campaign, which is designed to protect card users from fraudsters when they shop online in the run up to the Christmas period. The campaign known as ‘Be Smart Online’ will give credit card users to behave in the same way.