North has been bringing innovation, expertise, and experience to payments for over three decades; Visa is one of the most instantly recognizable names in the world of credit and debit. Over the past year, these fintech leaders have partnered to bring powerful new tools and technology to both businesses and consumers.
Payments are more complex, demanding, and vulnerable than ever before. North and Visa are creating a new state of the art, one that not only meets the demands of this evolving ecosystem but gets ahead of it — payments that are faster, safer, and able to anticipate what’s coming next.
The partnership has many plans for the future. The present is dominated by three standout innovations that North and Visa are offering to help businesses improve and elevate the way they process payments: Visa Network Token Service, Visa Real Time Account Updater (RTAU), and Visa Account Name Inquiry (ANI).
Visa Network Token Service
Keeping cardholder information safe and protecting merchants from fees associated with fraud is a seemingly endless battle. Like encryption, network tokens make digital payments more secure, but Visa’s take on the process brings significant improvements to security and the bottom line; the process can boost authorization while maximizing revenue efficiencies in the payment process.
Network Tokens are unique digital identifiers that are used in the place of Primary Account Numbers (PANs) in all parts of the payment chain. Instead of actual account data — account numbers, expiration dates, and names — payment information becomes a token. The token can’t be reconverted or reverse engineered. And if it’s lost or stolen, the value and information it represents is easily recovered. So no unauthorized party can reveal the original PAN associated with a generated token.
In a tokenized transaction, the merchant isn’t responsible for storing or processing customer payment information. This lowers their PCI burden while improving the approval rates. The sensitive data goes to a separate location — what’s called a “Token Vault” that Visa manages. The merchant receives a token ID that connects customer identity and other details to their business.
Visa RTAU
Out-of-date payment information is a big reason for declined transactions — and declines come with fees and lost revenue. Visa RTAU employs state-of-the-art automation that tirelessly monitors Visa transactions and keeps payment information current.
When a cardholder's Visa information becomes out of date, a name changes or an expiration date is reached, the bank sends updated details to Visa.
The next time a new card is used in a transaction, RTAU checks its database for this new information. It then automatically updates the transaction to use that data in the authorization, which is then passed back to the merchant's processor for future use.
For the participating merchants and their customers, the process is fast, seamless, and efficient.
Visa ANI
Account Name Inquiry blocks fraud right where the concept of “identity” starts: A person’s name. A card-not-present transaction starts by requesting the full name of the person making the purchase. Visa ANI safeguards merchants and consumers by verifying that name against the legal identity on file with the credit or debit account.
Visa ANI adds a card-brand layer of verification before a payment even enters processing. While this preventative approach yields many security benefits, foremost for merchants is a reduction in chargebacks and an improvement in approval rates. Both translate to elevated revenue.
Making payments better for everyone
The might of the North/Visa partnership comes not just from innovation but the sheer reach that each of these payments leaders brings to the table. These Visa resources, now available through North, mean that more businesses can access them — from mom-and-pop merchants to towering enterprises. And they can do so with ease, simplicity, and confidence.
The more the payments process can be streamlined and safeguarded, the better it is for all of the business world.
Visit North to learn more about their Visa partnership.
