Jacqueline MoodyJammin’ Jests, Jukin’ Jives, & Jolly Roger Justice

I own two fake Visa cards tied to two different checking accounts. I originally thought having a Visa card for my ATM card was a good thing. It is more convenient for me rather than having cash, but that convenience comes with a price. If your card number is stolen and charges are made, those charges come out of your bank account. And while you may have your money restored in 1-5 days (depending on your bank’s policy), you may get hit with returned check fees for any bank transactions that posted during that time. Guess what? Some banks DO NOT refund those fees! They count on them as part of their income. I highly recommend you check with your bank to find out their policy if something like this were to happen to you.

Visa and my bank are doing something to help. Starting April 29th, they are creating a layer of protection for online purchases with their new Verified by Visa program. It helps protect you in two ways: by requiring a password and showing you a phrase you predetermined. The password helps protect with theft and the predetermined phrase helps protect against phishing. Contact your bank to find out if they are offering this service. I found mine by checking online.

This is their description of the program from their terms of service:

Verified by Visa is a service that provides you, free of charge, with a way of increasing security in online and other transactions for which Verified by Visa is used, by reducing the chances of fraud for those transactions.

Here’s how it works:

1. Select to checkout of your online shopping cart
2. Select Visa as your form of payment
3. The Verified by Visa window appears
4. The Merchant, total amount due, and current date will appear
5. Under that you’ll see the last four digits of your credit card
6. Next you’ll see your personal message displayed. This will let you know you are at Visa’s site and not a site for someone trying to steal your credit card data, including your password.
7. Next is the password
8. Submit your purchase

I am very glad to see Visa doing this. Every layer of protection you can have will help. Unfortunately, this doesn’t protect against every purchase. I do think it will go a long way in helping to eliminate credit card fraud.

One last thing. When you create your password, PLEASE make it something that is not easy to guess. Don’t use a single dictionary word or a common name. If you must use a dictionary word, use two to make a passphrase. Use a combination of uppercase, lowercase, and numbers. You can do this and make it easy to remember. It is YOUR bank account you are protecting!