TORONTO, April 7 2020 — Visa today announced it is supporting an increase in the Card Verification Method limit, allowing Canadian consumers to simply tap to pay for more purchases using their Visa card, smartphone or wearable device. The increased limit of $250 CAD on contactless payments will allow consumers to purchase more of what they need, and provides an additional safety measure by reducing interaction at the point oft transaction.
People, businesses, communities and governments in Canada and worldwide have had their daily activities change. Many businesses are still operating, providing essential goods and services for Canadian consumers who are looking to use contactless as they shop for the things theyt need.
“As we all adjust to the dramatic changes of everyday life caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, Visa Canada is committed to working with industry partners in Canada to support the increase in contactless payments,” said Stacey Madge, country manager and president, Visa Canada. “With this change, we anticipate consumers and essential businesses will benefit from a safer, faster and easier way to pay.”
Visa has always been committed to driving innovation and offering consumers and merchants the best way to pay and be paid. Contactless technology provides the fastest, most convenient and highly secure way to pay for both consumers and merchants, enabling simple ‘tap’ payments. With about 60% of in-person Visa transactions in Canada already made with contactless, this limit increase will continue to help Canadian consumers pay in a safe and secure way.
In addition, contactless technology when used with a mobile phone or wearable device has added security as it uses protocols such as tokenization to ensure sensitive information cannot be compromised. Contactless cards also use the same dynamic EMV® Chip security as contact chips, and each transaction includes a unique one-time code, to prevent stolen information from being used to create counterfeit cards.