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MagTek Inc.'s decade-old MagnePrint antifraud technology, which evaluates the physical properties of debit cards' magnetic stripes, is making headway in the United States and Latin America. Chile-based Banco de Credito e Inversiones of Santiago says it has completely stopped cloned card fraud on its ATMs that use MagnePrint, reports CardLine sister publication American Banker. MagnePrint examines the unique traits of the iron particles in a card's mag-stripe. Though crooks can copy the data written to the mag-stripe onto any blank card, the low-level magnetic noise the stripe emits by itself is as unique as a fingerprint, MagTek says. The bank has put the technology on more than half of its nearly 1,000 ATMs, and on those machines "we have zero fraud," says Mario Gaete, the Chilean bank's chief operating officer and chief information officer. The bank last month became the first MagTek customer to announce it is using the technology in full production. In the past eight months, the bank has blocked more than 1,000 fraudulent transactions at the machines that use MagnePrint. It follows up with its customers by phone after it blocks a transaction and checks images from ATM cameras to confirm a fraudster attempted the transaction and not the legitimate customer. In the U.S., Fifth Third Bancorp began evaluating the technology in February at about 1,000 point of sale terminals. The Cincinnati-based company expects to run the test through this month. Fifth Third would not make an executive available to discuss its findings. MagTek says another bank, which it would not name, also is in full production with MagnePrint.
