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Charge Notification Services Corp. has filed a lawsuit against Visa Inc. for allegedly violating its patent for technology that notifies consumers of their payment card activity via SMS text messages on cell phones. The Miami-based company, which two payments-industry executives from MasterCard Worldwide and American Express Co. launched in 2008, says Visa and some of its bank partners have been offering the service recently, though it did not name the banks. Charge Notification Services' offers the SMS service to financial institutions as a fraud-prevention tools so cardholders can monitor transactions as they occur and take steps to report fraudulant activity. "As Visa continues to infringe on our patent, we really must take this legal action against them to protect our business," Daniel Davila, Charge Notification chief operating officer, said in a statement. "Visa is aware of the lawsuit," Visa said in an e-mail statement. "At this early stage, it is not possible to make any reasonable evaluation of the claims alleged."
