T0 combat debit card fraud, two credit unions have enabled members to receive alerts via text messages on their cellphones if their cards are used. This is the first time Canadian financial institutions have used the technology.

The service, provided by Mount Lehman Credit Union in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley and Cambrian Credit Union in Winnipeg, requires members who choose to use it to sign up through online banking and then set the parameters for the alerts. An alert can be triggered, for example, after retail purchases or ATM withdrawals of more than $100.

Gene Blishen, Mount Lehman’s general manager, says the driving force behind the technology is the growing problem of card-skimming — illegally obtaining personal identification numbers and magnetic stripe information of debit cards to access accounts.

“[The alerts] give people a sense of security, especially older people who didn’t want to use a bank card,” he says. “They bought into [the alert concept] right away. They feel confident about it.”

Once a member’s card has been swiped, he says, it takes only seconds to send out an alert: “A lot of times the cashier will give you the receipt and your cellphone will go off at the same time.”

Connie Clarke, Cambrian’s vice president of systems and administration, says she hopes the alerts will reduce losses from card-skimming. “It gives members an opportunity to protect themselves.”

She points out that the magnetic stripe technology employed on this side of the Atlantic is primitive compared with the chip technology increasingly being used by European financial institutions. She says that has forced many skimmers to migrate to North America.

Clarke says if credit union members get alerts and haven’t used their cards, they can log on to their online accounts to view transactions. And, if illegal transactions are taking place, the card can be cancelled with the click of a mouse.

Mount Lehman members can call a 24-hour number to report suspicious transactions.

Tina Romano, public relations manager at the Interac Association in Toronto, says the association works with its members on several initiatives to deter thieves, including tracking abnormal spending patterns, developing public education programs and collaborating with law enforcement officials. They are also working on the eventual migration to chip technology, she says, which will offer cardholders enhanced security when it takes place in 2011 or 2012.

Mount Lehman, which has 1,850 members and $36 million in AUM, launched its first version of the alert system last spring. The next stage, to be rolled out in June, will notify members of other account transactions, such as amount and date of payroll deposits, and when cheques clear the account. IE