Banks to act a police under new Visa Scheme

[Martin Hepworth]

http://www.silicon.com/a38739 


Retail banks are set to become a key player in the war against online credit
card
 crime, as part of Visa's latest e-security scheme.

 Visa's plan - due to be launched later this summer - is designed to protect
online
 shoppers and penalise merchants for lapses in security. It will also put
the onus on
 banks to police the scheme. 

 According to the credit card giant, the stringent security standards mean
that it
 will be up to the bank that handles transactions for a particular web site
to make
 sure that trader's operation is secure.

 Frank Williams, vice president of fraud at Visa, said the board of
directors has
 already ratified the plan and it will launch in the next couple of months.
"We have
 an international programme in the pipeline which will mean all acquirers
 [merchants' banks] of Visa cards will have to ensure that merchants' web
sites are
 secure," he said.

 Williams said recent incidents like Powergen had made the initiative
necessary.
 "Under this programme if any merchant wants to use Visa, the acquirer has
to
 certify that they are compliant."

 The scheme will push responsibility for security to the acquiring banks
that
 provide credit card transactions for their customers. If data becomes
exposed or
 insecure on a certified site, the bank could face financial penalties from
Visa.

 "Data should always be physically secure," said Williams, "both on and
offline.
 There should be limited access to it."

 Sandra Alzetta, senior VP of Virtual Visa, said the company had seen a
 disproportionate number of credit card discrepancies from online sites.
 "Whenever something is new we always expect to see more disputes coming
in,"
 she said. "And there are always more disputes in 'card not present'
transactions."

 But according to Steven Philippsohn, partner at law firm Philippsohn,
Crawfords
 and Berwald, Visa may face objections from the banks. "The general rule is
that if
 somebody like the bank is responsible then that must be good for the
customer.
 But what will the banks actually be able to do?" he said.

 "You've got to be able to get at the merchant and make sure that company is
 heavily penalised. It's the classic situation - if there isn't a stiff
enough penalty
 you're not going to get the right results," Philippsohn warned.

-- 
Martin Hepworth
Blackwell Retail Limited
Tel: +44 (0)1865 333013

DISCLAIMER
This e-mail contains information which is strictly confidential to the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient please note that any copying, use or dissemination of the contents of this e-mail is prohibited and unlawful. If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact the Sender to arrange for its return.

The information, images, documents and views expressed in this e-mail are personal to the Sender and do not expressly or implicitly represent official positions and policies of Blackwell's and are given entirely without prejudice and subject to contract.