REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
24 December 2020
Visa is providing a reminder of best practices to manage dispute processing in light of recent travel restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While Visa has not made any changes to its dispute rules or processing procedures, this article includes helpful reminders of best practices within the existing rules.
REGIONS: US
17 December 2020
Effective 1 July 2021, Visa will extend its U.S. Processing Integrity Program to include credit voucher and merchandise return authorization transactions and clearing messages.
REGIONS: US
17 December 2020
To provide more flexible and convenient payout options for Visa clients and customers, in January 2021, Visa is introducing a new way to process original credit transactions (OCTs) called Deferred Delivery OCT.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
15 December 2020
Visa is reminding acquirers of the importance of accurately and consistently populating the Merchant Name / Descriptor field, as well as the policy and framework, best practices and additional resources for further information.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
3 December 2020
Visa is removing the previously-announced requirement to provide enhanced statement descriptors for transactions at merchants that offer free trials or discounted introductory promotions.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
19 November 2020
Effective with the April 2021 VisaNet Business Enhancements release, Visa will enhance Visa Account Updater (VAU) reporting to support the new terms "issuing Bank Identification Number (BIN)" and "Acquiring Identifier," which have replaced the term "BIN."
REGIONS: US
12 November 2020
As part of the normal course of business, Visa routinely evaluates interchange rates to ensure the economics and value of transactions are balanced and competitive for all parties. Given the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. economy, Visa determined it would not make any structural changes to the payments ecosystem over the last year. This included delaying previously announced changes to Visa’s published U.S. credit interchange rates and structure from April 2020 to April 2021.
Visa will be implementing these previously delayed updates in April 2021 with a small number of changes to reflect the evolution of digital payments to online, enhance security and optimize acceptance and usage.
Specifically, we have decided to leave consumer credit card present retail rates unchanged in light of the fact that in-person retail continues to recover. In addition, Visa will provide a lower rate for certain card not present (CNP) consumer credit transactions processed using a Visa EMV Payment Token as of October 2021. Incentivizing greater use of tokens will improve e-commerce authorization rates and bolster security at a time when fraudsters are increasingly targeting digital and e-commerce channels.
Visa is committed to facilitating secure and reliable digital commerce and ensuring the stability and resiliency of the payments ecosystem. All participants in the payments ecosystem derive a tremendous amount of value from the ability to pay with, and accept, electronic transactions. Digital payments provide businesses with numerous benefits including access to more consumers and new technologies to help them protect and grow their businesses.
REGIONS: US, Canada, CEMEA, Europe
29 October 2020
Visa will activate the RDR service for all issuers / issuer processors effective with the April 2021 Visa Resolve Online release. In addition, Visa is reminding acquirers and processors of required changes that must be made to support RDR.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
22 October 2020
Visa has updated its rules and definitions related to mass transit merchants and published new best practice implementation guides.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
22 October 2020
The Visa Rules have been updated to support Persistent FX for transactions requiring currency conversion.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
22 October 2020
Visa has updated the Account Funding Transaction (AFT) Processing Guide and the Visa Direct Original Credit Transaction (OCT)—Global Implementation Guide. Clients and their partners that originate or receive AFTs and/or OCTs should review the updated guides for information on how to best support these transactions.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
15 October 2020
The printing of merchant, terminal and card acceptor identification numbers on transaction receipts will no longer be permitted, effective 15 October 2022, as part of ongoing efforts to promote security for the payments system.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
1 October 2020
Visa has updated, expanded and clarified its digital wallet policy framework to provide greater clarity for clients globally. These changes will create a new digital wallet category (Stored Value Digital Wallet) effective 17 April 2021, and clarify Visa’s existing policy.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
24 September 2020
Visa has updated its rules related to cardholder verification method (CVM) requirements for Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) transactions. Visa is also announcing rules updates to phase out paper-based DCC.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
10 September 2020
Effective 1 April 2021, Visa will update the original credit transaction (OCT) requirements to clarify that an OCT does not require the presence of expiration date or Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2) data and must not be declined due to the absence of either of these data elements. If expiration date or CVV2 data is included in an OCT, it must be accurate and not expired. This rule clarification will provide clearer instructions for originating entities and receiving issuers and is intended to improve OCT authorization performance.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
10 September 2020
Visa will update its rules for Visa Secure to enhance the program and account for new functionality for processing EMV® 3DS (3-D Secure) non-payment transactions.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
10 September 2020
Effective 16 April 2021, Visa will implement stand-in processing for non-reloadable prepaid card recurring and installment authorizations approved by issuers in violation of the Visa Rules.
Read article about stand-in processing for non-reloadable prepaid cards
REGIONS: US, Canada, LAC, Europe
3 September 2020
Effective 17 April 2021, Visa will update its rules for declined transaction resubmission and the use of authorization response codes. Additionally, response code descriptions will be aligned with descriptions in the V.I.P. System technical specifications and some response codes will move to different response code categories.
Read article about updates to rules for declined transaction resubmission
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
27 August 2020
Effective with the April 2022 VisaNet Business Enhancements release, Visa will implement eight-digit issuing Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) in accordance with the transition announced by the International Organization for Standardization to an eight-digit format from the current six-digit standard. Visa is now simplifying requirements for stakeholders in recognition of the current business environment.
Read article about numerics initiative simplified requirements
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
27 August 2020
Visa will update the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program (VFMP) standard timeline and Dispute Condition 10.5 liability shift rules to improve the efficiency of the VFMP.
REGION: US
27 August 2020
Visa Business Solutions has launched the Data Quality Program to analyze level III data received in transactions against published data requirements.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
20 August 2020
To support issuer and merchant enablement for EMV® 3-D Secure (EMV 3DS) and assist in the creation of consistent EMV 3DS authentication challenge experiences, Visa has updated its User Experience Guidelines for EMV 3DS. The updated UX guidelines can be found on the Visa Developer Center.
Read article about updated EMV 3-D secure user experience guidelines
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
20 August 2020
Application-based mobile payment transactions are quickly expanding into additional merchant segments. To limit unnecessary declines, Visa encourages clients to be aware of this transaction method.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
13 August 2020
Visa Secure certificates will only be issued with a one-year validity beginning 1 September 2020.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
6 August 2020
The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has extended the effective dates of the PCI PIN key block requirements for Phase 2 and Phase 3. The PIN Security Program and Visa’s requirement to exchange keys in the key block format will align with the revised effective dates.
REGION: US
6 August 2020
Due to continued fraudulent fallback attacks originating in Brazil, effective 16 October 2020, Visa will start blocking ATM and POS magnetic stripe fallback transactions from U.S. or Canada-issued cards.
REGION: US
6 August 2020
Acquirers are reminded that they must ensure that their merchants and third party agents, such as independent sales organizations, are in compliance with Visa's surcharging and cash discounting rules. This includes reviewing and approving all sales materials, collateral and technologies provided by third party agents to merchants that support surcharging or cash discounts and monitoring merchants for non-compliant practices.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
6 August 2020
After making signature capture and validation optional for all merchants globally, resulting changes are required to the Visa Easy Payment Service. Visa will sunset retrieval requests along with dispute compliance rights related to the presence or validity of signatures on transaction receipts after 16 October 2020.
Read article about sunset of retrieval requests and changes to Visa easy payment
REGION: US
6 August 2020
Visa will sunset retrieval requests effective 16 October 2020, as signature validation is no longer mandatory, and will continue to uphold commitments to Special Interest Group for IIAS Standards and support Healthcare Auto-Substantiation Transaction Receipt Requests.
Read article about sunset of retrieval requests and impact on healthcare
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
30 July 2020
Visa has updated the Account Funding Transaction (AFT) Processing Guide and the Visa Direct Original Credit Transaction (OCT)—Global Implementation Guide. Clients and their partners that originate or receive AFTs and/or Visa Direct OCTs should review the updated guides for information on how to best support these transactions.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
23 July 2020
To meet Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) compliance commitments and maintain the highest standards of system security, Visa will be upgrading the Visa File Exchange Service (VFES) platform to utilize stronger key exchange key algorithms and session connection cipher suites, while concurrently decommissioning older and less secure algorithms and Transport Layer Security (TLS) cipher suites effective 14 October 2020. Clients must ensure that their systems are ready or updated to support new requirements in order to successfully connect to the VFES platform once these changes are in effect.
Read article about Visa file exchange service key exchange key algorithm
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
2 July 2020
Visa will retire the section of its domestic ATM acceptance rule that allows an ATM acquirer to selectively deny cardholder access to the Visa Global ATM Network.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
2 July 2020
Effective 17 April 2021, Visa will update its rules to globalize requirements for the correction of duplicate or erroneous clearing transactions.
Read article about Visa rules will be updated to globalize duplicate transaction data
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
2 July 2020
The deferred authorization indicator on a deactivated token in Field 63.3 now has the appended value of 5602 for all token authorization requests submitted by transit agencies.
Read article about new deferred authorization message reason code
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
11 June 2020
Visa is providing updated information on the applicability of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements for virtual Visa accounts.
REGIONS: US
4 June 2020
In response to the global health, economic and operational uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Visa has extended the U.S. domestic automated fuel dispenser EMV® liability shift to 17 April 2021, and has also extended the Visa Fraud Monitoring Program for automated fuel dispensers (VFMP-AFD) during the interim period. This article provides additional details about the VFMP-AFD program extension.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
28 May 2020
Visa is reminding clients of configuration requirements for POS terminals to successfully accept new card products. Failure to configure terminals according to Visa requirements can cause rejection of cards and a poor customer experience.
Read article about POS terminals must be correctly configured
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
21 May 2020
Given the continued growth of players within the payments ecosystem and changes in the use of numeric assets such as Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) and account ranges, it is more important than ever to ensure our partners are using Visa-supplied data to route and process transactions correctly.
REGIONS: US
21 May 2020
Effective 17 October 2020, Visa will create a new designation for consumer third party bill pay service providers with the introduction of the Consumer Bill Payment Service.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
14 May 2020
Visa is extending the option to require signature capture and validation for all merchants, globally. In 2018, Visa announced that the capture and validation of a cardholder’s signature would be optional for all EMV®-enabled merchants. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, effective 14 May 2020, Visa is extending the same policy change to all merchants, even if they have not deployed EMV chip capabilities, to reduce the need for customers to interact physically with POS terminals.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
7 May 2020
In support of the unique environment that COVID-19 has created, Visa previously announced that it was imposing a control period, which was to expire on 4 May 2020. Visa has extended the control period to 2 June 2020.
REGIONS: US
30 April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in ways nobody could have predicted. Because of the unprecedented circumstances created by COVID-19, Visa will further delay implementation dates and impact of certain previously announced U.S. interchange and fee changes to April 2021.
We are also capping dispute fees incurred as a direct result of COVID-19 pandemic, to help our clients as they work to resolve cardholder disputes and provide refunds for impacted services.
Lastly, we are further delaying the EMV® liability shift for U.S. domestic automated fuel dispenser transactions to April 2021.
We believe these actions are the right thing to do and the most prudent approach to ensuring the long-term stability of the payments ecosystem.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
30 April 2020
Visa has revised the sunset date for acceptance of Static Data Authentication contactless payments in the mass transit environment to 18 October 2020. Following the sunset of these rules, Visa will require all new contactless-only transit terminals to support only fast dynamic data authentication.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
23 April 2020
Visa is providing additional information on best practices to manage dispute processing as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read article about managing disputes through Covid-19 government prohibition
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
21 April 2020
Visa is providing additional information on best practices to manage dispute processing as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. We will continue to share updates and additional information, as available.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC
17 April 2020
Visa is making miscellaneous revisions to dispute rules for clarity and consistency and removing obsolete or duplicate rules.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
16 April 2020
Effective 17 October 2021, fraud liability protection for merchants submitting transactions using Visa Secure with 3-D Secure (3DS) 1.0.2 will no longer apply.
REGIONS: U.S.
16 April 2020
Visa will introduce the Visa Rent Payment Program, which allows qualifying property owners, or their qualified third party agents that process the payments, to assess a capped fee to cardholders.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
14 April 2020
Visa is providing additional information on dispute processing as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. We will continue to share updates and additional information, as available.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
14 April 2020
Visa is providing an update on planned changes to acceptance and disclosure policies for transactions at merchants that offer free trials or discounted introductory promotions as part of an ongoing subscription service.
Read article about Covid-19 update-policy for subscription merchants
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
9 April 2020
For card-present transactions with merchants physically located in the Republic of Ireland, Visa will require acquirers to capture the merchant’s Eircode (postal code) and include it in the authorization request message. Additionally, acquirers must provide Eircode updates to the Acquirer Merchant Master File.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
7 April 2020
Visa is reminding merchants about available options that are strongly recommended to reduce the need for cardholders to interact physically with POS terminals.
Read article about merchant options for reducing cardholder interaction during COVID-19
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
27 MAR 2020
Visa is providing additional information on programs, best practices and frequently-asked questions about managing and responding to disputes as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
26 MAR 2020
As we continue to navigate the evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that the payment system remains stable and secure. Visa recognizes that all of our businesses are facing significant operational challenges, with the majority of our workforces operating remotely. Given the situation, Visa is taking a number of operational measures to ensure the stability, security, reliability and resiliency of our network.
Read article about Visa’s operational business response to COVID-19
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
26 MAR 2020
The Visa Rules will be updated to expand contactless-only device acceptance globally, as well as to additional merchant segments.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
26 MAR 2020
To align with the upcoming revised Payment Services Directive provisions and country requests for updated limits, a number of changes to the Visa Easy Payment Service program are being made in Europe.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
26 MAR 2020
Effective 30 June 2020, Visa will discontinue 3-D Secure 1.0.2 Production Integration Testing.
Read article about 3-D secure 1.0.2 product integration testing
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
19 MAR 2020
Effective immediately, Visa Easy Payment Services limits will be increased in Poland.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
19 MAR 2020
Effective 17 October 2020, Visa will implement higher authorization limits for automated fuel dispenser transactions acquired by U.S. fuel merchants.
Download article about U.S. automated fuel dispenser authorization limits
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
5 MAR 2020
Visa will offer one hologram option for placement on physical cards effective 1 January 2021. Card vendors and issuers may continue to use any hologram stock on hand until it is depleted.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
27 FEB 2020
Visa has updated its PIN Entry Device sunset and replacement mandates for expired POS PIN entry and ATM devices and introduced new sunset dates for expired Host Security Modules.
Download article about updates to sunset dates for expired PIN
REGIONS: US
27 FEB 2020
Visa has updated the list of Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) designated as Visa Fleet BINs for the U.S. market. Fleet merchants and acquirers need to update their list of BINs to better identify Visa Fleet products.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
20 FEB 2020
Visa is providing further clarification on changes to acceptance and disclosure policies for transactions at merchants that offer free trials or discounted introductory promotions as part of an ongoing subscription service.
Download article about reminder and clarification: updated policy for subscription merchants
REGIONS: US, AP, CEMEA, LAC
13 FEB 2020
Visa will be upgrading the Open File Delivery platform to enforce stronger 2048-bit key encryption in production, effective 30 April 2020. Clients must ensure that their systems are updated to support these new requirements.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC
13 FEB 2020
Visa is reminding acquirers and their merchants of the upcoming global requirement for sending purchase return authorization messages and providing best practices.
Download article about requirements and best practices for purchase return
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
6 FEB 2020
Issuers must use Cardholder Authentication Verification Value (CAVV) usage 3, version 7 for EMV® 3-D Secure (3DS) transactions.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
30 JAN 2020
Visa has updated its Numerics Initiative resources to reflect the most current information related to client migration to the new eight-digit Bank Identification Number (BIN) industry standard. These critical enhancements are intended to assist clients in their analysis and development of necessary operations and systems changes to adhere to this new numerics standard.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
23 JAN 2020
Visa is modifying its policies around sharing of Bank Identification Number (BIN) attribute data and clarifying how, when and with whom this information may be shared.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
16 JAN 2020
Visa Easy Payment Service limits will be increased in Belgium, the Philippines and Poland. Floor limits will be removed in the Philippines.
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
16 JAN 2020
Visa is globalizing its Chip Vendor Enabled Service, extending the ability for Visa-accredited third party service providers to offer Level 3 testing services to clients in any region around the world.
Download article about chip vendor enabled service availability
REGIONS: US, AP, Canada, CEMEA, LAC, Europe
9 JAN 2020
Visa Secure now supports EMV® 3-D Secure (3DS) 2.2.0. Additionally, the Visa EMV 3DS Testing Suite is available for Visa Secure solution providers to ensure that their software complies with this new specification.
Download article about Visa Secure supports latest version of EMV
The Card Acceptance Guidelines for Visa Merchants is a comprehensive manual for all businesses that accept Visa® transactions in the card-present and/or card-absent environment. The purpose of this guide is to provide merchants and their back-office sales staff with accurate, up-to-date information and best practices to help merchants process Visa transactions, understand Visa products and rules, and protect cardholder data while minimizing the risk of loss and fraud.
Visa published an easy-to-use guide to help smaller merchants navigate the world of transaction disputes. For more information, please see Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants on Visa.com.
The updated resource defines required procedures in response to an account data compromise.
As merchants in United States enable their payment card acceptance infrastructure for EMV chip technology starting October 1, 2015, counterfeit fraud will increasingly migrate to acceptance segments that have not implemented EMV chip technology, such as automated fuel dispensers (AFDs). This will lead to counterfeit fraud chargeback liability for fuel merchants if AFD EMV chip acceptance enablement is not completed by October 1, 2020.
Visa prepaid and debit cards are popular forms of payment at the register. Visa’s Partial Authorization service provides an alternative to declining a transaction when the card’s available balance is not sufficient to approve a transaction in full. Participating issuers return an authorization response with an approval for a portion of the original amount requested, enabling the remainder of the transaction amount to be paid by other means using split tender functionality.
More webinars and documents containing in-depth information designed to help Visa merchants navigate acceptance, fraud, data security, authorization and more. Download, print and keep them on hand at your business.
This digest consists of summaries only and does not supersede or modify Visa Business News publications. Please contact your Acquirer for further information about any publications. Actual Visa Business News articles are not public materials and should not be treated as public documents, e.g., posting on merchant websites, etc.
The Visa Business News was launched to Europe clients on August 11, 2016. Prior to that, announcements were communicated via Visa Europe Member Letter.
