Banks introduce 3D-secure services
Manama, February 20, 2012
Bahraini Saudi and Al Salam Bank Bahrain, Al Salam Group, have joined hands with leading electronic payment processor of the region, AFS, to introduce 3D-secure services for its credit card holders.
Under this agreement, cardholders will have a decreased risk of other people being able to use their payment cards fraudulently on the internet.
On the occasion of signing the agreement, A Karim Mohammed Turki, head of Al Salam Retail Banking Group, said: “While Bahraini Saudi and Al Salam Bank Bahrain have always endeavored to introduce new services in order to improve customer convenience, we have never lost our sight to the inherent risks associated with such services.”
“We have noticed an increase in the internet transactions and hence we thought it appropriate to secure our cardholders against fraudulent transactions. AFS has been a trusted partner of Bahraini Saudi and Al Salam Bank Bahrain for many years and it was only natural to extend our relationship with them with 3D-secure service,” Turki said.
In this implementation, Bahraini Saudi and Al Salam Bank Bahrain, prompt the buyer for a password that is known only to the buyer, a statement from the bank said.
The merchant does not know this password and is not responsible for capturing it; this is intended to help decrease risk in two ways:
1. Copying card details, either by writing down the numbers on the card itself or by way of modified terminals or ATMs, does not result in the ability to purchase over the internet because of the additional password, which is not stored on or written on the card.
2. Since the merchant does not capture the password, there is a reduced risk from security incidents at online merchants; while an incident may still result in hackers obtaining other card details, there is no way for them to get the associated password.
AFS chief executive officer B Chandrasekhar said: “At AFS, we work closely with our customers in developing new services. 3D-Secure service is a result of our collaboration with our customers.” – TradeArabia News Service
