Visa To Use New Technology To Protect Credit Card Users

The American arm of the global credit card company Visa, is to use a new screening technology in an effort to help protect customers from fraudulent card applications and identity fraud.

Visa will extend their current database for checking current customers' information by adding personal data from a company called eFunds. This will enable Visa to check customer contact details and credit history more accurately.

The new technology was developed by a subsidiary of eFunds, Chex Systems, and is deigned to undermine fraudulent applications for credit cards, as well as the use of bogus credit card applications to steal existing customers' identities.

Any credit card applications received by Visa that point to any unusual activity on a related account will be flagged and potentially halted.

Rahul Gupta, senior vice president of eFunds, said: "Losses due to account application fraud, account takeover and identity theft are critical challenges for card issuers to address."

Visa are not the only company in the finance industry who are trying to put a stop to this using new technologies. Several UK high street banks are testing electronic devices designed to cut down on card-not-present and identity fraud when shopping and banking online as the battle against the fraudster continues.