Commonwealth Bank offers extra security for online shoppers

Although credit card fraud is rare these days, thanks to improvements in online shopping security, at least one bank is moving to help keep consumers even safer when they shop on the internet.

The Commonwealth Bank has announced new measures that will help ensure its customers are safe and their online purchases are protected, iTWire reports.

Commonwealth Bank customers shopping at any ecommerce site displaying the MasterCard SecureCode or Verified by Visa logos will now be prompted to offer an additional security code to verify the transaction. The secure token support is offered as an additional measure to protect the private information entered into online shopping carts.

The 3.8 million Commonwealth members already enrolled in the bank's NetCode token device or SMS service for existing online banking activities will be automatically enrolled for the new features. In the case of the SMS service, a one-time code will be sent to the shopper's mobile phone, which must then be entered into the ecommerce platform within 30 seconds to complete the transaction. The token device, which is already familiar to many millions of Australian online banking users, will provide the authorization code whenever the button is pressed.

John Geurts, executive general manager of group security at Commonwealth Bank, told iTWire that the new features would offer "greater peace of mind when shopping online and an additional layer of security in identifying a transaction is taking place by the genuine cardholder."

The Norton Online Living Report found that 76 percent of online adults had purchased something online. Additionally, around 55 percent of Australians have a high degree of confidence online, and approximately a third feeling confident sharing personal information when shopping online.