PSCU Financial Services announced today that it is the first CUSO to offer credit unions and their members near-real-time1 alerts for Visa credit transactions. This is the newest tool offered by the cooperative to empower Visa credit cardholders to help identify potentially fraudulent account activity.
"Consumers want to play an active part in protecting and managing their financial accounts"
Alerts are delivered through Visa's transaction alerts platform and are usually sent within seconds of transaction authorization and can be delivered by email or SMS text. Members can elect to receive any or all of the following alerts: transaction declined; out of country or card-not-present transaction; gas station charges or transaction exceeding an amount set by the cardholder.
"We are fully committed to empowering our credit unions and their members with new technologies to reduce the risk of fraud. This new transaction alert service allows Visa credit cardholders to detect potential fraudulent use, providing credit union members more control over their accounts," said David J. Serlo, President, PSCU Financial Services.
Cardholders can enroll in the new transaction alert service from the credit union's web site. Credit unions can select the alerts that are available to cardholders as well as the method: email, SMS text or both. The transaction alert contains critical information such as purchase amount, time and date of the transaction, as well as information relating to the merchant, such as name and location. HTML email has additional branding options.
"Consumers want to play an active part in protecting and managing their financial accounts," said Jim McCarthy, Global Head of Product at Visa Inc. "Our collaboration with PSCU will bring the Visa's transaction alert service to credit union members throughout North America enabling them to better manage and track their spending while providing them with an early warning system for potential fraudulent activities."
Visa transaction alerts are sent on behalf of participating credit unions directly from VisaNet, Visa's global processing network, typically within seconds of a transaction occurring. Alerts are triggered when the transaction meets certain criteria the account holder has selected and are delivered directly to the account holder via email, SMS text message or the Visa Mobile application. Visa's transaction alerts let consumers monitor their accounts for unusual activity and take immediate action if they believe a potentially fraudulent transaction is taking place.
PSCU Financial Services is the credit union industry's leader in data protection. The cooperative offers advanced fraud detection and prevention measures, including its Falcon fraud detection system and 24/7 card monitoring by a specially trained security staff. These activities deliver a fraud-to-sales ratio for member-owners that is lower than the industry average.