The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will formally issue U.S. Patent No. 8,660,955 to PSCU on February 25, 2014 for PSCU’s CardLockTM fraud prevention innovation, which was introduced to the CUSO’s Member-Owner credit unions in 2009.
The patent documents categorize the fraud prevention service, CardLock, as a “method and apparatus for consumer-driven protection for payment card transactions.” The CardLock solution works in conjunction with PSCU’s fraud detection and prevention platform and enables cardholders to easily block and unblock authorizations on cards they register with the service. Cardholders can manage the authorization status of their cards through any of three channels – phone, web and mobile.
“This patent validates CardLock as the first fraud prevention solution of its kind in the industry,” said Steve Ruwe, PSCU’s Chief Risk Officer. ”It provides peace of mind for consumers, who can now play a proactive role in protecting their own accounts. Credit unions also benefit since CardLock is an extremely cost-effective way to help lower the risk of fraud and the expenses associated with managing compromised accounts.”
PSCU’s neural-network-based fraud prevention system checks all incoming authorizations for a special CardLock setting to determine if transaction authorizations on the account have been blocked by the cardholder. If blocked, the system declines the transaction and queues an outbound notification to the cardholder. If the account is unblocked, authorization requests are processed as usual against the credit union’s pre-selected fraud prevention strategy in PSCU’s system.
Cardholders enroll in the service and manage the blocked or unblocked authorization status of their cards via telephone, web or a mobile application. If anyone tries to use the card while it is in a locked position, PSCU’s fraud prevention staff will contact the cardholder to notify them of the unauthorized attempt. Some of the real-world uses cardholders have found for using CardLock include blocking cards after using them for online purchases, blocking cards that are used mostly for seasonal or emergency purchases only and blocking their cards in a data compromise situation. CardLock effectively renders stolen cardholder account data irrelevant and worthless when the account is proactively blocked by a cardholder.
About PSCU: Established in 1977, PSCU (St. Petersburg, Fla.) is the nation’s leading credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,500 financial institutions nationwide. The company is owned by nearly 700 member credit unions representing 16 million credit, debit, prepaid, online bill payment, mobile and electronic banking accounts. Comprehensive 24/7/365 member support is delivered through four contact centers located throughout the United States that handle more than 18 million inquiries a year.
Through a focus on collaboration and initiatives to mine the collective intelligence from all corners of the cooperative, PSCU’s Member-Owners are positioned at the leading edge of innovation. The combination of PSCU’s commitment to leadership in mobility and excellence in risk management, strategic consulting and technology creates PSCU’s foundation for the strongest partnerships with its Member-Owners. For more information, visit www.pscu.com.
MEDIA CONTACT
Jim Major, PSCU
Phone: (800) 443-7728 ext. 4189
Email:
SOURCE: PSCU
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