It's not fair to just look at it in terms of the cost of fraud vs. profit. Consumers whose CC info is stolen aren't liable for fraudulent charges but it can still be very expensive and time-consuming for them to correct everything, not to mention the affect it can have on a credit score. And obviously, the consumers don't get any say in whether the costs to upgrade the infrastructure are worth it.
> Consumers whose CC info is stolen aren't liable for fraudulent charges
That's only if the credit card company believes or accepts your story.
I once reserved a flight by telephone using a credit card, but at the airport I paid for the flight with cash. Later I found that my credit card was charged for the flight. The airline said that they couldn't find any evidence that I had paid in cash, and even though their policy was to get a signature when paying by credit card, they could not produce my signature. But they still insisted that I had paid by credit card.
I complained to the credit card issuer, but they took the airline's word (United Airlines, by the way) over mine.
It's not enough that charges are fraudulent -- if the merchant is mistaken in their belief (or lying), you are on the hook!
