Yesterday,
Visa Inc.
(
V
) announced the launch of a new service - Visa Consumer
Authentication Service - to mitigate the risk of fraud related to
the eCommerce transactions in Canada.
Accordingly, the new authentication service will dynamically
support a secure payment process through a new feature - Three
Domain (3-D) Secure program. This new 3-D feature will enhance
the level of security Visa takes while the consumer makes its
payment and checks out of the terminal.
Presently, the new service does not require customers to go
through the hassle of entering passwords for verification. The
3-D feature automatically assesses the authenticity of a
particular transaction by the historical trend of the consumer's
expenditure. It also detects the device from which the
transaction is made and relays all information regarding it,
thereby making the service useful for mobile payments.
Authenticated payment services are a critical requirement at
this moment since the card industry solely operates on chip cards
that hold all the customer information. These cards interchange
various hands, such as retailer, merchant and acquirer, before
reaching the ultimate source.
Visa has been consistently aiming to achieve high data
security in order to maintain a strict security protocol, thereby
adding an easy and reliant defense mechanism in to the payment
system. This also ensures the long-term growth opportunity for
eCommerce. To deliver a higher level of card data security to
acquirers and merchants, the company unveiled an upgraded data
security service - Visa Merchant Data Secure - in August this
year.
The company aims to retain its strength by exploring newer
growth avenues, besides expanding into emerging international
markets to support growth. Moreover, the regulatory challenges
have diverted Visa's synergies to the rapidly growing prepaid
cards, money transfer services, eCommerce and mobile banking in
order to reach out even to the small businesses, thereby helping
them to increase profitability and cash flow by initiating
controlled spending with convenience. Hence, to meet these growth
strategies, Visa needed a critical data safety and control system
in order.
Overall, Visa is making vigorous attempts to augment its core
processing capabilities and maintain its competitive position,
primarily against its arch rivals -
MasterCard Inc.
(
MA
) and
American Express Co.
(
AXP
) -in an increasingly complex payments environment, primarily
through the strategic technology acquisitions and product
innovations.
Visa currently retains a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates into
a short-term Buy rating, while the long-term recommendation
remains Neutral.
AMER EXPRESS CO (AXP): Free Stock Analysis
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MASTERCARD INC (MA): Free Stock Analysis
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VISA INC-A (V): Free Stock Analysis Report
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