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Digital Banking in Denmark Coincides With 60% Rise in Card Fraud

Digital Banking in Denmark Coincides With 60% Rise in Card Fraud

(Bloomberg) -- Nordic countries pride themselves on being further ahead than most when it comes to digital banking. But in Denmark, the advances have coincided with a jump in cyber theft.

Credit card fraud jumped almost 60 percent in 2016, according to the most recent data, and Danish police are now urging bank customers to use a texting service offered by banks to notify them of conspicuously big transactions in an effort to fight the trend.

Peter Reisz, deputy chief superintendent at the Copenhagen police force, said the huge increase covers “different kinds of credit card fraud.” Getting the industry to alert the police when they notice big payments “is a simple but effective way to keep an eye on transactions,” he said.

The development underscores the darker side of digitization amid a proliferation of virtual cash flows, with some businesses even rejecting cash altogether. Meanwhile, reported card fraud jumped in 2016, reaching 105 million kroner ($18 million), according to Danish police data. Reports of online fraud soared 300 percent from 2009 to 2016.

To contact the reporter on this story: Frances Schwartzkopff in Copenhagen at fschwartzko1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.