Credit card fraud increased in the UK last year, new figures reveal, with card-not-present fraud thought to be the underlying problem.

The latest statistics from Apacs show card fraud losses totalled £609.9 million in 2008, with online banking fraud losses equating to £52.5 million.

"Card-not-present fraud losses have increased by 13 per cent over the last year and account for 54 per cent of all card fraud losses," Apacs states, adding that tackling fraud continues to be a priority for the industry.

Furthermore, the payments association believes the new Faster Payments Service has not negatively influenced the statistics as online banking fraud losses reduced after it was introduced in May last year.

Earlier this month, Apacs revealed that five billion payments had been processed using the Faster Payments Service on March 2nd.

The total of these payments equates to £1 billion, it stated, with the figures also showing it had beaten its previous daily record, which was announced in December 2008.

Volumes are predicted to rise further as the system is running smoothly, Apacs claimed.