The Impacts of bank card fraud on the retail sector performance: a case of Spar Letombo

Author

Mazuru, Isaac.

Title

The Impacts of bank card fraud on the retail sector performance: a case of Spar Letombo

Abstract

The general rise of bank card fraud has managed to raise many question without answers which necessitated the current research aimed at the impacts of bank card fraud on the retail sector performance case Spar Letombo. The study was conducted in an organization located in a busy central business area characterized by industries and suburbs. The objectives of the study were; to determine the impacts of bank card fraud on the retail sector performance, to identify types and nature of bank frauds prevalent, to identify the causes of bank card frauds and lastly to establish strategies to curb bank card fraud. The researcher used a case study research design with a descriptive approach, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. A sample of 25 respondents was employed which comprised of till operators, management, security, accounting and loss control each constituting 5 respondents per department. The study discovered that major impacts of bank card fraud were loss of reputational advantage, realization of profits, and reduction of customer’s confidence. Minor impacts were cost of investigating fraud, job losses, bad publicity and legal actions among others. The research also found out that major types of bank card frauds within the sector include lost/stolen card fraud, counterfeit fraud, and application fraud. Account takeover, skimming, white plastic, merchant fraud, internet fraud and card generators were not prevalent. The causes for the upsurge of bank card fraud were poverty, poor internal controls, poor educational awareness campaigns, low detection, opportunity, greediness and rationalization. Strategies to curb the epidemic were compensation packages, staff training, whistleblowing, penalize offenders, awareness campaigns. Forensic auditing, segregation of duties, and employing of financial intelligence personas were among the minor ones. The researcher concluded that fraud has negatively impacted the success of the organization as a whole and its complexity in nature calls for a more coordinated and advanced approach and recommended that there is need for retailers to enforce internal controls in order to promote operational efficiency and effectiveness, provide reliable tactical knowledge, safe guard assets and records and encourage adherence to prescribed rules and policies governing bank card fraud in the retail sector performance.

Date

December 2022

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Bank Cards,

Fraud,

Retail sector performance,

Supervisor

Ms. R.N.Gopo,