Payment Data Security is a Key Priority for Visa in Push Towards the Digital Economy in Asia Pacific

06/20/2019

Cybersecurity, biometrics and safer ecommerce experiences are among key themes at the 15th Asia Pacific Visa Security Summit

 

In an age where ecommerce is safer, more advanced and accessible than ever before, Visa remains committed to working with partners across the industry to prevent potential attacks with a portfolio of Risk products and services.

Digital payments continue to grow across Asia Pacific as consumers become more active users of ecommerce and rapidly adopt cashless methods of transactions. Central Banks and regulators are also implementing digital initiatives to reap the benefits of digital payments which include greater transaction convenience, bolstering innovation and lowering costs associated with cash handling.

These developments have also created a proliferation of data, which is increasingly attractive to cybercriminals. According to industry research, fraud is projected to cost retailers worldwide $130 billion over the next five years¹.

“Almost every government in Asia Pacific is focused on driving a digitisation agenda, reducing the reliance on cash and cheques. This has created tremendous opportunities for digital payment innovations. The payments industry generates significant amounts of data, some of which is sensitive, and attractive to criminal organisations,” said Joe Cunningham, head of Risk, Asia Pacific, Visa. “We play a unique role protecting the security and integrity of the payments ecosystem, to the benefit of merchants, cardholders and all our clients. We continuously invest to ensure Visa remains the most innovative, reliable and secure digital payment network.”

Multi-layered approach to payment security

Issuers and retailers are responding to consumer demands for greater convenience through access and use of payment account information across multiple channels and devices. By 2021, the number of connected devices is projected to be roughly 25 billion².

As consumers shop and pay with digital devices, Visa is helping to safeguard the payment ecosystem through a multi-layered approach to payment data safety with solutions and services based on global security standards, protecting and devaluing sensitive data.

This approach has helped to keep global fraud rates at historic lows, even as payment volumes grow. By 2025, Visa expects the industry to continue this trajectory as payment security technologies become more advanced.

Using Security Innovation to Fight Fraud

The rewards of innovation are double-edged. As the threat of cybercrime becomes more sophisticated and pervasive, Visa, together with the industry, is pioneering new ways and solutions to secure ecommerce experiences further and prevent potential attacks.

Visa Advanced Authorisation is a service that uses predictive analytics combined with machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyse more than 500 unique risk attributes and allocates a risk score for each transaction. This score is then shared with financial institutions so they can make an informed decision on whether to approve or decline a transaction. On average, Visa analyses more than six billion pieces of data every day³.  When data analytics is used with authentication methods like biometrics to verify the cardholder, payment security is enhanced. 

With ecommerce sales in Asia Pacific expected to reach $3.5 trillion in 2021⁴, further cementing the region as the biggest market in the world for online shopping, technologies like tokenization will help to ensure no token details are transmitted during an online transaction. Visa Token Service replaces sensitive account information, such as the 16-digit account number, with a unique digital identifier called a token. This token allows payments to be processed without exposing actual account details that could potentially be compromised.

Mr. Cunningham added, “We envisage a future free from passwords, where consumers enjoy the benefits of advanced technology to authenticate their identity. A future with less fraud and less friction. As governments and businesses look to expand new ways to pay, Visa is committed to collaborating with partners to develop and invest in security standards that deliver a safer, secure and seamless commerce experience.”

The 2019 Asia Pacific Visa Security Summit is one of the largest payment security events in the region. Held from 19 to 20 June, 2019, it brings together leading risk professionals to share learnings and best practices on payment security innovation. This year, more than 500 participants gathered to hear how the industry can continue to collaborate in the coming years.

 

 

¹ Online Payment Fraud: Emerging Threats, Segment Analysis & Market Forecasts 2018-2023 by Steffen Sorrell, research analyst, Juniper Research, January 2, 2019

² Top Strategic IoT Trends and Technologies Through 2023 by Nick Jones, research analyst, Gartner, September 2018.

³ Outsmarting Fraudsters with Advanced Analytics: https://cw.visa.com/visa-everywhere/security/outsmarting-fraudsters-with-advanced-analytics.html

⁴ Rakuten, The State of e-Commerce in Asia Pacific

 

 

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.