Last year, Bankrate.com published an article about an alert shopper who noticed something a little strange about an ATM near a popular outdoor market in Portland, Oregon. A thief had attached a skimmer -- a device that "skims" your debit or credit card number for fraudulent purposes -- to the ATM. The shopper alerted market security, but no one knows how long the skimmer was attached or how many credit card numbers were taken.

The idea of debit or credit card fraud can strike cold fear into even the most tech-savvy consumer. Once someone possesses your credit card or debit card number, you're looking at a long list of action items, the first being figuring out the phone numbers to call for your credit cards and the task of turning them off.

But what if a consumer had the ability to turn their credit card off with just an app on their mobile phone? Say hello to 2014 and the advent of Remote Control Credit Cards for credit card management.

According to an article in MSN.COM this week entitled Your Credit Card May Soon have an On/Off Switch: "Emerging technology gives consumers the ability to turn their credit and debit cards on and off through a smartphone app, a capability that can not only help families and businesses control how authorized users shop with the card but also, and perhaps more importantly, help prevent card fraud."

FLEX is one of the first in credit union core technology with a Remote Control Credit Card capabilities.  FLEX is able to provide credit unions this amazing feature that allows its members to turn access to their credit or debit cards on or off with the touch of a button.  If you have not done so already, we invite you to read the case study on how we helped a credit union in Georgia be a market leader in credit card security and attract new members through this technology.

It was reported last week by CUNA that credit unions can now tout that nationwide there are more than 100 million people who call themselves CU members.  For this number to continue to grow, it is imperative for Credit Unions to embrace new core technology, among those being on the cutting edge of credit card security.

Want to learn more about Remote Control Credit Cards, and how to take advantage of them being a "Turn Off"?