Following four years of research and development, UK mobile payments start-up Telsecure is launching its securePay front-end payments system that is designed to protect customers from card-not-present (CNP) fraud.
Telsecure said in 2003 that it was teaming with business and technology consultancy Generics Group to develop the mobile authentication system, which uses a cardholder's mobile hand set to verify and authenticate transactions made via the Internet, mail and telephone.
Card issuers are able to connect directly to securePay's servers and request authentication using a PIN or password from the cardholder via their mobile. This is then securely transmitted and compared with the issuers database.
Telsecure says SecurePay emulates chip and PIN levels of security in the CNP area. According to stats from UK payments association Apacs, CNP fraud losses increased by 16% in 2006 and now account for just under 50% of all card fraud losses.
The product is compliant with industry standards and protocols such as PCI and securePay will work with all 730 global mobile communications network providers, says Telsecure. The certification of securePay is performed by Sagentia, UK. Mobile connectivity is available globally through Sybase365 and eftpos vendor Ingenico.
Lars Wallin, director of Telsecure Group, says: "Our financial models show that the banks will achieve significant savings on the cost of administering fraudulent transactions by adopting the technology."
"In addition, securePay can be adopted by banks for substantially less than alternatives now under consideration such as card readers, adds Wallin.