European Regulations Could Decimate e-Commerce: Visa

“…Visa Europe Chief Risk Officer Peter Bayley added that ‘consumers are protected from fraud losses anyway – all the risk is taken by the merchants and banks who, together with Visa, have already implemented a number of security measures to prevent fraudulent online purchases.'”

Visa is decrying European regulatory efforts to improve security in online commerce.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has announced its ‘Strong Customer Authentication’ (SCA) proposals, which would require extra security for all online purchases valued over €10. Visa says this will cut European e-commerce in half; that over €6 billion could be lost in commerce with merchants based outside of Europe; and that in more automated points of sale like toll booths, queues will extend.

In a statement, Visa Europe Chief Risk Officer Peter Bayley added that “consumers are protected from fraud losses anyway – all the risk is taken by the merchants and banks who, together with Visa, have already implemented a number of security measures to prevent fraudulent online purchases.” Bayley said fraud on Visa cards occurs “at about 5 cents in every €100 spent.”

There’s still time for changes to the EBA’s proposal, and the organization has solicited feedback, and received it from the likes of the FIDO Alliance, whose members by and large concern themselves with technologies aimed at both improving security and reducing friction, such as biometric authentication. Visa has been exploring such technologies too, and by joining a chorus promoting them, it could help to sway the EBA toward a more commerce-friendly framework.