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Acculynk Inc. and the Accel/Exchange electronic funds transfer network said today they will launch their previously announced pilot to enable consumers to use PIN-debit cards to shop online later this month. An undisclosed number of banks that issue cards over the Accel/Exchange network will participate, according to the network. Baker Boyer Bank, which is based in Walla Walla, Wash., is among the participating issuers. "Many of our cardholders prefer to use PIN-debit at the point of sale," Jeff Gegen, the bank's vice president of operations, said in a statement. "We are excited to give [our cardholders] this payment choice with a service that adds an extra layer of fraud protection." Card issuers from a second EFT network also will participate. Acculynk and Accel/Exchange say they will name the other network in a couple of weeks. Atlanta-based Acculynk enables PIN-debit purchases online by integrating its PaySecure software into a merchant's online-checkout system. Cardholders use their computer's mouse to enter their four-digit PIN into an Acculynk virtual PIN pad that appears on the computer's monitor. The PIN pad encrypts the PIN and card information, Nandan Sheth, Acculynk president, told CardLine sister publication ATM&Debit News in October. The cardholder does not enter his PIN using the keyboard because of malicious software placed by crooks may lurk inside the computer to capture the keystrokes, Sheth says.
