Dems demand Fed does more to prevent credit fraud

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked the Federal Reserve to do more to prevent credit card fraud.

On Wednesday, the senators sent Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen a letter asking her to work with them to improve the way credit card issuers and merchants protect consumers from fraud.

{mosads}“All participants in the payment system — including merchants, networks and issuers — must bear responsibility for making that system more secure,” the senators wrote. “Congress has assigned the Board an important task in this effort to improve payment security.”

Their letter came as recent reports revealed credit card security breaches at major retailers, such as Target, during the holidays. Since then lawmakers have been demanding more protections for consumers.

“While these breaches reveal security problems that extend beyond the payment system, fraud-prone U.S. payment card technology is a key vulnerability that must be addressed,” the letter stated. “Protecting American consumers from fraud is vital to the integrity of our payment system.”

The senators asked Yellen to respond to a list of questions — such as how many debt card issues are using effecting fraud prevention programs — by March 12.