June 24, 2014 - Almost one-in-four people have fallen victim to card fraud over the past five years, according to a study of 6100 consumers across 20 countries by ACI Worldwide and Aite.

With 1367 confirmed data breaches in 2013 alone, the study finds consumer confidence wavering in the face of rising levels of online crime.

The ACI/Aite poll found that UAE. has the highest rate of fraud overall at 44%, followed by China at 42% and India and the United States at 41% each.

The increasing incidence of card fraud appears to be having a destabilising effect on consumer trust in financial organisations, with one-quarter of cardholders switching banks due to dissatisfaction after experiencing fraud. A further 63% of victims also reported that they are more likely to use their cards less.

Shirley Inscoe, senior analyst, Aite Group. "Consumers lack confidence in their bank's ability to protect them from fraud, so banks must remain vigilant in their fraud migration efforts or face increased customer attrition."

Visa Europe insists that investment in things such as chip and PIN and Verified by Visa has helped it drive fraud levels to a record low. Last year, the fraud to sales ratio on Visa cards was 0.045% Europe-wide, meaning that for every 100 euros spent, less than five cents was lost to crooks.