For 13 years now, the 69-year-old has added his thumbprint to any application for credit, whether it’s a mobile phone contract, credit card, loan or mortgage. If someone steals his identity and uses it to fraudulently take out a loan or credit card in his name, he can hold the lender responsible. It was hugely successful: the local police reported that in six months the number of incidents involving card fraud had fallen by 84%, while cheque fraud was down 71%. The biggest is that if there is a notice of correction on your credit file, a credit application has to be processed manually. Munroe believes the thumbprint scheme might not be suitable for people who make a lot of applications or younger customers who want credit quickly.

Source: The Guardian September 23, 2017 06:00 UTC