New Payment Technologies For Credit Card Companies

The security of customer data continues to be a growing concern as a result of the significant increases in cyberattacks, especially for credit-card companies. Both Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. have enhanced their plans to improve their current methods of protection of customer data. Visa is currently implementing its Visa Token Service, which uses a unique series of numbers to replace cardholder information such as account numbers and expiration dates. By eliminating sensitive card information, hackers will be unable to access any valuable information regardless of whether or not they are able to access computer servers. As part of their efforts, both companies have formed a new group that aims to speed up the adoption of technology aimed at improving credit and debit card security, including the use of chip technology, in which the magnetic strip found in credit and debit cards is replaced by a smart chip that is used for storage of customer data. Additionally, MasterCard plans to implement an advanced pilot program that uses biometrics, such as facial and voice recognition and fingerprint matching to validate transactions. As the result of the effectiveness of a number of these recently developed methods, MasterCard estimates that nearly half of all credit cards will be chip-enabled by the end of the year. To further address the issue, Visa and MasterCard had set an original deadline of October 2015 for all retailers to adopt the use of chip technology, which has yet to be met. Because the implementation of new payment technologies require such high costs, many U.S. banks and retailers have delayed efforts to install new payment systems. Despite advances in new payment technologies, researchers have yet to determine a guaranteed effective method of protecting consumer information. To prevent future data breaches, it is not only up to the credit card companies to secure consumer data, but the banks and retailers as well. To learn more about how your company can keep your data secure, contact Taino Consulting Group. http://www.wsj.com/articles/visa-mastercard-to-roll-out-new-cybersecurity-features-1423834542