To rein in increasing card frauds and help cash management, Visa Europe has begun trials of a new SMS alert service that is expected to notify a card holder the time, location and amount of each transaction through text every time his or her card is used – reported IntoMobile.
Cardholders can select to get the updates delivered via various modes, including text messages, mobile email, as well as to apps running on smartphones, such as Apple’s iPhone or Android-based handsets. Currently, the SMS alert service is being tested in the UK and Visa’s network of member banks. It will be made available to consumers if the trial succeeds.
According to Sandra Alzetta, senior vice president of innovation and new product development at Visa Europe, the service allows customers to control their card activity. Ms Alzetta said: We want to offer cardholders the reassurance of knowing, in real-time, exactly where and when their card is being used. If something looks suspicious, this will give them the power to put a stop to any fraud taking place on their cards.
We have chosen the summer holiday season to test this proposition as its the period when people travel most. Feedback from our current pilots indicates that consumers often receive the alerts before their cards are even handed back to them at the point of sale, she added.
