Dear Clients:

October 15

Visa 2008 Olympic Games Promotion * - Order deadlines for statement inserts are October 15 and December 3.

November 1

2008 Retail Branch Program * - Deadline for early order discount for promotion period January 15 - April 30, 2008.

As OneBridge continues to grow, we are committed to expanding and solidifying our relationships with core account processors and enhancing our expertise and knowledge base.  True to this commitment, we participate in and attend conferences and seminars throughout the year.  Below is an update on the conferences/seminars we attended last quarter.

Visa Fraud Seminar:  On August 23, 2007, Heather Eikenberry Stoner, OneBridge Manager, Risk Management Services, attended the Visa Issuers Fraud Seminar in Chicago, Illinois. Over 160 representatives from Visa issuing banks, credit unions and processors gathered to learn and share their experiences in the combat against fraud.  Heather’s experience was fantastic for many reasons including a strong affirmation that the risk management products and services OneBridge offers are leading edge.  Here is more about the wealth of information garnered from the Visa seminar.

Visa had knowledgeable and approachable speakers representing key risk management departments across their payment network. “I enjoyed putting names and faces together while having the opportunity to have one on one interaction," said Stoner.  The focus of this one day event really came down to five main strategy points, with each Visa representative stressing the importance of implementing these strategies. 

Secure the Payment Environment to protect card data and render it useless to thieves!  Securing the payment environment focuses on elimination of track data storage at the merchant and the need for them to be Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliant.  Visa has begun fining large scale merchants who are storing inappropriate cardholder data. 

Monitor, Identify & Prevent Fraud through technology and best practice!  Visa has developed Visa Advanced Authorization and the Risk Score, compromised account Risk Condition Code (RCC) and Compromised Event Reference ID (CER ID) in response to this significant need.  They emphasized using this information to make intelligent decisions to decline authorizations that meet certain criteria and queuing/alerting on others warranting analysis or validation. 

Manage the Impact of Fraud by helping Issuers and Acquirers recover from its effects!  Managing the impact of fraud involves alerting Visa by accurately and faithfully submitting TC-40 fraud advices.  Visa unveiled their new Common Point of Purchase service that alerts Visa to potential fraud requiring further investigation. 

Maintain Trust in Visa Payments through merchant and consumer education!  Visa’s goal is to maintain consumer trust in Visa payments and they understand that the success of your card program relies on it.

Create an Environment of Partnership by promoting industry engagement and accountability around security!  The bottom line is that everyone must work together to combat card fraud and compromises and that includes Issuers, Acquirers, Merchants, Processors and the payment networks.

The common fraud dilemma that echoed throughout presentations in each of the five strategy categories surrounded “compromises” - how to stop them, how to detect them, how to work through them and the need to look at technology to assist in accomplishing it. 

Effective risk management around compromised accounts requires that Issuers commit to adhering to some straight forward best practices.  That goal can be accomplished by utilizing the following tools and resources available:

• Enroll in CAMS and leverage the information
• Consistently & accurately report ALL fraud
• Have Compromised Account Risk Condition Codes activated and use them in conjunction with the VAA Risk Score
• Ensure your processor can use the CER ID
• Evaluate how to use the scores for maximum fraud detection
•  Use Visa fraud control tools during authorization
• CONTINUALLY monitor performance, strategies and rules

So how do OneBridge risk management products and services help you achieve the goal of employing these best practices?

Enroll in CAMS and leverage the information
You can convey your list of compromised accounts to OneBridge and we will assist in providing detailed cardholder information.  We can also bulk load those cards into the OneBridge exception file and forward them to the Visa exception file.

Consistently and accurately report ALL fraud
OneBridge provides a fraud advice check box as a feature of entering a chargeback in Dispute Agent.  By checking this box you will quickly and easily submit a TC-40 fraud advice to Visa.  Receiving fraud advices is imperative to Visa’s ability to monitor fraud and develop innovative new tools.

Have Compromised Account Risk Condition Codes activated and use them in conjunction with the VAA Risk Score
OneBridge receives the RCC field which you can then view in the authorization screen in Navigator.  In our October, 2007, issue of Product Management News we announced the ability to use the RCC with our Real-time Authorization Filters, Velocity Monitoring and Fraud Scout.  We encourage you to contact client service with questions or to get started with this great new enhancement.

Ensure your processor can use the CER ID
OneBridge can also receive the CER ID in the Visa authorization message and can leverage these values in Real-time Authorization Filters.  More information about this feature can be found in the July 26, 2007, issue of our Product Management News.  You may also contact our Client Service team for more information.

Evaluate how to use the scores for maximum fraud detection
OneBridge offers guidance to determine a baseline for your card program.  Please contact our client service team to request suggestions based on an analysis of your data.

Use Visa fraud control tools during authorization
OneBridge provides many risk management services that occur real-time during our authorization processing.  For example, we can automatically decline authorizations based on failed CVV, CVV2, dCVV, Name Matching or invalid expiration date.  Additionally, our Real-time Authorization Filters can be established on virtually any field or combination of fields, present in the authorization message in order to make intelligent, real-time decisions. 

CONTINUALLY monitor performance and strategies and rules
We also provide alerts, reports and on demand information related to our various risk management products and services.  Our staff also monitors activity across all clients to identify and quickly shut-down authorizations on more global schemas.

The bottom line is that the fraudsters are out there and will remain out there.  It could be a large scale data breach, card skimming or as simple as cardholders losing their wallet and a dishonest person getting their hands on the card.  And, combating and mitigating fraud is not just an issue of reducing financial losses.  Security and protection are expected by your cardholders.  Developing and using best practices while creating more strategies with better intelligence benefits the consumer.  Help give them the best experience possible and don’t give them the opportunity to pull another card, issued by another financial institution, from their wallet.

The following are some noteworthy statistics about fraud trends compiled by Visa and presented during this fraud seminar.

First Quarter 2007 - Fraud to Sales

*Current trend shows Debit is flat and heading down, credit is driving the numbers

First Quarter 2007 - Loss Averages

CUs Fear 'Sleeping with the Enemy' *

* To access this article, you will need to register with The Credit Union Journal.  The Credit Union Journal is a great tool that provides access to valuable industry information and articles.  Just follow the directions when you click the link.