VISA LAUNCHES 3-D SECURE VENDOR PROGRAM

Major advance in implementing payment authentication programs

San Francisco—December 20, 2000—Visa International has launched a 3-D Secure Vendor Program aimed at speeding the implementation of a global payment authentication solution.    This group is comprised of leading Internet technology companies with the common goals of advancing payment security standards and enhancing consumer confidence in online purchasing. 

 “A reliable global payment system will play a critical role in increasing consumer confidence and merchant profitability on the Internet,” said Tom Manessis, vice president of e-Visa International. “We’re excited to be working with some of the top Internet services companies to advance our 3-D Secure solution.”

 A major component of Visa International’s Global Secure e-Commerce Initiative, the 3-D Secure Vendor Program will focus on advancing payment authentication—verifying that the person initiating the transaction is in fact a legitimate user of the account. 3-D Secure provides options to authenticate the payment online, protect the privacy of transmissions, and ensure that data in transmission remains unchanged. Merchants will be able to enjoy the benefits of  3-D Secure without changing business processes because the 3-D solution will leverage their existing  payment systems. The solution also supports new payment products and channels, including chip cards, mobile phones, personal digital assistants and set-top boxes.

 The 3-D Secure Vendor Program gives a wide variety of solutions providers the flexibility to work together to develop and provide comprehensive solutions for payment authentication.  The first meeting of the 3-D Secure Vendor program was held on November 2 in Silicon Valley.
Companies participating in the 3-D Secure Vendor program include: 

  • Aplettix Inc.
  • Arcot Systems
  • BLUE LINE International
  • Brodia
  • Camtech
  • CardBASE Technologies
  • CardinalCommerce
  • CyberSource Corp.
  • INGENICO
  • IPrivacy
  • ORBISCOM
  • QSI Payments Inc.
  • Schlumberger
  • SmartTrust
  • Trintech Inc.
  • ValiCert

 As the growth of e-commerce has exploded, Visa is playing a leadership role in Internet security by establishing a program focused on developing a single standard for payment authentication.  With input from 3-D Secure Vendors, Visa will help create a singular, globally interoperable payment authentication solution for Members that will benefit their merchants and cardholders.

 “Together with our 3-D Secure vendors, we are all working very hard to make payer authentication work.  We know that marketplaces around the world will implement their security initiatives uniquely, but we all agree on 3-D Secure as the ultimate starting point”, said Philip Yen, executive vice president of e-Visa International.

 Visa continues to develop, enhance and advance standards around the world.  Examples of these efforts include: Open  Platform; Common Electronic Purse Specification (CEPS); EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) standard for chip, credit and debit cards; and the new Visa Global Invoice Specification based on XML.

 The 3-D Secure Vendor program represents another step by Visa to speed the arrival of universal-commerce (u-commerce): the ability to conduct commerce conveniently and securely anytime, anywhere, and with any kind of device.  Other components of the Global Secure e-Commerce Initiative include the global Merchant Data Security Website (www.visa.com/secured) ,  global consumer protection, the introduction of an Electronic Commerce Indicator (ECI) that identifies e-commerce transactions, the implementation of a Global Merchant Chargeback Monitoring Program, the expansion of m-commerce and smart card programs, and enhancements to Visa’s processing systems to support increased transaction volumes.

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Note to Editors:

As the “World's Best Way to Pay,” Visa is the world’s leading payment brand and the largest payment system worldwide with more volume than all other major payment cards combined.  Visa plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders.  Visa has more than 80 smart card programs in 35 countries and on the Internet, with 23 million Visa chip cards, including 8 million Visa Cash cards.  Visa-branded cards generate US$1.6 trillion in annual volume and are accepted at over 20 million worldwide locations, including at more than 643,000 ATMs in the Visa Global ATM Network.  Visa’s Internet address is www.visa.com.

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