Visa Readies New Measures for Mobile Payment Users

While the mobile payments market is one of constant upheaval, sometimes more developments come from one sector than from another.

Visa, for example, recently brought out an entire slate of new developments for users, designed to make payments both safer and easier to use, a a development that will scarcely be unwelcome by the user base.

The first new measure in place is called Mobile Location Confirmation, or MLC.

With MLC, users get access to a tool that uses mobile geo-location as a means to better tell the difference between a suspicious transaction and a transaction conducted away from home as part of a mobile shopping experience. It used to be that, if a card was used away from the location it was normally used—like, say, someone took a trip to Florida from Iowa or the like—the Florida charges would be declined as it would seem suspicious. This is not without reason of course, as someone who does most of their shopping in Iowa wouldn’t normally pop up on records in Florida, so that would look suspicious.

Inconvenient at least, disastrous at worst, it was the kind of thing that could hamper a trip pretty badly. MLC works to prevent that by cross-referencing the location of a user’s mobile device, figuring that, if the user’s mobile is on hand, then so too must be the user, which means that approving the transaction becomes a bit easier to do. MLC is available on an opt-in basis, which means it’s not necessary, but those who want it are welcome.

Visa Inc.’s senior vice president of risk product and business intelligence, Mark Nelsen, offered up some comment on the MLC release, saying “We want Visa payments to be the most secure, convenient, and seamless payment experience. When consumers make purchases outside their typical buying patterns, transactions are sometimes mistakenly declined. Mobile Location Confirmation helps remove this friction by giving banks new geo-location intelligence so they can more confidently approve valid transactions. This means consumers can pay with ease and have no need to notify their bank of upcoming travel plans.”

But this wasn’t the only point Visa brought out; new reports suggest that Visa is stepping up its use of the Visa Token Service, a security technology that altered the standard 16-digit Visa account number to a series of unique numbers for record-keeping purposes, a measure that means, in the event of a data breach, thieves only get access to a set of numbers that don’t expose any actual information.

So far, over 500 institutions have brought VTS into play, and Visa plans to bring VTS to many more such users in the near future. An array of merchants, ranging from Gymboree to Staples, will be able to get in through the Visa Checkout system, and more financial institutions in more places like Latin America and the rapidly-growing Asia-Pacific market will also be able to put it in play.

These two fronts together combine to protect users on several levels.

Not only are users better protected from the more mundane assault of a lost or stolen card or card number cropping up in an unexpected location, but so too are users protected against the possibility of a data breach later on. That kind of double-tiered protection is a valuable point to say the least. Visa has given itself a clear advantage in the market by dint of improving security on several fronts.