Universal Card Provider ScramCard Pegs its Pitch on Mitigating Fraud Risk

Backers of ScramCard, a new universal card that offers consumers the ability to load multiple credit and debit cards onto one card, hope messages touting its potential security and fraud-mitigation benefits will reach welcoming ears.

Like other universal cards, ScramCard enables consumers to load their payment card details onto the device, which retains the same size and shape of a credit card, enabling it to be used at point-of-sale terminals. ScramCard contains magnetic-stripe, EMV, and near-field communications (NFC) technology. Adorned with the MasterCard Inc. brand, it can be used wherever MasterCard is accepted.

Where ScramCard hopes to differentiate itself from other such providers, such as Coin and Stratos, is that each transaction requires a PIN to gain access to the mag stripe, EMV chip, or contactless chip, says Simon Hewitt, founder and chief executive. No companion app is required unless the user wants to make a signature-based magnetic stripe transaction. He expects ScramCard to be available in the first quarter of 2016.

“We’re not looking at solutions that are going to fit everybody,” Hewitt tells Digital Transactions News. “We’re looking at a product that looks for real factors in regards to financial fraud or identity-theft risk across multiple channels.” ScramCard can be used for card-present and card-not-present transactions.

The device, which features a numeric pad, electronic ink display, and power button on the reverse side, generates a three-digit one-time code that replaces static card-verification codes printed on cards. Transactions are passed from the merchant to ScramCard’s server to match the card-generated one-time code, and then to the payment processor. Neither the merchant nor the card issuer needs to make any changes to accommodate ScramCard’s independent verification process, Hewitt says.

Though ScramCard is designed as a self-contained device, with no connectivity to a companion app or the Internet required, it does require a pre-authorization app when a user wants to make a signature-based, magnetic-stripe transaction. The consumer opens the app on her smart phone to pre-authorize a transaction made with the magnetic stripe. This removes the signature as the authentication method, Hewitt says. “It provides a bridge between the mag stripe and EMV,” he says.

ScramCard is available in five variations: Pinnacle, which is for issuers to use as a replacement for their cards; Wallet, which enables users to load cards from multiple issuers; Token, a payment card with additional enterprise-authentication capabilities; Union, a hybrid of the Pinnacle and Wallet cards; and Unique for ScramCard issuers needing a customized product.

Hewitt says ScramCard is in talks with banks in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia, and is getting some interest from banks in Japan and other parts of Asia. He expects ScramCard to be available initially in the U.K. ScramCard is based in Hong Kong with an office in England.

“Our mission is for consumers who love technology,” Hewitt says. With security at the forefront of its proposition, ScramCard hopes users will feel comfortable spending more, he says. “We’re looking to drive an increase in spending among consumers who are somewhat fearful of shopping online.”

ScramCard also will entice consumers who don’t want to have to remember multiple PINs, especially in regions where chip-and-PIN transactions dominate, Hewitt says.