Visa announced on Tuesday, Feb. 21, that it is adopting new payment security requirements to upgrade and update its existing cybersecurity blueprint for the Philippines.

Touted as one of the top global leaders in digital payments, Visa’s Jeff Navarro, Country Manager for the Philippines and Guam, said they are introducing a series of payment security measures to “fight cybercrime, protect the payments ecosystem, and keep consumers and businesses safe” when transacting online and at physical retailers.

“Security is our highest priority and we invest heavily to preserve and enhance the security of every Visa transaction to ensure consumers and businesses are protected,” said Navarro in a statement on Tuesday.

“As the payments landscape evolves, so do the threats,” he added.

Navarro said Visa is collaborating with their partners to further secure online payments in the country. This was part of its $9 billion cybersecurity investments since prepandemic.

Visa’s updated security roadmap includes: driving adoption of secure technologies; securing digital first payment experiences; ensuring ecosystem resilience; preventing enumeration attacks; enhancing the cybersecurity posture of ecosystem participants; and preventing consumers and businesses from becoming victims of scams.

Visa said in its statement that it utilizes artificial intelligence/data-driven solutions to identify, investigate, disrupt and prevent attacks targeting the global payments ecosystem.

It also provides strategic security expertise and a comprehensive protection against emerging security threats.

An example of this is the Visa Advanced Authorisation which analyses more than 500 data elements to generate a risk score for each transaction. “(This) has helped banks prevent an estimated US$26 billion in fraud globally in fiscal year 2021,” it said.

Based on a previously released Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, it noted that 80 percent of surveyed Filipino consumers have a high awareness of biometric payment authentication, while 60 percent think it is a safer way to pay.

“When looking to the future of security, Visa believes that focusing on digital identities and the authentication of a consumer’s identity, will be key to mitigating new threats as more commerce shifts to digital channels,” said Navarro, adding that “Visa calls the industry to action on Digital Identity and its use for authentication.”

While current ownership of digital identities was low in the Philippines with just 11 percent of those surveyed, Visa said about one-third or 35 percent were familiar with the concept and 70 percent showed interest among non-owners.