Credit referencing firm Experian has launched Cardholder Verification, a customer authentication service for online merchants and payment processors.
Experian says the service validates the identity of a consumer conducting card-not-present transactions.
The system utilises the vendor's credit and noncredit verification databases - which contain information on 215 million consumers - to identify high-risk transactions prior to payment authorisation.
The data verified includes identification information, as well as postal, e-mail and IP addresses. Alerts are sent for high risk cardholders, closed accounts and lost or stolen credit cards.
Rick Gallagher, president of Experian Fraud Solutions, says: "Cardholder Verification allows merchants to be confident in the identity of the consumers purchasing on their site, as well as the validity of the credit card being used."