Confidence in Internet trading received a boost this week when an
online payment service from Visa gained its first high-profile UK
customer.
Barclaycard Merchant Services has announced that it will offer the
Verified by Visa payment authentication service free of charge to
all its 83,000 customers.
Online retailers that use the service, which was launched earlier
this year, will no longer be liable for disputed e-commerce
payments. Visa estimates that this shift in liability could save UK
retailers up to £55m a year by reducing the amount of disputed
transactions by as much as 80%.
Bill Thomson, head of Internet payments at Barclaycard Merchant
Services, said, "Verified by Visa provides a simple, cost-effective
solution in guaranteeing online payments, helping to boost
cardholder confidence in Internet shopping. In doing so, it helps
to increase revenue for our merchants."
However, some retail industry figures have warned that they could
face spiralling IT costs by having to link to separate online
payment services from competing credit card providers.
These costs would include linking their electronic point of sale
systems to the new breed of payment authentication systems.
If banks choose to integrate the Visa payment service into their
banking systems this would also mean extra work for IT departments.
Visa has said it should take about two weeks for a retailer to
install Verified by Visa.
The Verified by Visa service, which was launched first in the US,
is run as a managed service by BT Ignite, BT's international and
broadband solutions business. The service uses digital certificates
and is based around technology called 3-D secure, which was
developed by BT Ignite and software supplier Arcat.