Prepaid cards 'create online risk'
11/12/2008
The introduction of prepaid debit and credit cards has created a problem of online age verification, one expert has said.
According to John Lyons, chief security officer for SecureTrading, online retailers and credit reference agencies cannot determine whether a customer is under the age of 18.
He warned that prepaid cards "are indistinguishable from other cards" and therefore the customer's age cannot be verified.
"Last year most of the major financial services institutions were offering prepaid debit and credit cards to young people of 14 years of age and above," he stated.
Mr Lyons added that there are laws governing the sale of certain goods to those above the age of 18 and this law cannot be ignored online.
Over half of internet shoppers are expected to pay for their goods using a credit card this year so that their purchases are insured, research from Egg revealed recently.
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