Safe and sound

Following a directive by the Reserve Bank of India, all online portals, retailers, tourism sites, airline sites, and re-sellers will require an additional password to secure your credit-card transaction from August 1, 2009.

This is over and above your regular card verification value (CVV) number, which is at the back of your card. Among the reasons for this is the growing incidence of frauds on credit and debit-card transactions online where details such as card number and card verification value were routinely being misused by fraudsters.

Here’s how you can register your card for online transactions. First, you have to look up the Verified by Visa or Mastercard Secure code logo on your respective bank’s website. Once in, you need to register your card details, which takes a few minutes, and register a new password.

The next time you transact online, use this password. “We have been educating our customers about the additional security requirement,” says Parag Rao, Head (Product, Portfolio & Service Delivery, Credit Cards) at HDFC Bank. For American Express card holders, there is no password registration required as it has its own address verification system. While the step will help secure your credit card online, the only hitch is that it will add to your long list of passwords.