Visa Europe's crime fighting keypad credit card

Posted by David Walker on Fri 7 Nov 2008

Safety in unique numbers

There's one serious flaw with mail order or online shopping - just about anyone can be using your card, especially if you haven't noticed it missing (or if someone has overseen or stolen your pin). The solution? Well, Visa Europe reckons it is the one-time code card.

On the face, it looks like any other card. Flip it over and you have a numeric keypad. When shopping online, you simply enter your pin into the card. Once that's been accepted, you get a unique 'one-time-only' code on the card, which is used to authenticate the sale. A marvel of miniaturisation, it's no thicker than a usual card, even with a battery on board (good for three years of use).

MBNA, Cornèr Bank in Switzerland, Cal in Israel and IW Bank in Italy will pilot the card in the next few months. If it cuts down on fraud, expect this piece of techno-plastic to be winging its ways to you soon after.

Visa Europe