Big changes are coming. That is the top-line message in Javelin Strategy + Research's new report, “ONLINE ANDMOBILE RETAIL PAYMENTS AUTHENTICATION: Preventing Fraud in the Ageof Data Breaches and Malware.”

Passwords increasingly look obsolete. Card not present fraud isexploding through the roof. The arrival of chip-and-PIN (aka EMV)cards in the 2015-2017 timeframe will change the retail landscapebut the magnetic stripe criminals will seek out new frontiers,probably to include online and mobile sales.

Add it up and, said Javelin researcher Al Pascual,an era of enormous transformation is beginning to wash over theworld of online and mobile transactions.

Pascual indicated that “cards remain consumers' number onemethod for card not present purchases and criminals' number onemethod for online retail fraud.” That highlights the problem.

For credit unions and their card processors, this is adollars-and-cents issue because fraud costs. But Pascual seemed toforesee a time of safer mobile and online transaction as newtechnologies take hold.

He pointed to the growing marketplace acceptance of biometrics –such as voice and eye prints – as a for instance.

He also indicated that the mobile phone – which itself has aunique fingerprint and it is straightforward to combine it withbiometrics (using the phone to do a voice print, for example) –is apotential game changer.

The report stressed: “Passwords and similar staticauthentication measures have a foot in the grave.”

In an interview, Pascual reiterated that point, saying it is“without a doubt” that the end is in view for passwords.

The report added: “More advanced authentication is needed foronline card purchases, as online retail fraud surges.”

Gloomy as that sounds, Pascual stressed, “The future is bright.”The threats seem huge but, he said, the momentum suggests that cardissuers and processors will “get a handle on this.”