Visa Adds Mobile One-Time Passwords for Online Shopping

The enhanced Verified by Visa service uses a one-time password which is sent to a cardholder’s designated mobile number via a text message. The cardholder uses this one-time password when making payment instead of using a fixed password to verify his or her identity, making online shopping more secure and eliminating the need for the cardholder to remember their password.

Rahul Khosla, Chief Operating Officer for Visa in Asia Pacific said, “A recent Visa survey in Asia Pacific concluded that almost 80 percent of internet users conducted an online transaction and spent an average of US$3,000 each in the past 12 months.[1] It is therefore important that we continue to meet the demand for secure online shopping options. By adding a one-time password service to Verified by Visa we aim to give our cardholders even greater peace of mind with an added layer of control and security when they make payments online.”

Peter Wei, Senior Vice President, Chinatrust Commercial Bank, said, “We are thrilled to work with Visa to launch the world’s first mobile one-time password solution for the Verified by Visa service in Taiwan. We launched an online authentication service based on the Verified by Visa standards in 2004. Since then, more than 400,000 of our cardholders have registered for the service. With the new process of sending a one-time password to a cardholder’s designated mobile phone, we hope to enhance the convenience and increase cardholders’ confidence when they shop online, which has become an utterly integral part of modern life.”

Dai Bin, Head of Credit Card Center, China Everbright Bank said, “We launched our online authentication service based on the Verified by Visa program in December 2007. Since then, we have seen an increase in the number of cardholders using the service to make overseas purchases securely and conveniently. With the introduction of a dynamic one-time password sent directly to mobile phones, our Visa cardholders will enjoy an additional level of security and convenience when they shop online.“

Verified by Visa is an easy-to-use password protected service that verifies a cardholder’s identity while shopping online. It requires cardholders to provide a personal password when paying for goods online with their Visa cards just as they would provide a PIN or signature in person. Verified by Visa provides added assurance that a genuine cardholder is taking part in the transaction, protecting them against the risk of fraudulent use of their cards on the internet. For the retailer, it provides a guarantee that cardholders are who they say they are and reduces the likelihood of fraudulent transactions.

With the new one-time password service, cardholders can enroll their Visa cards for Verified by Visa and register a designated mobile phone number on their bank’s website. When making an online payment, a cardholder enters his or her Visa card number and a screen from the bank appears and asks for the password. At the same time, a one-time password will be sent to the cardholder’s mobile phone via text message. After the cardholder inputs this password, the bank will verify the transaction, thus completing the payment.