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Visa & 8 North American financial institutions – PNC, SunTrust, US Bank, Wachovia & Wells Fargo in the US, & Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank & Vancity in Canada - have agreed to initiate a pilot with up to a total of 2,000 participants to test the delivery of real-time notification alerts on Visa accounts. The program, which is being conducted in cooperation with some of the largest North American issuers, is designed to enhance the consumer payment experience by alerting cardholders in real-time or near real-time of transaction activity on their Visa account - typically within seconds rather than hours or days. Participants will receive notification alerts from Visa through email or SMS delivered directly to their mobile devices. Based on Visa’s state-of-the-art transaction authorization system, & its ability to analyze & conduct risk score transactions ‘in-flight,’ the service allows Visa cardholders to set thresholds that will trigger a transaction alert. Alert types that Visa cardholders may choose in the pilot include: cash withdrawal from an ATM; a transaction initiated cross border; an Internet or telephone transaction & a transaction that exceeds an amount that has been chosen by the cardholder. Through the alert received via email or SMS text, cardholders can verify the transaction details, & if the transaction appears to be irregular, can immediately contact their bank to help stop further transactions on the card. The service is designed to help cardholders keep closer track of their transactions & spending levels as they go about their daily routine. According to a Javelin report, consumers view timely alerts as a valuable resource to help detect fraud. ‘Information is power, especially when delivered in a timely manner,’ said Elizabeth Buse, Visa. ‘Visa delivers real-time transaction risk scores to financial institutions, & we are now empowering cardholders in this pilot with real-time transaction alerts. Participating Visa cardholders can typically receive alerts before they walk out of the store, rather than hours or even days later.’