How Insecure Is Your Credit Card?

Let's pause for a moment to thank the nice folks at Javelin Strategy & Research. Why? Well, because they took the trouble to survey the credit card world to see which cards are the most secure for consumers. In the battle against identity theft, there are three chief areas that card issuers need to address: prevention, detection, and resolution.

Javelin found that "while almost all card issuers do well in helping their customers after fraud or theft occurs, many need to upgrade their identity fraud detection tools." Here are some of their findings:

The winners
The survey looked at practices by both issuers like American Express (NYSE: AXP), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM), as well as retailers such as Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Target (NYSE: TGT), and TJX (NYSE: TJX), along with many other big and familiar names.

The top card was Bank of America's Visa Platinum card, scoring 69 out of a possible 80 points and distinguishing itself on fraud prevention. In second place was the American Express Blue card, with 66 points, excelling in detection. Tied for third with 64 points were the Discover (NYSE: DFS) Platinum Card and First National Bank Omaha's Platinum Edition Visa Card.

What to do
So what should you do with this newfound information? Well, of course you could switch to one of the top-rated cards, but that might not be necessary. The card(s) you use might already be decent at dealing with identity theft. And in the coming years, cards are likely to get better at preventing, detecting, and resolving it.

Still, it's good to know what a best-practices card would offer. So here's a list of what the folks at Javelin would see in an ideal card:

Learn more
Learn much more about the surprisingly interesting credit card industry in our Credit Center, which also features tips on getting out of debt, along with guidance on how to manage your credit effectively.

© 2007 Universal Press Syndicate