MADISON, Wis. — CUNA Mutual executives have been warning CUs for months that the costs of insuring their credit and debit card programs against fraud would eventually have to rise, and now that time has come.

The insurer confirmed that rate increases have started to be sent out to CUs whose insurance policies are up for renewal in the fall. CUNA would not discuss the terms of any individual CU's policy and stressed that each CU's situation would be different depending on their fraud history, but some credit unions have described increases of between 200% and 300% to their processors and associations. CUNA Mutual says that, so far, it has received only minimal feedback from credit unions about the increases, though they just started being sent out.

Mark Krasnick, a senior vice president with CUNA Mutual explained the insurer had to start charging more, given the dramatic and unprecedented increases in plastic card losses it has seen. Since late 2004, CUNA Mutual has paid out in excess of $2 in claims for every $1 in premiums collected, Krasnick said.