For the ecommerce industry, credit card fraud has loomed large as a limiting factor to industry growth for years. According to data from the Federal Reserve, fraud only impacts a fraction of one percent of all purchases made with credit cards, but the catastrophic impact of worst-case scenarios is enough to keep many consumers wary of entering financial information on the web. IFAN Financial, Inc. (OTC: IFAN), through its proprietary iPIN Technologies, is giving consumers a better option, allowing for online payments without the need to expose sensitive personal information.
To better understand the benefits of the iPIN system, consider the effects of the 2014 data breach of nationwide shopping chain Target (NYSE: TGT). Late last year, Target’s databases were accessed by hackers, leaking personal information – including names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses – of more than 70 million customers around the globe, according to CNN. For shoppers that used traditional online payment channels, this hack would have put their personal information at risk. However, using iPIN Technologies, consumers are able to make online purchases without sharing sensitive personal information, effectively establishing a safer channel for ecommerce payments.
“When you purchase online either using your mobile device or on your PC on the internet [with the iPIN system] and you use your debit card with your PIN, none of your personal information from your card goes to the merchant,” stated Steven Scholl, Chief Financial Officer of IFAN. “They only get the money sent from your bank.”
Moving forward, this technology could be more vital than ever before. In October 2015, banks and credit unions throughout the United States will begin adhering to the new Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) Compliance Mandate. Under this new regulation, participating U.S. merchants will be required to upgrade software and hardware systems to comply with new, chip-based payment cards. While these cards help in-person credit card purchases become more stable and secure, the results in early adopting markets suggest that online security could be a different story.
In Europe, credit and debit card fraud rose by 39 percent over a six year period from 2004 to 2010 following the rollout of EMV-based payment systems, according to Entrepreneur, and a 2014 European Central Bank report indicated that card-not-present payments, including those utilized in ecommerce transactions, were the source of approximately 60 percent of these incidents in 2012. As the United States prepares to make the mandated jump to this new technology, IFAN’s iPIN Technologies could provide the company with a formidable platform to help it realize rapid growth in the years to come.
For more information, visit http://ifanfinancial.com
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