Americans Still Paying With Plastic

The recent spat of data breaches at major retailers has not turned off U.S. consumers from using credit cards.

January 29, 2014

NEW YORK CITY – Recent data breaches haven’t dampened consumer enthusiasm for using plastic to pay for purchases, according to a new poll by Ipsos/Reuters.

One in three Americans taking the survey said they had been the victim of credit card fraud, Reuters reports. A fourth of them have experienced their email accounts being compromised, while around 14% have had social media accounts illegally accessed. In addition, a business or provider of service had informed more than a fifth that their financial data had been hacked. Thirty-eight percent of Americans experienced no personal data stolen ever.

As to what happened after the data theft, around 64% said they continued using credit or debit cards, while 63% still shopped on the Internet. More than half indicated they didn’t switch to cash because of the security breaches.

This week, the FBI sent retailers a report informing them that cyber attacks like the one Target experienced would become more common. The arts-and-crafts chain Michaels said this week that its system had likely been compromised for the second time since 2011.

The data breaches have triggered congressional talks and have pitted banks against retailers in discussing who’s responsible for re-issuing cards after an attack. This week, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published steps shoppers could take if fraud is suspected: checking accounts frequently for any unauthorized charges, informing bank or card provider immediately to correct the problem, submit a complaint if the problem’s not resolved, and be wary of “phishing” scams asking for personal data by phone or email.

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