Visa Gearing Up To Make Enhancements To Verified By Visa

Visa Inc. announced on Tuesday (Sept. 20) that changes coming to Verified by Visa, its online authentication service, and to Three-Domain Secure (3-D Secure), the industry-wide messaging protocol for online authentication, will make eCommerce payments more secure and convenient for consumers, merchants and financial institutions.

In a press release, Visa said it was necessary to make updates to Verified by Visa because eCommerce is evolving, and it looks very different today than 20 years ago when personal computers were the only way to shop online. With the eCommerce market expanding and consumers getting more mobile, retailers have to make their payment process both secure and free of steps that frustrate consumers. Fraudsters are also paying attention to the growing eCommerce business around the world, noted Visa. Authenticating today’s online shoppers is much more complex but also essential, and that is where the updates come in.

According to Visa, advances in risk modeling and predictive analytics helped the company improve the security of 3-D Secure transactions, while reducing friction for cardholders. By applying algorithms to the data, the riskiness of each transaction can be assessed in real time, giving issuers better intelligence on whether additional verification is necessary. Visa noted that, starting in April 2018, Visa will begin phasing out Verified by Visa-specific static passwords and its enrollment processes, a change that will address enrollment vulnerabilities, risk of shopping cart abandonment during checkout and risk of forgotten passwords.

Visa went on to note that broader industry changes are also in the works for authentication online, with EMVCo now developing an updated and enhanced version of the 3-D Secure specification called 3-D Secure 2.0. “The new specification, which is currently being shared with EMVCo members, will be available to the general public in late 2016. It will include a number of features designed to address the rise of new technologies and ways to pay, including support for eCommerce transactions from mobile devices and applications or PC browsers, while providing a foundation to support new device types, such as connected cars and refrigerators,” Visa said.