Security professionals have been warning about the data-security risks of connecting millions of non-computer devices to the Internet, and those warnings appear to be making an impact. Newly released results of an international consumer and business survey by payment-security technology provider Gemalto NV say that 90% of consumers lack confidence …
Read More »With New Anti-Fraud Systems in Place, WEX Says Skimming Losses Are Trending Down
After suffering a spike in fraud from skimmers on gas pumps earlier this year, fleet-fueling payment specialist WEX Inc. reported Wednesday that fraud losses are falling thanks to its new risk-control systems. “The steps we have taken to reduce losses fraud have started to pay off,” Roberto Simon, chief financial …
Read More »With Payments Getting Faster, Banks Look to Consistent, But Flexible, Identification Routines
Financial institutions are realizing that a smooth experience is as important to consumers when identifying themselves as the authentication strategy itself, regardless of the channel consumers use to access their accounts. This finding is part of a new study from NICE Actimize, a Hoboken, N.J.-based provider of risk-management and compliance …
Read More »PCI Council Leadership Shifts Gears, and the Organization Adds 3-D Secure Standards
The PCI Security Standards Council is without a general manager as the organization that establishes electronic-payments security standards prepares to go in a new direction with its leadership. Out is Stephen W. Orfei, who joined the council in 2014 as general manager and replaced Bob Russo, the council’s original G.M. …
Read More »Americans’ ‘Password Hygiene’ Is Getting Worse, International Study Finds
Despite non-stop news reports about data breaches, Americans over the past year have gotten sloppier about their usage of passwords to protect their financial accounts online. That’s the word from research firm Aite Group LLC and Visa Inc., which recently announced results of their second annual Global Security Engagement Scorecard …
Read More »Merchants in a Quandary Balancing Fraud Reduction and Higher Transaction Volume: Report
Almost as many merchants—65%—seek to increase transaction volumes by reducing identity verification thresholds as do those—74%—that try to reduce fraudulent transactions through more effective verification methods. That quandary surfaced in the “Lost in Transaction Vol. II” report released Thursday by Paysafe Group plc. With a focus on fraud, including consumer …
Read More »Tokenization Gets a Boost as The Clearing House Signs on To Manage Mastercard Tokens
The Clearing House, a major player in U.S. payments, is getting deeper into the tokenization business through a new pact with Mastercard Inc. New York City-based The Clearing House and Mastercard announced Thursday that TCH has become a Mastercard-certified third-party Token Service Provider (TSP). As such, TCH will be able …
Read More »Mastercard Scrubs Its Signature Requirement for POS Transactions
Mastercard Inc. is doing away with a rule requiring merchants to get signatures for transactions made with its credit and debit cards in the United States and Canada. Announced early Thursday, Mastercard’s rule change goes into effect April 13, 2018, allowing issuers, merchants, and processors time to make adjustments, though …
Read More »Visa ID Intelligence Aims To Be A Digital Authentication Hub
Issuers, merchants, and processors all share the same dilemma when attempting to authenticate an online identity. They are bedeviled by personally identifiable information easily accessible to criminals that they can use to spoof authentic consumers. In response, Visa Inc. on Thursday announced the Visa ID Intelligence service, which it says …
Read More »The Clearing House Gets TSP Certification and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/19/17
From the Oops Department: First Data Corp. early Thursday quickly removed from its Web site an inadvertently posted press release saying it had a deal to acquire independent sales organization BluePay Holdings Inc. “First Data confirmed that it is currently in discussions with BluePay with respect to a potential transaction, …
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