Bank cards are commonly used for payment in electronic commerce and in physical transactions. Customers are normally required to key in the card number as well as the expiry date and/or security code before processing is performed on the Internet. In physical transactions, a signature is required for processing, In mainland China, people often use Union Pay. It is an association for China’s banking card industry.

On the Internet, when customers use their credit card for payment, they may use a mechanism called “Verified by Visa”. Only the holder of the credit card can use it. Users of “Verified by Visa” need to register this function with Visa. They are given a password for their transaction with the merchant. Users are asked to present their password before the transaction is completed.

REQUIRED

a. What is the purpose of asking additional information like expiry date and/or security code when customers use bank cards for payment?

b. Do you think it is safe to reveal such information on the Internet?

c. What is more reliable—signature or password? Explain briefly

d. Is it true that all merchants accept “Verified by Visa”?

e. If someone gets a credit card belonging to another person and uses it, what are the likely consequences?

f. Users of credit cards should throw away the receipt of transaction. Why?

g. Why is “Verified by Visa” safer than traditional online credit card transactions?

h. Suggest one loophole of “Verified by Visa”.