Online debit transaction takes off
Hari P K
13 October 2001

Mumbai: Visa International and United Overseas Bank (UOB) have said they have conducted the world's first online debit payment using Visa's 3-D Secure technology to authenticate all parties in the transaction - cardholders, banks and merchants.

The online transaction was carried out on 1 October by a Visa Electron debit cardholder to purchase tea from a UOB merchant, Dilmah Tea. In the 3-D Secure environment, UOB validated the identity of the cardholder in real time using an encrypted password, thereby enhancing the security standard for payment. Both the cardholder and the merchant expressed the case and speed of the purchase. With both the card-issuing bank and Visa backing the transaction, the cardholder was confident about a safe shopping experience.

According to e-Visa's Mark Burbidge, the transaction demonstrates the applicability of 3-

D Secure to all Visa card products - both credit and debit. With more than 50 million Visa Electron cards issued in the Asia Pacific region since it was introduced to the region in 1999, Visa Electron cards have enjoyed explosive growth of 181 per cent year-on-year increase ended June 2001.
Says Santanu Mukherjee, Visa International's country manager for South Asia: “Visa Electron is our fastest-growing product in the Asia Pacific region. We foresee our current portfolio growing by 300 per cent to 150 million Visa Electron cards within the next three years. More consumers are increasingly looking for convenience, speed and security of electronic payment and direct access to their bank accounts from anywhere in the world - real or virtual. Visa Electron provides our customers all this.”

On the success of the first such transaction of its kind, Sim Puay Suang, executive vice-president, Personal Financial Services, UOB, is enthusiastic about the potential it holds for UOB’s customers. “Security is paramount in an online environment and we are certainly very excited about being the first to provide our cardholders that assurance, that added value. Not only will they be able to make secure online transaction with their UOB Visa credit cards, but with their Visa Eletron debit cards as well, whether they’re hooked up online in Singapore or anywhere else in the world,” she says.

Visa International has already announced its plan to conduct a pilot programme in India using Visa’s 3-D Secure Internet payment security protocol. ICICI Bank is the first bank in India to launch the pilot programme and employ Visa’s security protocol to create a better and safer online shopping environment.

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