Bank Group Takes on M-Payment Security with Temporary Card Numbers (July 8, 2013)
July 8, 2013
With security among the most important issues for providers and users of mobile payments, a group of banks is working to develop a new standard to improve mobile transaction security online and at POS. The Clearing House (TCH), a banking association and payments company whose 22 member banks include Bank of America, Citi and U.S. Bank, is currently developing a pilot for mobile-based online and in-store transactions that works by replacing a consumer’s actual card number with a randomly generated temporary number, or dynamic credential, for processing the transaction. The system would protect a customer’s account information behind bank firewalls and lower the potential for fraud in digital payments, while not altering the consumer’s buying experience, according to TCH. No release date or timetable was given for the pilot.
With the rise of digital wallets, security has been one of the issues at the forefront for providers and consumers. The size and high profile of TCH’s member banks should give the pilot a boost out of the gate, the group said. “Financial institutions have always been the stewards of safe and sound payment systems,” said Richard Davis, chairman, president and CEO, U.S. Bancorp and chairman, TCH. “As an industry, we want to do what we can to ensure that privacy and fraud protection are built into all types of digital payments.”
