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Online PIN-debit pilots by two United State-based electronic funds transfer networks may find more success in countries that are debit-oriented, according to one analyst. One pilot, involving Accel/Exchange and vendor Acculynk Inc., enables consumers to make purchases on a merchant's Web site by entering their debit card PINs into a virtual PIN pad on the computer screen. The cardholder enters the PIN using the computer's mouse instead of the keyboard to avoid malware, which is virus software fraudsters use to capture keystrokes. The other pilot, involving NYCE Payments Network LLC, a unit of Metavante Technologies Inc., similarly enables consumers to make purchases without sharing their PINs or account information with the merchant. During the checkout process on a participating merchants' Web site, the purchaser is transferred to a participating financial institution's Web site. There, they can log in as they normally would to bank online and choose NYCE SafeDebit for their payment. SafeDebit then creates the virtual debit card information for one-time use and automatically fills in the required payment fields on the merchant's checkout screen. Consumer behavior in the United States may doom the services before leaving the trial phase, according to Les Riedl, president and chief operating officer of United States-based consulting and research firm Speer & Associates Inc. "The currency of the Internet [in the United States] is credit cards," he says. "The other side of the equation is consumer demand and interest, and that has always been the issue in the past and today continues to be a major issue in North America." Riedl says Canada is a little different because "Interac is so established." Interac is Canada's debit card network. "Where these programs might have legs is internationally, in countries that are predominately debit," Riedl says.
