EAST Payments Task Force changes name

The EAST Payments Task Force has changed its name to become the EAST Expert Group on Payment and Transaction Fraud (EAST EPTF).  The decision was made at the 10th EPTF Meeting held on 7th July 2021.  This brings it into line with the other two EAST Expert Groups (EAST EGAF and EAST EGAP).  The EAST Payments Task Force was first convened in 2016.  At that time EAST was undergoing a strategic review of its operations to reflect the fast changing payments landscape.  As part of that review EAST changed its name to become the European Association for Secure Transactions, which was first announced in June 2017.

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said:  “The Payments Task Force fulfilled its initial remit, which was to support EAST as it changed direction from focussing solely on payment terminal fraud and ATM physical attacks, to increasingly focus on payment and transaction related fraud.  At their 10th Meeting this month the EPTF members agreed that the name should change to better reflect the increasingly important input and direction that the group provides for EAST and all EAST members.  I would like to thank Rui and all the team for the excellent work that they done to date, and to wish them all the best for the future as we slowly emerge from the effects of the pandemic into what is becoming called the ‘new normal’.” 

To date the EAST EPTF has produced 20 Payment Alerts for EAST members, and has also published Fraud Terminology and Fraud Definitions. To help standardise how fraud is categorised and reported, the aim is for the terminology and definitions to be adopted globally when describing or reporting payment and terminal fraud.