Visa Secure program, previously known as Verified by Visa, were launch in Nigeria, to sustain the growing ecommerce in Africa

Vice President and Country Manager, Visa West Africa, Kemi Okusanya, has identified connectivity on mobile devices security of transaction as vital to sustaining the growing ecommerce landscape in Nigeria and other parts of continent. She spoke during the unveiling of ‘Visa Secure’ – a new program for frictionless payments and improved online experience, according to The Nation.

Okusanya said: “Visa has been helping online merchants and issuers identify potentially fraudulent transactions with 3DS for nearly 20 years. E-commerce in Nigeria is growing rapidly. Consumers expect always-on connectivity with mobile devices and rely on retailers to provide payment experience both secure and frictionless. That is where the new Visa Secure program comes into effect. Visa Secure offers significant enhancements in e-commerce fraud detection capabilities for issuers and merchants and can reduce friction for cardholders at checkout.”

The VP said Visa Secure (previously known as Verified by Visa), is an updated programme to help make online payments more secure.

“Visa Secure uses the latest EMV 3-D Secure (3DS) specification, which is the new industry-wide messaging protocol designed to promote frictionless consumer authentication. It enables consumers to verify their identity with their issuing bank or other entity (issuer) when making card-not-present (CNP) eCommerce/online payments. The additional security layer helps prevent unauthorised CNP transactions and helps protect merchants from exposure to CNP fraud.’’

„For merchants, Visa Secure delivers greater fraud prevention by sharing up to ten times more data with issuers for better risk analysis and advanced decision making.

This helps both merchants and issuers detect and avoid fraud more effectively. Consumers can also benefit from a smoother and consistent user experience across multiple payment channels, including mobile web, in-app and digital wallet payments, without any compromise in security,” Okusnaya said.

Available across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region, Visa Secure provides rules and policies merchants and issuing banks have to follow to authenticate ecommerce transactions and verify cardholder identity before a transaction can be authorized.