Verified by Visa is the answer to the prays of Internet shoppers, a totally secure payments channel. There is no extra fee for this new service. There is no need to get a new card. All you do is fill out a simple online application form and Verified by Visa takes care of the rest.
How does it work? Basically every user is issued with a personalized password that then becomes a kind of digital signature for online purchases. The e-commerce merchant gets guaranteed payment, and the user knows the e-commerce merchant has been Verified by Visa as an honest website.
It is clearly a coup for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi to be the first bank in the region to introduce Verified by Visa for the benefit of all its current credit card holders. But by April next year the new system will be mandatory for all banks issuing Visa cards.
Head of NBAD domestic banking, Khamis M. Buharoon is clearly delighted to have secured another first in credit cards for his bank. But he is also convinced that Verified Visa is the key to opening up e-commerce in the UAE.
This is what makes the Verified Visa system truly revolutionary. Many shoppers in the region have thus far been afraid to use their credit cards for online shopping. Now whether they decide to shop locally or internationally on the Internet they can do so without fear that their card number will fall into the wrong hands.
Indeed, the NBAD handles the transaction on its own server, so the merchant never even sees the credit card user's number. This is a double precaution that should not be necessary as the merchant will already have been Verified by Visa.
Surely the next step is for more UAE and regional retailers to adopt e-commerce. The Abu Dhabi Duty Free is now online and a good example of e-retailing. Now that shoppers know that they can use their credit card in complete safety on the Net, and merchant know that they will get paid, a lot more Internet business opportunities will emerge. That's an e-revolution.
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NBAD first with Visa e-commerce revolution
- Wednesday, July 10 - 2002 at 14:47
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Seldom do product launches qualify as genuinely revolutionary. But Visa's new security system for its credit cards is just that. Shopping online can now be done in perfect safety.
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Peter J. CooperWednesday, July 10 - 2002 at 14:47 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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This article was updated on Wed Mar 28 2007.
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