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EFTA issues paper on implementing user authentication in payments

Thursday, December 22, 2016 — 11:31:03 (EST)

Fairfax, Va., Dec. 22, 2016 -- The Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA), which works to advance electronic payments and commerce through responsible federal government relations and member education, today released its final white paper in a three-part series on “User Authentication,” which details the benefits and challenges of utilizing user authentication as a component of an overall security strategy. The white paper is a free resource for the payments industry, and the full report is available here efta.org/2016/12/user-authentication-for-payments-part-three/ .

A recent 2016 study by Javelin revealed there are 13.1 million identity theft victims with a total of $15 billion stolen. Additionally, Javelin notes that the EMV chip requirements may have lowered fraud for in-person, POS transactions, but fraudsters have moved away from existing card fraud to focus instead on new account fraud, which has grown 113 percent.

In an effort to address these threats and obstacles to digital commerce, the white paper explores user authentication which affords security benefits and how industry stakeholders will play key roles in moving forward with its wider adoption. The white paper delves into these main areas regarding authentication:

• The needs of key stakeholders for the successful implementation of user authentication;
• Effectiveness of authentication techniques;
• Where industry stakeholders stand in implementing user authentication initiatives;
• Other considerations including stakeholder leadership, know your customer, open standards and regulation.

“Online fraud and identity theft continue to persist in all areas of the payments environment, but the good news is that the payments industry stakeholders have come to a consensus for the practical application of user authentication to defend against these threats,” said Kurt Helwig, president and CEO of the EFTA. “Additionally, we acknowledge the FIDO Alliance’s latest effort which promotes using a Public Key Infrastructure for the communication of secure data after authentication has been performed as well as the World Wide Web Consortium for its open standards for the web which include building authentication into the secure browser.”

About EFTA

The Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA) is a non-profit trade association dedicated to the advancement of electronic payments and electronic commerce. EFTA’s nearly 300 members include the nation’s leading financial institutions, ATM owners, networks and manufacturers, payment processors, card companies, software companies, state governments and technology services providers. For nearly 40 years it has informed debate over the consumer, business and policy implications of new and existing payments technology. EFTA accomplishes this through public outreach to Congress, the administrative agencies, regulators, consumers and the media. For more information, visit www.efta.org .

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Source: Company press release.