SAN FRANCISCO –Visa Inc and eight issuers are piloting a system that employs e-mail and text messages to notify cardholders of suspicious transactions.
According to Visa, which announced the test earlier this week, it is part of an overall effort to expand its mobile capabilities. Several analysts said such alerts could make consumers more inclined to use their phones for financial services. "We're looking to expand our payment and value-added services into the mobile channel, so alerts and notifications are really one piece of that puzzle," Pamela Zuercher, Visa's global head of product innovation, said in an interview. The latest pilot is in addition to separate tests on the use of mobile phones to send and receive remittances and phones that can be used to initiate contactless payments at the point of sale.
According to Visa, the service lets consumers set up as many as four alert triggers for transactions made with their Visa cards: cash withdrawals made at automated teller machines, purchases that exceed a set limit, purchases made abroad, and online purchases. The alert thresholds can be set at the issuers' online banking sites or with a mobile phone, and if a transaction meets any of the conditions the cardholder will receive an alert by e-mail or text message.
The alerts are generated by the same system Visa uses to authorize purchases, and are sent in what the company calls "near-real time."
The eight institutions participating include one credit union: PNC Financial Services Group Inc., SunTrust Banks Inc., U.S. Bancorp, Wachovia Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Vancouver City Savings Credit Union. Visa said the service may be made available to more Visa issuers in 2009.
