Visa unveils roadmap to strengthen payment security in the Philippines

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, announced its Future of Security Roadmap for the Philippines, outlining a robust approach to strengthening payments security in the country over the next three years. 

“The roadmap focuses on a number of key initiatives which will enable security to evolve at the same pace as the technologies changing the way we pay,” the company said Thursday.

These security initiatives include: 

• Devaluing data by removing sensitive information from the ecosystem and making stolen account details invalid

• Protecting data by implementing safeguards to protect personal data as well as account details

• Harnessing data by identifying potential fraud before it occurs and increasing confidence in approving genuine transactions

• Empowering stakeholders, including accountholders, third party providers and merchants, to play an active role in payment security

“Payment security has always been a key pillar of focus for Visa and we believe it is a shared responsibility among financial institutions, merchants, consumers and the government to secure the commerce ecosystem,” Visa country manager for the Philippines and Guam Dan Wolbert said.

“We acknowledge the need for risk and security of payments to evolve with the changing payment landscape so that we can stay ahead of these technological advancements, Wolbert noted.

“Our commitment is to build trust and confidence among our clients, consumers and merchants in the payments ecosystem so that the country can embark on this digital and cashless journey,” he added. 

The financial services company said it is committed to ensuring that security moves at the speed of innovation through collaborations with industry stakeholders, merchants, policy makers, law enforcement and accountholders.

To reduce fraud rates on e-commerce in the same way the EMV chip has limited fraud in a face-to-face environment, the company is advocating the adoption of Tokenisation and 3-D Secure 2.0 as new standards for e-commerce.

Using blockchain technology, Tokenisation helps to eliminate sensitive data so the 16-digit number on the card would not be stored anywhere by the merchant, bank or payment gateway.

“Visa is working collectively with our clients and partners to bring down fraud rates to historic lows, and we are already seeing reduction of fraud rates in the Philippines,” Wolbert said.

“Through the release of the Roadmap, we will take the lead in championing security for the Philippines, and ensure we address any gaps in payment security for the country,” he added. —VDS, GMA News