Visa has rolled out transaction alerts in North America, which allow issuers to provide near real-time alerts to Visa account holders throughout the US and Canada. The service enables customers to better manage and track their spending while providing them with an early warning system for potential fraudulent activities.
Customers will be able to subscribe to the service through their participating issuers and “opt in” to choose the kinds of transactions for which they wish to receive alerts.
Criteria for transaction alerts that Visa cardholders may choose include, transactions that exceed the purchase threshold chosen by the cardholder, transactions initiated internationally, card-not-present transactions, such as purchases made online or by telephone, cash withdrawals from an ATM machine, declined transactions and gasoline transactions.
Alerts are sent on behalf of participating issuers directly from VisaNet, Visa’s global processing network, typically within seconds of a transaction occurring. Alerts are triggered when the transaction meets certain criteria the account holder has selected and are delivered directly to the account holder via email, SMS text message or the Visa Mobile application.
Visa’s transaction alerts let consumers monitor their accounts for unusual activity and take immediate action if they believe a potentially fraudulent transaction is taking place.
Elizabeth Buse, head of product at Visa, said: “Visa is empowering cardholders to take an active role in managing and protecting their Visa account. Visa already delivers real-time transaction risk scores to financial institutions, and we are now providing cardholders with near real-time transaction alerts. Participating Visa cardholders can typically receive alerts before they walk out of the store, rather than hours or even days later.”
Mark Schwanhausser, research analyst at multichannel financial services in Javelin Strategy & Research, said: “Americans hunger for alerts that give them confidence that their money is safe. The best way to do that is by delivering real-time information that enables consumers to quickly analyze suspicious transactions and take action – no matter the time of day or where they are. Banks can build their customers’ confidence and earn their trust by serving up alerts that are timely, simple to set up and easy to manage.”
