WASHINGTON -- Visa titled its March 8 summit Maintaining Trust in Payments and the card brand used the event to stress that the problem of card fraud has the potential to so undermine consumer's trust in cards that they stop using them.
In his remarks opening the conference, Coughlin recalled how his mother had called him in the wake of one recent breach to ask if she could still feel safe using her Visa card. "Her question really crystallized the true cost of a breach. It can change the way you think about a brand and can create distrust," Coughlin said.
"Every time that the criminals succeed, the most valuable asset they steal isn't money--it is trust," he added.
To emphasize the point, Visa released the results of a Javelin Strategy and Research survey which found that 85% of consumers surveyed said they would likely increase their shopping at retailers that are devoting resources and time to card data security. Likewise only 20% of consumers said they would continue shopping at a retailer that had a card security breach. --dmorrison@cutimes.com
