Visa has announced a new scheme to warn customers about potentially fraudulent transactions by SMS.
Using 2,000 guinea pigs, Visa is testing a new service which will send out text or email alerts to bank customers when certain transactions are carried out on their accounts, such as when a payment is made over a certain amount or a transaction is carried out abroad. Using SMS will cut the alert time down to hours rather than days. Customers will then be able to use the SMS to either verify the transaction is legit, or contact their bank about the fraud.
The scheme is just being trialled in America and Canada at the moment, but I suspect that it won’t be long til we see a similar offering in the UK.
I'd say this should be as standard. Every time a transaction is made on my card, I should receive an SMS straight away.
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that is a fantastic idea, I agree this is what they should be implementing.
We should have had this in 2003… why has it taken them X years to get off
their arse?
They've stolen my idea! I blogged this here on Mobile Industry Review a few weeks back.
Visa's the payment processor it's you bank that would need to implement this, at least in the UK. Not sure how / if it differs in the US.
I have had this service in Israel for about 6 months. Works great! I get an SMS within seconds of the transaction with all the details and a phone number to call if the transaction wasn't mine.
I have had this service in Israel for about 6 months. Works great! I get an SMS within seconds of the transaction with all the details and a phone number to call if the transaction wasn't mine.