Visa Transaction Alerts Now Available to Clients in North America

Visa (NYSE:V), one of the leading global payments technology companies, on November 17 announced the North American rollout of transaction alerts, which allow issuers to provide near real-time1 alerts to Visa account holders throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The service enables consumers to better manage and track their spending while providing them with an early warning system for potential fraudulent activities. Alerts are sent on behalf of participating issuers directly from VisaNet, Visa's global processing network, typically within seconds of a transaction occurring. Alerts are triggered when the transaction meets certain criteria the account holder has selected and are delivered directly to the account holder via email, SMS text message or the Visa Mobile application. Visa's transaction alerts let consumers monitor their accounts for unusual activity and take immediate action if they believe a potentially fraudulent transaction is taking place.

"Visa is empowering cardholders to take an active role in managing and protecting their Visa account," said Elizabeth Buse, head of product at Visa Inc. "Visa already delivers real-time transaction risk scores to financial institutions, and we are now providing cardholders with near real-time transaction alerts. Participating Visa cardholders can typically receive alerts before they walk out of the store, rather than hours or even days later."

A recent study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that two out of three American consumers believe that financial alerts are useful and valuable, and that by 2014, 41% of online households - or 62 million - will receive financial alerts.2

"Americans hunger for alerts that give them confidence that their money is safe," said Mark Schwanhausser, research analyst, multichannel financial services at Javelin Strategy & Research. "The best way to do that is by delivering real-time information that enables consumers to quickly analyze suspicious transactions and take action - no matter the time of day or where they are. Banks can build their customers' confidence and earn their trust by serving up alerts that are timely, simple to set up and easy to manage."