High street bank HSBC is to crack down on credit card fraud by introducing new technology that will scrutinise transactions more closely.

According to the BBC, monitoring will be stepped up and all transactions will now be screened, compared to just 25% previously.

The company providing the software is SAS UK. Explaining how it works, the firm’s spokesperson Bart Patrick said:

When you put your card in the machine it’s carrying out an automatic check against your pattern of normal use and making a decision about whether that is real or fraudulent.

HSBC has warned that more legitimate transactions could be queried or even declined as a result of closer monitoring.

It has therefore urged travellers to carry cash or travellers’ cheques as well as credit cards when they go abroad, in case fraud is suspected and their transactions are cancelled.

Figures from the UK payments association Apacs show that fraud abroad accounted for 40% of all plastic card fraud losses during the first half of 2008.