PhoneFactor Announces Multi-Channel Solution To Credit And Debit Card Fraud

PRESS RELEASE

PhoneFactor, the leading global provider of phone-based multi-factor authentication, today announced support for ISO 8583, the standard protocol that financial institutions use to process credit and debit card transactions. Both MasterCard and Visa base their authorization communications on the ISO 8583 standard as do most Automated Teller Machines. By supporting the widely used ISO standard, PhoneFactor can authenticate card transactions in any channel, including point-of-sale, ATM, and online transactions, through a single technology implementation.

Credit and debit card fraud is rampant worldwide, and while countermeasures like EMV chip cards have been introduced in some European countries, they have yet to gain even limited adoption worldwide. In addition, chip technology fails to easily address the online and mobile channels, leaving a growing segment of transactions unprotected.

By adding PhoneFactor to the transaction path using the ISO 8583 protocol, card issuers can authenticate transactions with a phone call or text message. When a protected transaction is initiated, PhoneFactor instantly places an automated phone call or sends a text message to the cardholder asking them to verify the transaction details. The user simply answers the call and presses # (or a PIN) or replies to the text message to approve the transaction.

PhoneFactor uses the cardholder's existing phone -- a device the cardholder already has and carries with him. So, enabling the service for large numbers of geographically diverse customers is easy and cost-effective. It works regardless of which merchant is processing the transaction or from which channel the transaction is initiated.

"Card issuers are processing more transactions through more channels than ever before," said Steve Dispensa, PhoneFactor CTO and Co-Founder. "By leveraging a ubiquitous device and providing built in support for the ISO 8583 standard, PhoneFactor enables seamless protection for card transactions in any context."

About PhoneFactor PhoneFactor is a leading provider of multi-factor authentication. The company's award-winning platform uses any phone as a second form of authentication. PhoneFactor's out-of-band architecture and real-time fraud alerts provide strong security for enterprise, banking, and website applications. It is easy and cost effective to set up and deploy to large numbers of geographically diverse users. PhoneFactor was recently named to the Bank Technology News FutureNow list of the top 10 technology innovators securing the banking industry today and a finalist in the SC Magazine Reader Trust Awards. Learn more at www.phonefactor.com.