In 2011 there seemed to be quite a consensus among industry pundits that, while EMV (Chip and PIN) is indeed the way forward for cards and terminals, as long as EMV cards retain magnetic stripes, the cards will still be at risk from skimming. In Europe we have seen the introduction of chip-only debit cards, and of regional card blocking, or geo-blocking, of debit cards by some European card issuers - and there is speculation that many more are following.
Last week I saw an annoucement from the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) stating that:
- All ATM and ATM-linked debit cards will be EMV cards by 2014.
- By June of this year, and to counter a recent spate of skimming incidents, all ABS members will start sending out SMS text alerts to customers when their cards are used for ATM withdrawals at home or abroad
- And also by June of this year all Singaporean banks will block ATM and ATM-linked debit cards from being used overseas, unless individual customers request otherwise.
Now that is a joined-up approach to card security! As the new Singaporean EMV cards are rolled out, they will still be vulnerable to skimming attacks, but the fraudsters will find it very difficult to use the counterfeits due to enhanced fraud detection (SMS alerts) and fraud prevention (geo-blocking) measures. This will make life difficult for fraudsters in that market and no doubt incidences of other forms of ATM related crime will appear. Based on the European experience these could well be cash trapping, and physical attacks against ATMs or against those conducting cash replenishment operations.
With the support of Europol, 56 suspected members of a major network of payment card fraudsters (38 in Bulgaria, 17 in Italy and 1 in the Netherlands) were arrested in a coordinated raid across Europe. 
Sharing ATM crime and fraud patterns across borders is key to helping prevent such crime. Alerted to a particular issue, those countries that may not have yet experienced it can better prepare for its possible arrival. One example of this was the way that the recent up-tick of cash trapping in Europe was tracked by the National Members of the European ATM Security Team (EAST). 
In several posts I have touched on regional card blocking, often known as geo-blocking. What is it? Why is it done? How is it done? Where is it done? Does it work? In this post I will try to briefly answer these questions.
According to the European ATM Security Team (EAST), cash trapping incidents significantly increased during 2011, while skimming incidents and ATM related fraud losses fell. Total ATM related fraud incidents increased 63% from 12,383 in 2010, to 20,244 in 2011. Cash trapping accounted for 10,808 incidents, up from just 240 in 2010. During a cash trapping attack criminals prevent cash from a genuine transaction being dispensed – and then remove it when the cardholder has left the ATM. Incidences of card skimming fell by 26% to the lowest level since 2008.
