Verified by Visa, and other online verification schemes like MasterCard SecureCode, have been adopted by many online retailers in the UK, but do they cause customers to abandon sales?
Concern about the levels of online fraud has led to the introduction of these security measures, but have they seem to have been introduced without considering the effect on e-tailers, and some have found that conversion rates have been affected.
This subject came up when I talked to Andy Redfern of EthicalSuperstore.com last week. After introducing the Verified by Visa scheme to the site, he experienced an immediate 6% drop in conversion rates. There's also this example of a retailer that suffered a 60% drop in sales after introducing 3D Secure.
We asked the question about effects on conversion rates via Twitter last week, and had a similar response:
VbV and Securecode decimated our card sales. Banks just hadn't explained the process to customers.
At the beginning it was terrible, caused a lot of abandoned carts, now its more mainstream merchants see less chargebacks
A quick search on Twitter for terms like 'Verifed by Visa' and '3D Secure' shows how unpopular these schemes with web users:
Just tried to make a purchase online and hit the usual barrier of having to try and negotiate 3D secure. Why oh why do they make it so hard.
3D Secure is about as helpful as a cat flap in an elephant house
Ok, this is a F*****G JOKE! Verified by Visa won't accept my password... Clicking the submit button doesn't do anything!!! WTF!? #FAIL
Has anyone ever made a successful transaction with the Verified By Visa system? It makes my blood boil every time...
The problems with the scheme are related to poor customer education and bad usability. When e-tailers are looking to make the purchase process as smooth as possible for customers, verification schemes essentially add another step to the whole checkout and, worse still, one that many customers are simply not expecting.
The first many customers will know about such security schemes are when they think they have already completed a purchase, but instead they see a screen that looks something like this:
Customers may be reassured by the Visa logo, but this is still a page that is asking for secure information only a step or two after they have already given these details. If you don't know what this step is about, then alarm bells may start ringing.
Also, the Verified by Visa screens I have come across seem to be generic in design, and seems bear no relation (no links, logos etc), have to the site you have just made a purchase on, another thing which may have customers worried.
The password process for Verified by Visa carries with it all of the problems associates with registration processes on e-commerce sites. I have never yet remembered my VBV password, so every single time I have to reset it. As resetting requires entering your date of birth, card security code etc, it can be a frustrating experience.
So what can retailers do about it?
Now that more and more big name retailers are using these schemes, then customer awareness should improve and the effect on conversion rates will be less severe, but, since banks haven't done a great job of educating customers about verification schemes, then retailers offering Verified by Visa should at least make sure that customers are aware of what to expect after the checkout process.
The worst thing you can do is just let customers discover VBV, 3D Secure etc after they have made a purchase. This makes it more likely that they will abandon the purchase in frustration.
TheTrainline is one site that asks for Verified by Visa, but though you can search for information in the help section, you will be given no clue by the retailer until you see the screen.
Instead, retailers could advise customers that they will be asked to verify their card after purchase and provide further information for those customers that are unaware of VBV.
Even better, as in this example from eBuyer, the card verification has been integrated into the checkout process, so instead of seeing a screen with just the Verified by Visa form, customers can see the connection with the website and the purchase they have just made:
The text on the left also explains VBV for those customers who might be unaware of it, and offers customers the option of contacting the retailer if they have any questions:
Though Amazon still refuses to add Verified by Visa, plenty of other well known retailers now use the scheme, and it seems inevitable that others will follow.
Banks and card providers haven't really done enough to educate customers about the system, or to make the forms more usable, but retailers can at least minimise some of the damage to conversion rates by doing as much as they can to advise customers about what to expect during the checkout process.
Learn more...
Econsultancy has published an Online Transaction Processing Guide which looks at various elements of best practice in this area and makes recommendations based on anonymised benchmarking data for 29 merchants / online retailers.
Graham Charlton is Senior Reporter at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter or connect via Linkedin.
Posted 27 May 2009 10:43am by Graham Charlton with 43 comments
Tags: Verified by Visa, 3D Secure, online verification, conversion rates, abandonment
Topics: Ecommerce, User Experience & Usability
Sectors: Retail
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Strategy & Planning
CTO at Econsultancy
11:03AM on 27th May 2009
Very true. The fraud protection on my credit card is already exactly what I want (the issuer removes fraudulent transactions when I report them) so the "protecting the customer" spiel is pretty unconvincing: the only people being protected here are the retailer and the card issuer. It seems win-win until consumers start giving up on online transactions because the "protection" is more hassle than it's worth.
Digital Manager at B & W Group Ltd
11:48AM on 27th May 2009
An excellent review of Verified by Visa. Interesting that a year ago at an IMRG event I attended, when the audience was asked, around 10% had implemented, at least 60% were wary of implementing, and even more interestingly around 30% had not really considered it. It shows that if the retailers dont know much about it, how can you expect the consumer to?
Obviously it was being pushed as a retailer 'must have' but the concerns about the effect on conversion rates concerned all that day even then.
The conversion rate issue and telling the customer what to expect is a must, as is continuing your usability experience for the consumer. I had an experience yesterday on a site I shall not name where after completing VBV the button to complete the order was totally obscured by the VBV box. If I had not noticed that Click to Confirm order button, I would have left the site, expecting the order completed, and would have then wondered why I had not received a confirmation email.
If you do implement VBV, it must not be considered a necessary evil, it needs to be considered an essential part of the shopping basket experience. Even if the banks and card providers have not done their usability home work, there is no excuse for experienced retailers not to.
12:12PM on 27th May 2009
As well as worrying about conversion rates, retailers are also concerned about whether implementing 3D Secure is compulsory or not. Did you know MasterCard has enforced a deadline mandating that any merchant accepting online payments by Maestro must implement 3D Secure by 30th June?
http://www.catalog-biz.com/detailedinfo.aspx?DocID=1499
CEO at Econsultancy
12:42PM on 27th May 2009
Don't get me started on Verified by Visa...!
A vile business all round if you ask me and clearly only there to minimise risk to the banks and no doubt to do with underwriting premiums.
I have actively stopped buying from one site to go to another because the former had Verified by Visa and I'd forgotten my password (yet another one to remember...).
It has been terribly marketed (if at all?), unlike Chip & Pin which was done quite well, has a poor user experience and just adds hassle to everyone.
If you want to read more about this we discussed it at some length in our forum almost two years ago - see Verified by Visa - cause for concern
Unfortunately it looks almost inevitable that this will become more mainstream, not least because the banks are enforcing it and they're already punishing those who don't take it up in the form of worse transaction fee deals, longer payment settlement periods etc.
Lots of useful information on this in our Online Transaction Processing Guide
Ashley
CTO at Econsultancy
12:48PM on 27th May 2009
@Miri: Yes, this is the main reason why Econsultancy no longer accept Maestro payments online -- to us it's just not worth putting our customers through the pain of 3D Secure. It's probably not a win for MasterCard if too many merchants make the same decision!
Managing Director at User Vision
1:51PM on 27th May 2009
Definitely conversion rate killer not just for me personally but also what we get to see when running usabiliy tests. When people hit any barrier in purchase they immediately recall their nightmare transaction experience and think this one could be the same.
Obviously retailers need to balance the tradeoff of conversion drop (the 6% quoted is lower than I expected) vs fraud protection for their business. If working with it on your site,best ideas are early warning in the process (pre purchase if possible) that VBV is being used, and I think the idea of integrating it into the main site rather than pop up will help, as shown in Ebuyer- havent seen that type implemented before, but it will make it seem a bit less distruptive. Once the user is in the VBV system the retailer's hands are tied so need to do all you can on your own site.
Chris
Analyst at CxFocus
3:16PM on 27th May 2009
I'm very glad to see this subject out in the open here and on Catalogue & e-business. I've seen the abandon rates on the relevant stages of some checkout funnels go from single to double digits.
There's also plenty of comment in customer satisfaction surveys about the subject. At first most customers just complained about the issue in general terms about extra passwords, but now more are starting to refer to the system by name. Some blame the merchant, some blame their card company, some blame the merchant for implementing the card company's system -- so two out of three times the merchant gets a beating.
The lack of publicity from the card companies is shameful when you compare it to the lengths they went to when launching chip and pin.
Embedding the form might help with the explaining and warning. But it doesn't do anything about the problems users experience with the system itself. I continue to see a steady flow of adverse comment from users of a site which uses an embedded form.
The frustrating thing is that merchants who have resisted and delayed will possibly have prospered at the expense of those who complied.
More publicity would help, of course. Some serious work on the usability of the system would help too.
Product Manager at brightsolid online publishing
3:36PM on 27th May 2009
As a merchant, it has been misery with a few rays of sunshine - basically no consumer education by banks, and big sticks waved agressively by our CC processor and bank to implement it.
Our first implementation smacked our conversion rates (but did massively reduce fraud). We very quickly redesigned the payment process to provide a. a branded experience (so it didn't look like you'd fallen out the payment process) b. a plain englush explanation (as VBV and processors seem incapable of doing this) on the page you enter the details on c. plenty more hand holding / info on the site. Conversion rates recovered.
It's not rocket science - if you are going to implement this (and plenty of merchants have a gun against their heads, realistically) do what you'd do to the rest of your payment process - make it as simple as possible, with no suprises, and brief your customer support team in case of questions. Monitor conversion rates and your funnel like a hawk.
There is of course a huge elephant in the room security-wise: if your card is stolen and you have not enabled VBV, it is incredibly easy for the thief to do so online, as there are basically no security checks beyond having the card in your hand...
It's badly-implemented bum-covering by the banks at the end of the day, but including it on your site can have some upside for merchants (fewer chargebacks, less fraud, better rates).
Group Ecommerce Manager at InterGlobal Insurance
3:49PM on 27th May 2009
Had a very interesting call with HSBC the other day.. VbV is american and according to the guy i was speaking too, its been a nightmare for the bank, as most people (inc me) dont put the right data in as its misleading.
eg. it asks for a FORNAME but what it actually wants is the exact name on the card, not great usabilty then!! no wonder we all hate it!!
Web Monitoring Manager at SciVisum.co.uk
5:44PM on 27th May 2009
ebuyer.com is one of my regular shopping sites - and I quite like it - despite VBV. I guess they must have a flexible tech platform too, as they did VBV quite early, and GoogleCheckout too.
But VBV can also be a nuisance also in the web testing space, if you've a user journey that makes up credit card numbers at random each run.
As the VBV will sometimes pop up and sometimes not - and so your CheckOut journey has one step in that comes and goes - or to stop the extra step, then we have to wrap the time for the VBV page into the previous page in the journey, which then has a 'quick, quick, slow, quick ' curve - (slow when the extra VBV is present).
Humm, a bit like the pain of how monitoring journeys should handle the 'out of stock' situation for a randomly selected product: is that worthy of a 'warning' or a full blown 'error' - as sites vary on how they wish to hide or show their out of stock products.
Or should the journey loop again, and try to buy a different random product.... but if that too is out of stock.... is that finally worthy of being an Error...or does the client call '3 in a row' as the strict definition. And should we plot the page timings for the extra looping pages, or bin them...
10:44AM on 28th May 2009
This is a service built by someone who has never had to use it!!! - It is absolutley appauling and when you look at the alternatives that abound that are easier for the customer to use and expose less data to a third party site; like Google checkout and Paypal payments.. Banks have a lot to learn. I as an online shopper, also endorse the comment from earlier, that I deliberatley choose not to use it and will seek an easier alternative - almost at any cost.
2:56PM on 28th May 2009
I've wondered how long it would take for VbV to receive some incoming flak. I hate it. Everytime it pops up unannounced it confuses and frustrates me, so imagine the effect it has on the less internet savvy.
That said, I agree with Daniel's and Chris's points. Retailers can moan about VbV and the banks' lack of customer education, but this is surely a shared responsibility.
I've seen some truly horrific integrations of VbV, with no on-site explnation of what it's for, what I'm supposed to do, etc. If customers are pre-warned about VbV and its purpose, they are surely at least less likely to close their browser (or slam shut their laptop in frustration?) at the final hurdle. oh and if it at least looks like the VbV page has a passing resemblance to the rest of the site - unlike some I've seen - it might help
12:21AM on 31st May 2009
I hate VbV. My wife hates VbV. My friends hate VbV.
We never remember any of our user details - the questions, the prompts, the other tosh.
These Visa people just don't get it. We want to buy stuff for our lives and our hobbies - we don't want online shopping to become a hobby.
We're simply not interested in the banks' problems and their crummy websites. We just want the process to work - like switching on a light or turning on a tap - we don't have time to poner it.
10:30AM on 2nd June 2009
We enabled 3D secure when we started trading 4 years ago. It has always been a concern that it was lowering conversion rates, but we decided to stick with it in the belief that it would become common practice "real soon now".
This still hasn't happened!
However, we don't have a huge abandonment rate. This may be because we have quite a long ordering process (we let customers create their own custom box of chocolates) so by the time they reach that screen they have invested a lot of time and aren't about to give up.
We also use the Protx (now Sage Pay) system which lets us create custom templates for all the payment screens including an embedded VBV screen. This screen has our logo, an explanation of what is going on AND A SKIP VERIFICATION BUTTON at the bottom. Of course, this doesn't work for Maestro cards which require 3D, but it gives frustrated customers a way round if they are having problems.
We are finding the vast majority of customers do complete verification, and those who use the skip button, we just take a closer look to see if the order appears fraudulent.
3D secure is an ok system, but as others have noted, nobody bothered to tell the customers about it! If the banks would just advertise it, we would have much fewer problems.
But it doesn't stop here........ Have you got one of those fancy keypad units for your online banking yet? (You put your card in, type your pin, and it generates a security code for logging in - a different one each time) Well, the banks are already trialling a system for online payments where you will need to use one of these every time you make an online purchase.
This may be easier in the long run (you will just have to remember your pin) but will undoubtedly confuse the heck out of customers, they won't be able to find their keypad when they need it etc etc. So, it ain't over yet - it isn't even started! Now would be a great time for the banks to get their act together and start educating their (and our) customers.
CEO at Econsultancy
4:26PM on 2nd June 2009
Doesn't help when you get this sort of message (which I've just received from Datacash our payment provider):
If I was a retailer, and it was the first week of December, and I got this, I'd be hopping mad at Visa 3Dsecure to say the least...
Analyst at CxFocus
4:42PM on 2nd June 2009
Meanwhile I've just this minute sighted my first ever bona fide customer survey comment from someone who was surprised NOT to be prompted for their password on a card which they know to be registered.
That's my first bit of anecdotal evidence that customers are beginning to become familiar with the system despite the lack of publicity.
CEO at Econsultancy
4:48PM on 2nd June 2009
@Tim - that customer, a Mr V. Visa? ;)
Analyst at CxFocus
5:02PM on 2nd June 2009
Well, I've certainly heard of people posting dummy reviews on merchant's sites in order to create a positive or negative buzz. So why not fake comments?
But in this case they would have had to place an order to do it -- this survey was one embedded in the thank you page.
I wonder when we will see a comment here from Mr V's representatives to explain how well the system is being received by our mutual customers?
Co-founder at GuardmyCard
10:54AM on 4th June 2009
Tim, I'm not sure that will ever happen. Every retailer we have spoken to hates the system. Irrespective of how well users are educated the 3DSecure service will always fall down on usability.
Being a card based solution and not person based is it's biggest failure for the consumer. It has been architected around payment networks not around online e-commerce. So if you own three debit/credit cards, like I do, you have to remember usernames and passwords for all three cards which is ridiculous.
Also as Graham points out in his post, you just need the physical card and date of birth to reset the password. That's not really that secure.
The biggest issue for Verified by Visa seems to be that it has already been abandoned by it's creator. Visa's announcements last year, http://www.visaeurope.com/pressandmedia/newsreleases/press363_pressreleases.jsp
show that Visa will look to replace VbV with PinCard as soon as it is possible. Visa will look to use this as a competitive offering to Mastercard, so if you have cards that use both Visa and Mastercard you can expect even more usability issues for online consumers in the near future.
With current technology, it's possible to make online shopping secure, easy to use and retailers can use the existing investment in 3DSecure along with it's interchange rates and chargeback protection. Rather than abandon it, Visa and Mastercard should be looking to make it transparent to the consumer and deliver a joint consumer concentric solution instead of trying to compete with each other.
5:17PM on 4th June 2009
if you are a merchant using verified by visa then check your orders!! today, we have had customers struggling to make payments. the payment gateway page begins loading vbv then hangs. luckily, 2 customers called within 1 hour so we were made aware of the problem. we would have been none the wiser if it were not for this. it may just be an issue between hsbc payment gateway and vbv. we are yet to get any answers from anyone. one thing is for sure.. we have lost orders. please check that you have not been affected.
i HATE vbv!
Web Monitoring Manager at SciVisum.co.uk
12:32PM on 5th June 2009
<sales mode on> - our 24/7 web monitoring can do complex CheckOut journeys, so would alert straight away for these kind of problems VBV or etc.
Nice to know before your customers start to suffer....:<)
Can we help you out Lu, with something quick this week?
Project Manager at iShares
3:47PM on 15th June 2009
This is the most frustrating part of a payment process I have ever come across. I've just aborted yet another transaction after being faced with Barclays VBV. Apparently my password is wrong. OK, thats fine, I'll hit forgotten password. Enter my details as they appear on card (which is in front of me). No such card registered. Nice. Ok, I'll hit "Im not enrolled, new registration". Enter my card details. Card already registered. Call the help line. On hold for 25 minutes. Off down pub to spend the £28 I've just saved.
CEO at Econsultancy
3:53PM on 15th June 2009
Well we're now in the Top 10 on Google.co.uk for a search on 'Verified by Visa' so I'm sure our collective moaning will come to the attention of Visa sooner or later. Let's see what their online PR / social media / SEO skills are like... ;)
Product Manager at brightsolid online publishing
3:57PM on 15th June 2009
More to the point, with the SEO gurus on this site, should we not be gunning for #1 ranking, and for Visa rather than VbV?
Blog it, tweet it. Shake that tree. You know it makes sense. ;-)
5:29PM on 15th June 2009
I think someone else mentioned this earlier on but has anyone received a letter from their bank passing on a message from MasterCard that from June 30th, 2009, they require MasterCard SecureCode to be used for all Maestro e-commerce transactions? It goes on to say that any non-compliant merchant may be subjected to fines of up to $25,000 per month!
I have held off implementing 3D Secure on our site for all of the reasons highlighted by everyone above. And even though MasterCard have issued this warning, I am STILL relunctant to implement.
If you haven't already got 3D running on your site, and have received a letter similar to the one we have, I would interested to hear what you're going to do. Adopt 3D, absorb the fines imposed, or cease accepting Maesro cards?
Is it a case of 'boy crying wolf'? Haven't MasterCard and Visa been setting these 'deadlines' for the past 2 years (at least)?
CEO at Econsultancy
5:50PM on 15th June 2009
Hi David
Yes, I got that letter and threw it in the bin. We decided last year (when we knew this was coming) to drop support for Maestro cards *because* of the 3D Secure implications.
But we could do this knowing that very few of our customers used Maestro anyway and, of the few that did, they almost always had an alternative card they could use.
Guess it depends on your customer base.
CEO at Econsultancy
6:04PM on 15th June 2009
And top 10 on Google.co.uk for 'conversion rate' so I guess we should set ourselves up as a currency exchange affiliate for... Visa?
11:33AM on 18th June 2009
I've just been fuming again. Had a problem the other day, 3D secure would not recognise my password (which I keep at home written down). Made several attempts then gave up. Went to garage to fill up with petrol had to talk to card security by then the queue behind me had built up.
Have been making several other purchases online using another debit card, this firm asked me to do 3D secure which I reluctantly set up and recorded the password. Try it again today for another item, guess what wrong password (the one I had written down the day before). Changed password and transaction not accepted by bank, used credit card no problem and not asked for 3D security.
Managing Partner at Essence
11:20AM on 23rd June 2009
The comments here make me chuckle. I used to be CMO of a credit card company and we had VBV and SecureCode in our pipeline to be implemented in 2004 - except neither Visa nor Mastercard were ready. I left the wonderful world of Financial Services back in 2005 and hadn't heard a peep about VBV until earlier this year.
Strikes me that most folks would consider any project that got this amount of negative feedback a failure. But if you also took > 5 years to implement it....now that is something.
@Ashley - keep throwing those letters in the bin! Although you could mix it up with the odd paper plane...
SEO Director at Guava UK
10:18AM on 24th June 2009
The Verified by Visa twitter search feed makes for some very funny reading pretty much entirely comprised of fails and frustration http://tinyurl.com/l4yhcf
"...and Verified by Visa are enough to make you want to return to a bartering society"
Couldn't agree more.
6:10AM on 11th July 2009
Whenever I try to book my Air Canada Ticket online I had waisted hours to get VV through. Firstly, I contact CIBC Visa for technical problem that my payment thro' has been suspended for no fault of mine. Moreover, AIr Canada online service terminates the purchase of Tickets if transactions take more than ten minutes.
Second Time while buying the ticket online same history. Finally, I made up my
mind not to do any purchase online. By the way I am 75 years Senior Citizen and I have not been communicated that your transactions will be over without any result for vverified procedure.
Better discontinue this complicated method replaced by USER FRIENLY Transaction.
Mahendra S. Mehta
Senior Citizen
306-586-5942
1:32PM on 19th July 2009
Hi All:
I immensely enjoyed the article and the comments. However, as someone with more than 20 years of experience with software development ranging from low level assembly language software to high level Internet and satellite
application, I believe that I am entitled to dissagree and say my humble
opinion. Although I am in no way associated with Visa, I must say that all
of the blame was unnecessarily placed on Visa's shoulders.
Complaints in the article and the comments may be divided in several
categories:
1. Lack of prior information/education so cardholder knows what is coming up
during checkout: May be Visa should have been more strict with defining
compulsory content of the merchant's site. May be it was duty of developers
to use common sense.
2. Erroneous implementation such as the case when someone got message that the card is not known, and after trying to register the card got the message that the card is already registered... don't tell me that Visa should be blamed for this mishap. This clearly goes to the vendor. BTW, why don't you publicly name and shame the vendor? Make your contribution to the free
market.
3. Someone complained that he had to type phone/email during registration,
something he already provided on the merchant's site. As an optional
extension, 3DS specification makes a provision to, in case of activation
during shopping, transfer cardholder's data from merchant's site to Access
Control Server. So the blame is on the developer too. To compare it with the
cars, air conditioner is not compulsory part of the carr, but if you want a
more confortable car, do what it takes to have a more confortable car and
the market will judge your product.
On the high level, 3DS authentication is perfectly OK, simple, and logical:
provide the card info, based on the card number go to your issuer who knows
you, and provide some more info such as password. I developed similar system for a Serbian card way back in 1999 while Visa waisted time with now
abandoned SET protocol. So I believe that on the high level, user's
experience should be OK.
Arguably, specification on the low level (content and exchange of XML
messages) could have been done more simple and efficient. When you put in the same pot XML messages, XML signatures, zipping/unzipping and Base64 encoding/decoding of PAReq/PARes messages, you are creating a mine field for today's software developers who mostly lack basic education to tell the least. However, if you go carefully through the 3DS specification, line by line, implmentation is doable and that is what I am working on right now.
Now we come to my favorite topic - lack of basic education of today's
software developers. Throughout my career, I have seen laid off auto workers
who switched to web development and dentists who switched to IT. You can
find zillion online crash courses on software development. I have seen one
that issues software development certificates for $5 (yeah you read it
correctly - FIVE DOLLARS). Next time when you shop for a software product,
ask software developers if they read "The Art of Computer Programming" by
Donald Knuth - a very difficult book that was once considered a Bible for
software development. I doubt that you will find more than a handfull of
such software developers. Most of them start their software development
straight away with modifying "Hello World" sample program they get with
their development tool. The program starts shoing signs of life and that is
when programmers become armed and dangerous: they know nothing and think they can do everything. The issue may be further expanded to the demise of today's educations and European Bolognia Declaration that will destroy intelect of human race.
So the final question is, was it Visa's duti to mandate and foresee every
little detail of the entire VBV system (screen content, usability,...)? I
doubt. It is a free market. What do you think about let's say AAA
prescribing design of cars including glove compartment and seats. Folks,
shop around like you do with cars, kick the tires and take a test drive.
Cheers,
Dr. Dragomir D. Dimitrijevic'
10:03PM on 26th July 2009
So google checkout have stopped accepting maestro cards?
I wonder if this has anything to do with the mandatory 3D secure requirement?
1:30AM on 30th July 2009
After yet another failed VbV transaction...why the hell doesn't everybody accept OpenID? One username, one password, all authentication passed through one verifier.....or would that imply smaller genitalia? I often wonder whether male pride has a lot to do with the stupidities of society. By the way, I'm a man.
MD at TruffleShuffle.com
11:13AM on 8th October 2009
Very interesting article, and one that we've always pondered as a small independent etailer... so I decided to ask our facebook fans - a surprising and overwhelming thumbs up...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TruffleShufflecom/6350029455?ref=ts
12:59PM on 15th October 2009
I've just encountered another frustrating call to VbV in order to complete a transaction and was given some rather interesting information by the call centre guy who helped me out.
Today he has dealt with 20 complaints so far. This week his total is 95. This is an average week as far as complaints go. There are 120 call centre staff working at any one time who deal with an equal split of calls coming in. This is somewhere in the region of half a million complaints a year via the call centre, no wonder I can never get through!
This is a heck of lot of time, effort and money being spent dealing with problems generated by a system that, according to the friendly guy I spoke with at VbV: "might ask for the 8th character in a password even if the password only contains 7 characters". Hmmm.
CEO at Econsultancy
1:06PM on 15th October 2009
@Anonymous
Interesting... 500,000 complaints. I wonder how many of those actually end up converting to a sale? And how many don't bother to complain in the first place and just shop elsewhere?
And what's the average lost order value...?
Seems pretty simple maths to come up with an eye-catching headline: "VbV losing retailers £300m a year" or similar. So how much is it *saving* retailers in reduced fraud etc? As much as that? Maybe. Maybe not.
11:45PM on 21st October 2009
VBV has major security flaws.
2:16PM on 9th November 2009
We found a conversion reduction of between 7-11% following implementing VBV /SC.
What worries me is it seems too easy to get around VBV as we have had plenty of very obvious fraudulent transactions that have been fully authenticated. We worked out how they were doing it (they had the VBV password etc), all we did was copy and paste the card name into Google + 'Facebook' and Google returned the card holders 'Facebook' page. Since DOB is available on some peoples 'Facebook' account, the fraudsters just enroll the VBV using a free email account and hey presto they have all the required data to create a fully authenticated VBV transaction.
If all VBV manages to do is let business walk out the door then it’s been an expensive lesson. Our company was forced into it, since our bank wanted to charge another 1% processing for non- VBV transactions. They can’t even say if VBV transactions will protect 100% against chargeback – the only response we get is that ‘it should make your case stronger’…fantastic!
Having integrated VBV into a couple of ecom websites, it's also got to be said that the vbv Api set it the most god awful convoluted piece of coding I've seen, it's got the feel of a very badly thought through design, a real hack.
6:31PM on 10th December 2009
I have verified by visa!
6:34PM on 10th December 2009
Oh great, how embarrassing, let me try that again.
I HATE VERIFIED BY VISA!!!
1:09PM on 14th December 2009
As a consumer I was one of the first to enrol in the Verified by Visa when it launched sometime ago. I remember the setup being quite simple, and simply put, I have not had any problems with VBV at all since then, and I am quite a frequent internet shopper, making 5+ purchases per month.
I can see the flaw though as the banks have basically not educated customers about VBV, and so customers might be confused when they first see it. I really do think that a simple mail-out to all visa customers with details about VBV would have been the bare minimum.
7:53PM on 17th December 2009
On five occasions in the last 2 days I have attempted to make purchases online. On each occasion upon submitting my password, the screen has gone blank!!
Telephone calls to my bank and the companies concerned inform me that there is NO problem with Visa Secure or the company websites implying that the problems I am experiencing MUST be of my own making!
No more I say.....stuff them all!!