Currently, fewer than 200,000 Romanian cards, meaning 2.2% out of a total of nine million, have enabled the 3D Secure standard, on which the Verified by Visa system is based, and which protects online card transactions. This low number can be explained by the lack of public awareness regarding online payment security.
At the moment, fraud in Romania is negligible, but Visa wants to raise the number of cards activated in the Verified by Visa system, said Cretu. To this end, Visa Europe and its Romanian partner banks have launched a national campaign to promote the use of cards for Internet payments.
The campaign will run until November and comprise informational activities, as well as PR and marketing projects, to improve the general public’s knowledge of online payment security and stimulate the activation of cards in the Verified by Visa platform.
Cretu said Visa’s target is to have the 3D Secure system enabled for one million cards in the next three years.
“It is a very ambitious objective, considering only 200,000 were activated between 2004 and 2011,” he said.
Visa data shows 84% of Europeans who do not shop online are more likely to change their behavior if they are protected through Verified by Visa, while 71% of the people who regularly shop online say they would shop more often.
Over 300,000 European online stores have joined the Verified by Visa system. In Romania, around 500 stores use the 3D Secure standard.
Europe has more than 430 million active Visa debit, credit and business cards.
Visa Europe is owned and run by its 4,000 European member banks.