Visa issues API to offer consumer control over card transactions

I guess someone is listening and reading the replies on these boards ... LOL

Fred Pyziak - CIBC (Retired) - Toronto | 13 June, 2014, 14:22If Banks and card issuers were to create an application as part of their mobile smart phone service that allows customers to " logically lock" their credit and debit cards in the Banks logical vault when the card is not in use, this would shrink the availability fraud window. At the moment all cards are available 7/24/365 for use by both customer and fraud artist, here is the senerio .... Customer walks into store decides to buy with credit card, takes out smartphone logs in to his bank app and unlocks his card for use... Buys article and then locks the card back up into the logical vault, obviously can be done anytime when convenient .... All pre-authorized debits would be allowed through anytime wether in the logical vault or not. Can you imagine the competitive edge this would give a lead Bank with this type of customer security, provides customer with the security of knowing his card is safe when not in use by him and frauds artist would tend not sell or ask for that Banks cards on the open market .... Let's face it the CNP fraud is the largest segment of loss in Europe in 2011 is was almost 650 EUR MILLION ...... Why do cards need to be open all the time, mobile technology and the new generation of customers want control over their credit, let them have control of their security as well ..... When EMV gets rolled out to all Banks and countries the onus for fraud falls onto the customer and they become liable for losses not the Bank ..... Time to get with the capabilities of ubiquous mobile capability and give control to the customer ...... The CNP fraud would drop for those Banks with customer Logical Vault for their cards ...... 1 thumb up!

@Fred, Just remember that in order for this to work you need a mobile signal or wifi connection. That said this really isn't anything new. My 14 year old son has a pre-paid card issued to him called a Go Henry card https://www.gohenry.co.uk/v2-homepage/. The card is issued by IDT Financial Services Limited who are based in Gibraltar and as the parent behind the account, I can control pretty much everything from switching the card on/off; deciding where he can spend (F2F, on-line, ATM's); How much he can spend on any single transaction or in a week; Instant notifications of how much he's spent and where etc. It'a very good - but I need an internet connection or a smartphone (or both) to enable me to control it. I'm just amazed that Visa hadn't developed the API sooner. 

Peter ... My original presentation on this topic and its entire functionality was back in 2009 ... I agree its not new .... nice to see VISA on the uptake finally...regards

MasterCard's inControl, launched 6-7 years ago, can do virtually everything this Visa API can. In fact, inControl was the subject of my first ever Finextra blog post back in 2010!

Credit Cards Come A Full Circle