Credit Cards in Real-Time
With all of the fraud that is out there these days - especially credit card fraud - it’s easy to see how real-time notifications and alerts can be a game-changing benefit to the industry. We already know that our credit card company can call us to report suspicious activity if they see that $2,000 was spent shopping in a different state across the U.S. and we know we weren’t there. However, we’re finding these things out after the transaction has already happened and the fraudster could be in the next country by now.
Additionally, credit card companies want to be able to communicate with their customers on other important and relevant information - not just about their account, but about the credit card industry as a whole. Europe has already started implementing this idea for TSYS clients. Not only can users be notified about transactions and available balance, but they can follow the due date of their next credit card payment, see when a suspicious transaction has been made, and unauthorized usage so the credit card holder can take action if need be.
This implementation in Europe is a breakthrough because it switches the credit card monitoring from a reactive to a proactive approach. It is much easier to deal with fraudulent activity when you find out as it’s happening - not being notified until even just a few hours after the fact puts you at a greater risk for dealing with the adverse effects later on and having to go on the defense with your own account.
Putting the control in the hands of the cardholder also lessens the burden on credit card companies since the consumer now has their own eye on their account and can immediately see if a purchase was made that was not their own. This truly is an innovative yet obviously necessary next step for credit card monitoring and further automates the process since real-time notifications are being sent to the credit card holder, rather than a representative caller the user to discuss possible fraudulent activity that may not actually be fraudulent.
Credit card monitoring is one of those things that consumers do want - and should have access to so they can manage their own account and become familiar with their own patterns so if something ever does go wrong or fraud is suspected, the consumer and the credit card company can both be right on top of it.
