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

Passwords increasingly look obsolete. Card not present fraud is exploding through the roof. The arrival of chip-and-PIN (aka EMV) cards in the 2015-2017 timeframe will change the retail landscape but 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 the world of online and mobile transactions.

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

For credit unions and their card processors, this is a dollars-and-cents issue because fraud costs. But Pascual seemed to foresee a time of safer mobile and online transaction as new technologies 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 a unique fingerprint and it is straightforward to combine it with biometrics (using the phone to do a voice print, for example) –is a potential game changer.

The report stressed: “Passwords and similar static authentication 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 for online 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 card issuers and processors will “get a handle on this.”

Instant Insights /

Javelin Study: New Tools Primed to Transform Online, Mobile Payments

Related Stories

Recommended For You