MINNETONKA, Minn. — As identify theft increases and more plastic is compromised, one vendor contends that instant-issue card solutions can reduce a credit union's potential loss and improve member service.
Ron Zanotti, SVP-financial instant issuance sales for Datacard Group, pointed out that having the ability to issue a replacement card to the member immediately limits card fraud exposure.
"If a credit union spots suspicious card activity, typically it will monitor that card as it may take five days to get a replacement card. They don't want to inconvenience the cardholder by immediately blocking the card. But at the same time they open up a window for potential loss exposure."
If the CU has an instant-issue card solution, Zanotti said, it can notify the member of the potential fraudulent activity, block the card immediately, and then ask the member to stop by a branch ASAP to pick up a replacement card. This way the member is not inconvenienced and the potential for loss is reduced."
Zanotti added that instant issue cuts down on the chance a card can be stolen in the mail, as well. "One in three cases involving identity theft occurs via the mail, according to the 2006 U.S. Postal Inspector's Annual Report."
Datacard Group offers the CardWizard instant-issue product to 600 financial institutions, over 450 credit unions.
