Israeli e-payment security company Cyota announced yesterday that First USA, the largest issuer of Visa credit cards in the world, had selected the Cyota Secure Verified by Visa service for Internet payment security. Cyota says the deal is valued at several million dollars over the coming years.
The deal comes after last month’s announcement that Bank of America, the third largest bank in the US, had begun offering Cyota’s Verified by Visa service to its customers in a deal that was also valued at millions of dollars.
Credit card customers that enroll in Verified by Visa are asked to select security features including a login ID, a personal message and a password. These features are then used to complete online purchase transactions.
When making a transaction with a participating online merchant, the customer sees a pop-up window showing a personal message. After seeing the message, the customer is supposed to enter the password to complete the transaction. Without the password, the transaction cannot continue.
Cyota CEO Naftali Bennett said, “We are excited about working with First USA, a leader in consumer credit card offerings, both online and offline, and have designed our products to meet the superior security and scalability demands of large, global issuers like First USA. We look forward to building our relationship with First USA and continuing to provide them with e-payment security solutions.”
Cyota, founded in 1999, is a privately held company that develops online security, payment and transaction products. It is headquartered in New York, with offices worldwide. The company has an R&D center in Israel.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 17 January, 2002