In a bid to tackle online shopping fraud, payments association APACS and the UK Home Office are urging cardholders to sign up to Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode, which make cards safer when shopping online.
Figures released by APACS indicate that 10 million UK-issued payment cards, including credit and debit cards, have now been registered with the MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa services. However, the UK payments association is urging more consumers to sign up.
To use the services, cardholders register online and choose a private password, which they then use when shopping at participating retailers. This provides online shoppers with greater protection against the unauthorized use of their card for online purchases and enhanced online security without the requirement of additional software.
Most cardholders can now sign up to Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode at the website of the bank or card company that issues their card. Increasingly, cardholders are also being encouraged to sign up when they are shopping at participating merchants as more and more retailers begin to introduce these systems.
Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, said: 10 million registered cards is clearly an important milestone in the development of e-commerce in the UK. The industry has worked hard to provide practical solutions to fight online shopping fraud and we are calling on those cardholders not yet signed up to do so and take the appropriate security measures when shopping online.
