Message from the Executive Director

The end of another busy year is almost upon us.  On behalf of the EAST Board I would like to thank everyone who has contributed towards the continued success of EAST this year – and it has been a very busy year.  In June we changed our name to become the European Association for Secure Transactions, the culmination of many discussions held by our Board and National Members, and positioning EAST to continue to be able to support the needs of our members in the fast changing payments landscape.  The announcement was made at our Third EAST FCS Forum in The Hague.  This well-attended event, the best yet, also featured two new interactive workshops run by EAST EGAF and EAST EGAP.

We held National Member meetings in Oslo in February (our 41st Meeting hosted by Bits AS), in The Hague in June (our 42nd Meeting hosted by Europol) and in Edinburgh in October (our 43rd Meeting hosted by the LINK Scheme).  In January Halo BCA joined EAST as a new National Member for Indonesia and in April Banorte IXE joined EAST as a new National Member for Mexico

The EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF), chaired by Otto de Jong, held three meetings in January, May and September, all hosted by ING in Amsterdam.  EGAF updated its guidelines on standardising terminology for locations of Card Data Compromise (CDC) devices at ATMs and also the definitions used to report and classify ATM fraud.  Law Enforcement participation is from Europol, the US Secret Service, the BKA and the French Gendarmerie (IRCGN).

The EAST Expert Group on ATM and ATS Physical Attacks (EGAP), chaired by Graham Mott, held two meetings in March and September, both in The Hague, one hosted by Europol and the other by the LINK Scheme.  Law Enforcement participation in this group is increasing with LEAs from 8 different countries participating, in addition to Europol.

The EAST Payments Task Force (EPTF), chaired by Rui Carvalho, held its first face-to-face meeting in April and its second meeting last month.  Both were hosted by the BPFI in Dublin.  This group will add value to the payments industry by using the unique and extensive EAST National Member platform and Associate Member network to provide information and outputs that are not currently available elsewhere.  Law Enforcement participation is from Europol and the US Secret Service.

In addition to the work of the above groups, we supported Law Enforcement during the year by presenting at:  the Europol Training on Payment Card Forensics; an INTERPOL event focussed on countering Cyber and Financial Crimes; Europol’s 4th Strategic Payment Card Fraud meeting in Asia; and Europol’s first combined Strategic Payment Card Fraud Meeting with representatives from Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America.

We took part in the 5th Europol-INTERPOL Cybercrime Conference and formalised a relationship with ASEANAPOL, another step forward in addressing the consequences of the spread of the activities of organised criminal groups across regions and globally.

We also presented at the following private sector events: the MasterCard Global Risk Leadership Conference – Europe, the NCR Fraud & Security Summit, the Third Latin America Security Forum, and the General Assembly of Vigie Billet.

EAST continues to keep abreast of the latest fraud trends and crime information, publishing our European Payment Terminal Crime Reports and European Fraud Updates.  Our thanks again go out to all the people and organisations that have shared information for the above, and for EAST Fraud Alerts (41 sent out this year to date), and EAST ATM Physical Attack Alerts (12 sent out this year to date).  Our first Payment Alert is expected to be published shortly.

EAST Associate Membership continues to grow.  We now have 192 Associate Member organisations from 52 countries and territories.  This membership category is open for worldwide application to all Banks, Law Enforcement (free membership available), and other approved ATM Stakeholder organisations.

Wherever you are reading this I would like to wish you a wonderful festive break and a very happy New Year!

Kind regards

Lachlan

 

EAST gains representation from Mexico

banorteBanorte IXE has joined EAST as the National Member for Mexico.  While EAST is focussed on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), Banorte IXE will participate as a non-SEPA member.  Banorte IXE has 1,269 branches nationwide and deploys over 7,000 ATMs.  It can also receive deposits through more than 5,200 commercial establishments, such as drug stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets.

Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. de C.V., is a Mexican banking and financial services holding company with headquarters in Monterrey and Mexico City.  It is one of the four largest commercial banks of Mexico by assets and loans, and the largest retirement fund administrator.  It operates its commercial bank under the brands ‘Banorte’ and ‘IXE’, offering savings accounts, credit cards, payday loans, mortgages, commercial loans and auto loans.  It also performs insurance, pension, leasing, and brokerage activities.

EAST has national representation from the following 26 European countries:  Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.  EAST is still seeking national representative members from:  Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.

Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States are represented at EAST as non-SEPA members and EAST is seeking to establish links with parties in any country, able to share national incident and loss statistics for ATM related fraud and physical attacks.   Interested parties should contact us through this website.