Visa Restates Commitment to Safeguarding Contactless Payments in Nigeria

Emma Okonji

Following the release of the guidelines for contactless payments by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Visa has restated its commitment to safeguarding contactless payments in Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had released guidelines for contactless payments, which seek to ensure that participants in contactless payments implement appropriate risk management measures, while keeping to best industry standards.

Contactless payments are already common in places like South Africa, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. In addition to being a fast and easy way to pay, contactless cards provide strong protection against fraud without ever touching the payment terminal.

Speaking about security around contactless, the Vice President and Head, Visa West Africa, Andrew Uaboi, said: “Contactless cards use the same secure technology as EMV Chip. Every contactless transaction includes a one-time use cryptographic code that prevents counterfeit fraud. EMV Chip technology ensures cardholder information is encrypted, dynamic and secure for payments making it much more difficult for threat actors to steal and monetise data.”

According to him, Visa contactless cards must be within four centimeters of a merchant’s contactless terminal for card information to be transmitted.

“If fraudsters were to get close enough to read a contactless card, they will not gain access to the cardholder’s name or the 3-digit security code, helping to prevent counterfeit and e-commerce fraud.  Contactless payments are protected by the same technologies as other Visa transactions. Every Visa payment product is protected with security at the card, terminal, and network levels. Visa cardholders benefit from multiple layers of security that work behind the scenes with every transaction to prevent payment fraud—even before it can happen. Secure protocols, artificial intelligence, real time analytics, cryptographic algorithms and many more layers work together to prevent fraud. The combination of embedded security in our payment products and multi-layered security behind every transaction is why Visa has been able to keep global fraud rates significantly low,” Uaboi said. 

In partnership with the wider industry, including financial institutions, technologist, academics, and others, Visa constantly adapts, enhances, and evolves its payment solutions to identify and address new risks. When appropriate, it make changes in technology and infrastructure to mitigate risks. 

“As a result of this industry collaboration, contactless cards are a secure way to pay, and consumers can use them with confidence,” Uaboi further said.