How safe is verified by visa?

Lifeforms

kaster wrote: »

Halifax no longer seem to use Verified by Visa (Halifax Secure as they call it), the box briefly flashes on the screen when you check out and then goes again.

That's what I get with mine. Barclays do use it still, and have no way to fix it. So I never get asked for passcode/word, though transaction still goes through.

Richie-from-the-Boro

2 different ends of the transaction :

You the individual - The 3DS [what we are calling Verified by Visa] works because on completion of the initial 3DS application the pass phrase is registered with the bank issuing the VISA card. When you buy online anyone attempting an online purchase / online card payment enters their VISA verification password this in turn is verified by their bank, then and only then the will they be returned to the merchant website to complete the transaction.

They, the merchant - I'll leave this bit out but essentially the merchant passes the card number to Visa or Mastercard, and gets back a URL to embed in an iframe to display to the customer. If the customer executes the protocol successfully, the merchant gets an authorisation code to submit to his bank.

Historic problems and other info

There were always [now solved] issues with 'pop-up blockers', the iframe' protocol on co-operation solved these. The 3DS form is an iframe or pop-up without an address bar, this is an anti-phishing initiative. Mention has been made in this thread a about first registering with your bank, it is the case that before 3DS can even be used to authenticate a transaction the cardholder must register a password with their bank. As has been stated in this thread if you decide not to use the 3DS protection [VISA actually allows 3 opt-outs] many banks [many banks allow zero opt-outs] will refuse to allow the transaction through. Other banks have opted out of the scheme altogether, so it depends on the particular bank you are with.

santer_2

If the wrong password is entered, it prompts for the creation of a new one, and all the information required is on the card, apart from date of birth, and those details would be known to whoever was trying to buy online for the transaction to have got that far, so not so secure in that respect.

Squire_Fulwood

I bank with Santander. I tried to buy something from Tesco and the pop up asked me for my password and when I apparently got it wrong the transaction ended abruptly.

I phoned my bank who sounded confused and told me I had to talk to Alliance and Leicester (remember them?) and to my surprise put me through. They didn't know what I was talking about and gave me a url to try. It was just Visa's general site and no help or information at all.

I kept Googling until I got somewhere and phoned the person indicated to ask for a password reset. It only took four hours. I have two debit cards so the progress of the second one was quicker. I am not a fan of VbV.

greenstreetprince

@Squire Fulwood:

the problems you describe were not the fault of VbV, more the result of the people you spoke to not being trained adequately to do their job.

Squire_Fulwood

I know but it is an indictment of how well the system works as far as the customer is concerned.

Also the advice on this forum is that for security purposes it is better to set up the VbV via your bank. If anyone can tell me how to do that I would be interested as I would like to change my password occasionally.

greenstreetprince

which bank you with?

although I dont really see the difference between registering via their VbV portal or when registering at the time of a purchase, either way you are registering with the same service.

cottager

I get VBV when using my Co-operative Visa credit card online. Having registered a few years ago (over the phone in my case), I now only get asked for characters from the password chosen. What Co-op said to me was that once I was passed to the VBV page from a merchant to enter the password characters, it would always have the Co-operative logo on it (i.e. specific to the card I was using -- I assume for cards used from other banks or companies it would show their logo), and if it didn't I should beware. I've always checked for that. I don't have a Co-op bank a/c BTW, only their c/card.

Squire_Fulwood

greenstreetprince wrote: »

which bank you with?

Still with Santander like I said in post 15. Also I was trying to change my password and not register.

greenstreetprince

Squire_Fulwood wrote: »

Still with Santander like I said in post 15. Also I was trying to change my password and not register.

firstly you need to navigate to the following page on the santander site: http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210607014698&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateA2

Under Log on to Santander Secure Account click VISA card holders Log on