Visa and eight North American Banks:
(PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank,
Wachovia, and Wells Fargo, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, and
Vancity) have agreed to initiate a pilot program with up to a total of 2,000
participants to test the delivery of real-time notification alerts on Visa
accounts.
The program, is designed to enhance the consumer payment
experience by alerting cardholders in real-time or near real-time of
transaction activity on their Visa account - typically within seconds rather
than hours or days.
Participants will receive notification alerts from Visa
through email or Short Message Service (SMS) delivered directly to their mobile
devices. The service allows Visa cardholders to set thresholds that will
trigger a transaction alert.
T hrough the alert received via email or SMS text,
cardholders can verify the transaction details, and if the transaction appears
to be irregular, can immediately contact their bank to help stop further
transactions on the card.
The service is designed to help cardholders keep closer
track of their transactions and spending levels as they go about their daily
routine. According to a recent Javelin Strategy & Research report,
consumers view timely alerts as a valuable resource to help detect fraud.
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