SAN FRANCISCO – Consumers' card data security fears are continuing to drive interest in Visa's Verified By Visa program, according to the number one card brand. Verified by Visa works by requiring consumers using Visa cards take a couple of additional steps to verify their identities when shopping online. Relatively few online retailers were interested in the program at first, but acceptance has grown as the card association has ironed out the bugs and as cardholder anxiety about potential card fraud has grown. According to Visa, the share of online transactions which were protected by the program, increased by 41% over the course of the past year and that 56,000 online merchants have enrolled with the card protection effort. But the card brand did not release the percentage of card transactions overall that the program protected. Over last year, the card brand has seen the volume of online transactions increase by 233%, Visa reported, totaling $829 million this year. Visa also claimed the program has played a role in driving payment card losses to less than 5 cents per $100. "Even brick-and-mortar merchants know the importance of online shopping – and how maintaining customer confidence is the key to sales," said Mike Yakel, vice president of emerging product management, Visa USA. "Verified by Visa provides an added layer of security – protecting both the Internet merchant and consumers."