“Although the banking officials and security officers contacted for this article refused to be quoted on the record, all of them agreed that online bank fraud is an increasing problem.”

“It’s not a problem of authentication but one of transactional authorization,” says Bruce Schneier, leading security expert and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security. “No matter how hard you make the initial authentication for the end-user or hacker, the malware can just wait until the authentication is done and then manipulate the transaction.” (Full Story…)

“Many analysts point to last month’s Group of Seven meeting of central bankers and finance ministers in Washington as a watershed event. In a rare show of unanimity, G7 members acknowledged that the global imbalances have become unsustainable, without a significant correction in currencies.” (more…)

In our ongoing quest to provide you with specific information about International Foreign Conversion Fees that some credit card companies charge we’ve added the following companies to the directory:

• Diner’s Club
• Discover Card
• EverBank
• HSBC
• Providian
• MBNA

At TravelFinances.com we’re keeping an eye on those unnecessary foreign currency conversion fees that some credit card companies are charging. We’ve added CitiBank to our growing directory of credit cards that charge these currency conversion fees. (See the listing…)

“No legitimate bank or e-commerce company is going to send its customers e-mails requesting security information,” said Amanda Pires, a spokesperson for PayPal. “Nor is a bank going to send out an e-mail warning that a user’s account will be suspended if they do not immediately provide their Social Security Number.”

(Full Story…)

Below is a comparison chart of the International Conversion Fees that debit card companies charge. Click here for more information about International Conversion Fees sometimes also called “Foreign Currency Conversion Fees.” Debit cards can be an excellent way to make purchases and obtain cash from ATM machines abroad provided you avoid the fees. The percentages below include the 1% fee charged by Visa and MasterCard to make foreign purchases if such a charge is applicable. It is also worth noting that both Visa and MasterCard either have plans to charge (or are already charging) the 1% fee on foreign purchases regardless of whether the purchase was made in US dollars.
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