Visa adds fraud recovery protection for PIN transactions

SAN FRANCISCO (5/29/08)--Visa Inc. is expanding its fraud recovery process to include two ATM networks and PIN transactions, the company announced Tuesday.

The process will extend to Plus and Interlink ATM network transactions to help credit unions and banks recoup losses from counterfeit fraud. The extension will be effective on Nov. 1.

In 2006, Visa launched a streamlined recovery program called Account Data Compromise Recovery (ADCR) to improve efficiencies and reduce the costs of assigning liability and collecting reimbursement for counterfeit fraud losses and operating expenses incurred when magnetic stripe storage was compromised.

Under the enhanced ADCR process, compensation to Visa card issuers is automatically calculated and reimbursed based on the counterfeit fraud the credit union or bank reports to Visa.

Recently enhanced Plus and Interlink fraud reporting capabilities extends the ADCR process to PIN-based transactions. Currently the process applies only to Visa signature-authenticated transactions.

The enhancements will improve financial institutions' back-office efficiencies, which include automating the process, Visa said.

Acquirer liability for compromises associated with violations of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard or PCI PIN security violations will be defined through the ADCR program. The program has a fixed 13-month window of exposure, which allows for improved liability forecasting, Visa said.

"Expanding this process to include Plus and Interlink represents a significant improvement over the current recovery process for financial institutions with PIN-based transactions, which may require multiple recovery scenarios for a single compromise event if the event involves Visa-branded or Plus- or Interlink-acquired transactions," said Michael E. Smith, head of Payment System Risk at Visa.

courtesy of cuna.org