Virtual could supplant plastic in card world

While the recent Target Brands Inc. data breach was a clear reminder of the inherent risks associated with mag stripe technology, some industry observers feel that virtual solutions involving one-time-use credit card numbers could remedy the problem before Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) chip-based cards take root among U.S. merchants. The major card brands mandated that EMV be implemented at the POS to enhance payment card security in the United States.

One-time credit card numbers were developed by Orbiscom Ltd. before it was acquired by MasterCard Worldwide in 2009. And although the technology hasn't been widely embraced by consumers, an increasing number of card issuers and payment companies have begun to embrace controlled payment numbers to limit card fraud on multiple fronts.

One such example is the international fleet and corporate payment program provider CSI Enterprises Inc., which aligned with MasterCard to launch the CSI globalVCard mobile application based on technology developed within the past two years.

B2B leads way

Designed exclusively for CSI MasterCard Corporate Card customers, the business-to-business (B2B) application generates a unique one-time use Virtual MasterCard account number for each payment, whether conducted in person or in card-not-present environments.

"We're the only ones in the world that have this mobile payment application for the one-time use virtual card via your phone or your tablet," said Heather Stone, CSI Global Executive Vice President. She added that further layers of protection include the ability to restrict virtual card use to specific merchant category codes or certain vendors, set expiration dates for transactions and establish spending limits, all in effort to thwart exploitation by fraudsters.

"Once the vendor runs the actual number, the number disappears into cyberspace, so they're not holding a static number of yours to be used over and over again, and then you're tracking down where it was used," Stone said, noting that because nothing resides on the mobile device itself, there is nothing to link back or tap into a checking account or any other type of account.

"That whole process of someone hijacking and using your number completely disappears," she said. "It's done in real-time, it's very secure and it provides a tremendous amount of data back to your corporate treasury." Stone pointed out that corporate executives like the program because it can be set up in a matter weeks versus months for large infrastructures. When asked whether CSI would enter the consumer market with the program, she responded, "We are considering a consumer version."

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