Mumbai: Visa International has announced a new global specification that ensures the security of payments made over mobile phones and other wireless Internet devices.

The Mobile 3-D Secure specification is a result of Visa''s ongoing efforts to ensure that both buyers and sellers are protected when they use or accept a Visa card. The explosive growth in mobile phone usage in Asia Pacific shows a clear trend towards wireless Internet devices. According to Nokia, in 2002, more people will be accessing the Internet with handheld, wireless devices than via landlines. Analyst and consulting company Ovum Limited predicts that the market potential, for m-commerce in Asia Pacific is expected to hit US$67 billion in 2005. Mobile 3-D Secure addresses the growing market demand for secure payments with mobile devices, and supports Visa''s ongoing commitment to realise universal commerce (u-commerce) - the ability to conduct secure commerce anywhere, anytime with any type of device. Using Mobile 3-D Secure, each mobile transaction is verified and approved by a Visa card issuer, thereby enhancing the security standard for wireless payment.

Developed in conjunction with some 15 major industry players, including Ericsson, Motorola, Toshiba and Oracle Mobile, the specification is part of Visa Authenticated Payment, a comprehensive e-commerce programme including a commercial framework, authentication technology and guaranteed payment, to ensure safe and secure online payment transactions.

The Mobile 3-D Secure specification extends payment authentication initiatives into mobile commerce, enabling Visa card issuers to validate the identity of their cardholders in real time. It can be tailored to different regional and local wireless networks including GSM, CDMA and in the future 3G.

Based on the existing payment technologies, it minimises the impact on merchants and allows them to present content to consumers via WAP with no changes to their backend payment systems. An option exists to use other forms of authentication, which include smart cards.