CUNA Mutual Group has released a new online tool that should help credit unions better measure their risk of credit and debit card fraud.

The insurer said the tool should help its policy holders assess whether their card program is in a good, fair, or "cautionary" state of security.

"A credit union's operations could be severely impacted if its card portfolio or plastic card program were fraudulently attacked, especially if it resulted in uninsured losses," said Becky Severson, CUNA Mutual risk manager. "That's why we felt it was critical for CUNA Mutual to help credit unions identify their plastic card program vulnerabilities and recommend actions based on risk exposure and insurance considerations."

The Plastic Card Risk Assessment functionality is quick and concise, containing 24 multiple-choice questions that can be easily completed in less than 20 minutes. The credit union receives recommendations based upon their specific responses.

This is the second online risk assessment module offered by CUNA Mutual's Credit Union Protection division, joining the Disaster Preparedness assessment tool launched in 2009. That program enables credit unions to review their vulnerabilities to disasters and take recommended action based on risks, loss controls and credit union best practices.

More online risk assessment modules will be added and announced during 2010. "Self-service risk assessments are yet another step toward our goal of being easier to do business with and complement the efforts of our risk management face-to-face credit union visits," added Severson.