VisaCard Seeks Customers’ Aid Against Card-fraud

DETERMINED to reduce e-payment fraud related cases to the barest minimum from its current level of less than six cent per $100 of transaction, VisaCard has sort the assistance of its customers to curb the growing menace card-fraud across the world.

Speaking during a press parley to mark the 2016 VisaCard Security Week, Group Country Manager, VisaCard, Mr. Ade Ashaye said that Visa is seeking the assistance of customers in curbing card related fraud due to the rapid growth of the card payment industry.

According to him, customers’ education and awareness on how to prevent card fraud holds the key to winning the war over card fraud saying that the electronic payments industry is innovating at a rapid pace, developing new methods involving cloud-based NFC mobile technology, e-commerce, and in-app payment systems.

He said that all these innovations help make electronic payments easier and more accessible adding that the industry is also working hard at strengthening one of the pillars of its operations, which is security.

Ashaye disclosed that since fraudsters and their methods have become more sophisticated, the card industry must stay updated on potential risks and counter them with measures to predict and prevent fraud.

Emezino Afiegbe (Senior Business Development Leader, Nita Omanga (Director Risk Services Sub-Saharan Africa) Ade Ashaye (Group Country Manager)

He said that the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, PCI DSS, have set risk management policies and programs in order to define the technical and operation requirements for cardholder data protection.

He said further that the electronic payments networks are implementing steps to prevent fraud and ensure their risk management assets are oriented to new threats, and their systems geared to resist any attacks, and that the adoption of EMV-enabled or chip-enabled cards, tokenization and point-to-point encryption are technologies that will positively shape the card industry in the coming years.

He explained that the global shift towards chip-based EMV cards is the solid foundation for fraud protection noting that the chip serves as a microprocessor embedded in plastic payment cards or mobile phones.

Ashaye stressed that unlike magnetic stripe cards; the data on the chip is dynamic and changes with every transaction, making it complex for criminals to create counterfeit chip cards or fraudulent transactions.

While assuring Visa consumers of secured transactions he revealed that one of the most important initiatives for bolstering security in payments is to foster the collective responsibility of all the units in the payment ecosystem, which is made up of financial institutions, merchants, and card networks.

Director for Risk Services, Visa Card, Sub-Saharan Africa, Nita Omanga, said that there are a number of things that cardholders should know to prevent fraud, which are that they keep their user name and password secret and that they must use only secured internet browsers to secure their data transmission.

She advised cardholders never to respond to emails that ask for personal account information and avoid sending payment information via email saying that they should keep record of transactions and review monthly transaction thoroughly.

Nita counselled cardholders to check the site for the merchant delivery and return policy before making a purchase to ensure items can returned if they are not in satisfactory condition.

“Merchants and issuers who comply with EMV standards benefit from the reduction of potential losses from fraudulent transactions. By upgrading their payment terminals, business owners can significantly reduce the threat of card fraud. The aim of the payment industry is to accelerate this evolution, and government regulation has helped speed the process along”, she said.