Visa launches South Pacific payments security roadmap to strengthen tourism and economies
12/12/2018
New security initiatives designed to help the South Pacific to mitigate fraud and keep in step with payments innovation
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today launched its Future of Security Roadmap (‘the Roadmap’) for the South Pacific, introducing initiatives to strengthen the security of the payments ecosystem and help address the threat of fraud in the region.
The Roadmap includes measures to protect sensitive accountholder data, innovative fraud prevention tools such as 3-D Secure 2.0 for e-commerce and mobile transactions, and advanced transaction controls and alerts to cater for the growing demand of self-service banking.
Visa’s Head of South Pacific Andy McCowan says Visa has developed the Roadmap in partnership with South Pacific governments, financial institutions and leading industry participants to protect and strengthen their economies, its people and key sectors such as tourism.
“Critical industries, particularly the high-value tourism sector, which is estimated to generate over $US3 billion1 annually for the region, will directly benefit from an even greater emphasis on measures to safeguard against fraud and boost industry compliance of crucial security standards,” says McCowan.
The Roadmap also helps pave the way for greater use of contactless technology for South Pacific residents and visitors to enjoy, including the ability to pay using mobile and wearable devices, he says.
“Australian and New Zealand visitors account for a 52% share of total tourist arrivals2 and these countries rate among some of the highest for consumer uptake of contactless payments, so the Roadmap is designed to help South Pacific tourism operators serve visitors in ways they’re used to, enabling them to tap and pay.
“With over four million mobile subscribers in the region, more than 18,000 contactless enabled point-of-sale terminals and three million annual visitors3 , the South Pacific requires a solid plan to ensure innovative and convenient payments security for locals and visitors alike.”
Association of Banks in Fiji Chairman Rakesh Ram says the launch of Visa’s security Roadmap demonstrates the company’s commitment to Fiji and the broader South Pacific region.
“We welcome Visa’s focus on working with governments and the business community to find ways to address issues such as fraud, while at the same time introducing new and innovative payment technology,” Ram says.
McCowan adds that Visa is working with industry partners to achieve 100% EMV chip acceptance, which will mean every consumer and merchant can benefit from additional security layers.
In addition, the Roadmap provides for biometrics authentication in which payments can be made by fingerprint and retina scans, facial and voice recognition; and tokenization – a process which removes sensitive data from the payments ecosystem and replaces it with a unique digital identifier (a ‘token’).
“For 60 years Visa has been a leader in payments security, guided by the principle of responsible innovation. This means any new capabilities we develop must also be secure, which is why Visa continues to invest to drive security across the payments ecosystem, while improving the payments experience for consumers,” McCowan says.
The Roadmap has been developed for all South Pacific island nations, regardless of size, from Fiji to Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Kiribati (including Canton and Enderbury Islands), Niue, Nauru, Tokelau Island and Tuvalu and is focused on four strategic pillars:
1. Devalue data by removing the sensitive data from the ecosystem and making stolen account details useless.
2. Protect data by implementing safeguards to protect personal data as well as account details.
3. Harness data by identifying potential fraud before it occurs and increase confidence in approving good transactions.
4. Empower everyone, including account holders, third party providers and merchants, to play an active role in securing payments.
To find out more about Visa’s Future of Security Roadmap visit https://www.visa.co.nz/content/dam/VCOM/regional/ap/newzealand/global-elements/documents/south-pacific-future-of-security-roadmap.pdf
1, 2 & 3 South Pacific Tourism Organisation Annual Review 2016
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, https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog.html and @VisaNews.