April 04, 2012 10:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time
TIBURON, Calif.--()--Yet another security breach in the credit card industry has occurred and millions of cardholders have been inconvenienced – or worse. When breaches happen, card issuers, merchant acquirers and in this case, Global Payments will incur economic losses. These losses inevitably will be passed on to consumers. Security breaches can and will happen – but there is finally a way to minimize customer cost and inconvenience when they do occur.
“When millions of cardholders’ data is exposed in a breach, FiTeq cards ensure the authentic cardholders can keep using their payment cards. Fraudsters will find the data they stole to be useless because of FiTeq’s Transaction Specific Code.”
While many solutions detect fraud after the fact, FiTeq’s solution protects payment card data and prevents counterfeiting during a data breach. FiTeq’s cards offer world class EMV security in combination with FiTeq’s Energizer Stripe™ to provide the next level of security beyond what current magnetic stripe cards provide, without any change to the existing payment system infrastructure. FiTeq’s Energizer Stripe changes the magnetic card data each time the card is used. FiTeq’s Transaction Specific Code™ enables a unique cryptogram, allowing banks to protect cardholder account information. In short, the genuine cardholder continues to use the payment card and fraudsters that steal the data and encode it on the counterfeit card cannot generate the next FiTeq Transaction Specific Code. Banks that issue FiTeq cards avoid inconveniencing their cardholders and save the costs they would have incurred through a massive card reissue.
Last week’s announcement regarding the Global Payments breach is just one of the many recent attacks. FiTeq’s CEO Joan Ziegler says: “When millions of cardholders’ data is exposed in a breach, FiTeq cards ensure the authentic cardholders can keep using their payment cards. Fraudsters will find the data they stole to be useless because of FiTeq’s Transaction Specific Code.”
FiTeq's cards appear much like conventional credit/debit cards, but are battery-powered and embedded with FiTeq's Energizer Stripe, enabling the magnetic stripe data packet to create a unique ID that changes for each transaction: the FiTeq Transaction Specific Code. To further secure the cardholder’s data in this changing payments landscape, the card also features an EMV approved chip, which is the global standard for authenticating credit and debit card transactions. All cardholder data is stored on the secure EMV chip. As opposed to the traditional static magnetic stripe card data, which is susceptible to a host of fraud related attacks, the FiTeq Transaction Specific Code uses the EMV chip and a patented algorithm to ensure the cardholder’s data is good for only one transaction.
FiTeq’s fraud fighting technologies offer many benefits to consumers, including:
- Peace of mind when giving up control of the card to a stranger, such as a waiter, knowing the Fiteq Transaction Specific Code is protecting their card data.
- Never facing the inconvenience of tracking down fraudulent charges made to their card when the card never left the cardholder’s wallet.
- Using the same type of transaction security protocol used today in more than 100 million US contactless cards under the American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa networks.
FiTeq™ takes payment card solutions to the next level by differentiating card services and leveraging FiTeq’s fraud fighting technologies while easing the transition to an EMV future. FiTeq’s solutions leverage their patented Extensible Electronic Device Architecture and Vault Software to produce a line of FiTeq cards which always include an EMV payment applet in conjunction with the FiTeq Energizer Stripe™ and FiTeq Transaction Specific Code™. FiTeq cards produce a unique cryptogram for each transaction readable by both EMV terminals and legacy magnetic stripe terminals to protect cardholder data, while also providing new card services. FiTeq’s Vault Authentication Software™ decrypts the FiTeq Transaction Specific Code™ to authenticate the card and provide innovative card services. FiTeq is a vertically integrated payment solution provider: from card design to personalization, FiTeq solutions are plug-and-play with all terminals and all back-end business processes from Datacard to IBM mainframe. Both FiTeq EMV Cards and the FiTeq Vault Authentication Software create exceptional value to banks, enabling a solid ROI from fraud reduction as well as unprecedented innovation in card services to drive top line revenue.
Privately held and incorporated in 2008 by a team of seasoned payment industry veterans, FiTeq has raised over $15 million in private funding to develop and distribute innovative solutions which leverage its patented technology. FiTeq’s licensed patented technology is in use in over 100 million U.S. contactless cards already in use by American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. FiTeq is based in Tiburon, California.
FiTeq Financial Technologies — Powering Innovation in Payments
