News

Real-time fraud alerts notify Visa cardholders of ID theft

August 18, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO — Visa and leading North American financial institutions PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, and Vancity in Canada have agreed to launch a pilot with up to 2,000 participants to test the delivery of real-time notification alerts on Visa accounts.

According to a news release, the program, which is being conducted with some of the largest North American issuers, is designed to alert cardholders in real-time or near real-time of transaction activity on their Visa account. Participants will receive notification alerts from Visa through email or text message.

Visa cardholders can set thresholds that will trigger a transaction alert. Alert types include:

cash withdrawal from an ATM
a transaction initiated crossborder
an Internet or telephone transaction
a transaction that exceeds an amount that has been chosen by the cardholder

Through the alert cardholders can verify transaction details and immediately contact their banks if a fraudulent transaction is spotted, helping stop further transactions on the card.