Credit card fraud to cost UAE banks $54 mln

Oct 12, 2009 at 23:22

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  Fears $545 mln UAE credit card debt now toxic

DUBAI - Credit card fraud in the UAE is expected to cost banks $54 million this year, a rise of 20 percent over the previous year, local daily Emirates Business reported citing Abu Dhabi-based financial services firm, Dunia Finance, on Tuesday.



The increase in fraud is mainly due to economic crisis, the newspaper said.



“As far as the UAE is concerned, we've been observing a year-on-year loss of $45 million and because of crisis it is expected to increase by 20 per cent,” Asanka Amarasekara, head of fraud control at Dunia Finance, told the newspaper.



The trend is similar in other Gulf countries because of the presence of a large number of expatriate workers, he added.



Banks in the UAE have been hit by a wave of corporate and personal loan defaults as many businesses have gone bust and individuals have lost jobs.