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Monday, August 27, 2001 |
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VISA U.S.A. REPORTS GROWING ADOPTION OF INTERNET PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION PROCESS NATIONWIDE
Contact: Lori Teranishi Melissa Morey
Visa U.S.A. Ketchum
415-932-2158 415-984-6184
lteranis@visa.com melissa.morey@ketchum.com
U.S. Merchants, Banks, And Processors Commit To “Verified by Visa”
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – (August 27, 2001) – Visa U.S.A. announced today a growing number of merchants, financial institutions and e-commerce service providers are signing up to offer their customers “Verified by Visa”. Verified by Visa enables Visa card Issuers to validate the identity of their cardholders in real time, during online payment transactions. The process is designed to increase consumer and merchant confidence in electronic commerce, resulting in increased online sales and reduced disputes and fraud.
According to research conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers, 79 percent of consumers cite security concerns as the primary reason they haven’t shopped online. Verified by Visa allows consumers to actively protect their Visa accounts from unauthorized use. Cardholders activate Verified by Visa on their accounts by selecting personalized passwords that become their online “signature” for web purchases.
Unlike other authentication solutions that require consumers to dramatically change their shopping behavior, Verified by Visa is simple to use. Each time cardholders make purchases at participating online stores, they are automatically presented with a Verified by Visa window where they enter their personalized password. Verified by Visa significantly minimizes fraud and customer disputes because only the cardholder and their card Issuer know the password.
“Until now, online retailers have not had a reliable method of verifying a cardholder’s identity during an online transaction. In addition, many consumers have lingering concerns about the security of online shopping, and this has become the major barrier to the widespread acceptance of e-commerce,” said Jim McCarthy, senior vice president of e-Visa, a division of Visa U.S.A. “Verified by Visa gives consumers the same sense of security online as they’ve come to expect in the physical world, and we plan to aggressively market and educate cardholders on how they can participate.”
To further promote consumer awareness, Visa has developed a special Verified by Visa symbol signifying availability on participating merchant websites.
Increasing support for Verified by Visa is evidenced in its adoption by major financial institutions including Bank of America, First USA, Fleet Credit Card Services, a subsidiary of FleetBoston Financial, Providian Financial, SouthTrust and SunTrust. Cardholders will be able to sign-up for the new service this Fall by visiting www.visa.com/verified to register with their participating financial institutions. Visa is also actively working with a number of other leading card Issuers who are in various stages of implementation.
Processors supporting Verified by Visa include Certegy (previously known as Equifax Payment Services), First Data Corp., Global Payments Inc., TSYS and Vital Processing Services.
Visa is working with the top 50 online merchants and other e-commerce service providers to integrate the Visa Payer Authentication software into their payment servers, including 1-800-Flowers.com, 800.com, Ashford, CDNOW, Dell, McAfee.com, OfficeMax, Outpost.com, and target.com. In addition, Beyond.com will offer Verified by Visa to their eStore clients. Leading online retailers, including buy.com, eCongo and Tickets.com, have already implemented Verified by Visa and are the first online merchants to offer the service.
“Target.com continues to innovate, even as others are pulling back from the Internet. Visa Payer Authentication is another important new feature to enhance our guest’s shopping experience,” said Jerry Storch, Vice Chairman, Target Corporation. “A quick, credible authentication program will add to the convenient and secure appeal of target.com.”
Acquirers participating in the Visa Payer Authentication service are Chase Merchant Services, L.L.C., Fifth Third Bank, First of Omaha Merchant Processing, National Processing Company and Paymentech.
Verified by Visa is a key component of Visa U.S.A.’s Secure Commerce Program launched last year. “BBBOnLine encourages merchants to adhere to responsible business practices in privacy protection, information security and other areas key to customer satisfaction and to take advantage of new technologies that can boost consumer confidence in the growing e-commerce marketplace. The Verified by Visa process offers businesses and consumers another tool designed to help ensure a positive online shopping experience,” said Ken Hunter, president of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and its BBBOnLine subsidiary. BBBOnLine, which brings the Better Business Bureau system’s 89 years of experience in consumer protection and business self-regulation to e-commerce, joined forces with Visa U.S.A. last November in a two-year partnership to promote safe online shopping.
You can learn more about Verified by Visa by visiting www.visa.com/verified.
About Visa U.S.A.
Visa is the world’s leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with the best way to pay and be paid. More than 14,000 U.S. financial institutions rely on Visa’s processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate over $810 billion in annual transaction volume – including more than half of all Internet payments – with virtually 100 percent reliability. U.S. consumers carry more than 353 million Visa-branded smart, credit, commercial, stored value and check cards, accepted at approximately 22 million locations worldwide. Visa has long led the industry in developing payment security standards, and has been named the most trusted payment brand online. Visa’s people, partnerships, brand and payment technology are helping to create universal commerce – the ability to safely conduct transactions anytime, anywhere and by any device. Please visit www.visa.com for additional information.
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