Visa has developed several layers of fraud prevention and detection systems and programs, giving you multiple checkpoints for security to protect your business and make transactions more secure. Visa’s Layers of Security complement each other and work together, so by implementing multiple services you can help reduce your risk of fraud.
Let’s peel back the layers:
Many Visa cards now contain a micro-computer chip that securely stores encrypted information to complete transactions. As well, Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) are used for cardholder authentication when chip cards are used in Canada. This helps make counterfeiting virtually impossible.
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The Verified by Visa (VbV) program is a worldwide service that confirms a cardholder's authenticity in real time. This helps protect merchants from fraudulent transactions and chargebacks, while protecting cardholders from unauthorized use of their Visa cards.
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The CVV2 is a three-digit security code on all Visa cards that helps ensure a customer making an online or phone purchase has a genuine Visa card in hand.
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When fraudsters try to order online, by mail or by phone, AVS can help stop them in their tracks. Account number information obtained from a receipt or a stolen card does not include an address or postal code. AVS checks a cardholder's address and/or postal code against the card issuer's records in real time, giving you the opportunity to stop a transaction if desired.
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Available through most card issuers, VAA lets you immediately identify and respond to emerging fraud patterns and trends. As transactions are processed through VisaNet® Advanced Authorization, VAA evaluates an authorization request data in real time and assesses and assigns a risk rating – helping you better identify potential fraud.
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Aside from face-to-face transactions, purchases are increasingly being made online, over the phone or through the mail, where no card is present. Here is how Visa's Layers of Security work for you:
Online: Verified by Visa, the Three-digit Code and AVS offer you added protection against fraud and chargebacks for online sales.
Telephone: The Three-digit Code and AVS are added security for accepting payment over the phone.
Mail: The Three-digit Code and AVS provide added security to help you confidently make a safe transaction.
On transactions where both the Three-digit Code (CVV2) and AVS were used, and the response code was "No Match", the transactions were significantly more likely to be fraudulent than when a "Match" response was received for both the Three-digit Code and AVS.