Barclaycard to pilot new Visa corporate card with Deloitte

Barclaycard in association with Deloitte and Visa Europe is piloting an innovative new payment card that will provide added convenience and cost benefits to Barclaycard Corporate Visa cardholders.

As well as being a standard Visa Corporate card, this innovative new card enables Deloitte employees to remotely access their company IT system via a virtual private network (VPN). The card has a keypad and LCD screen embedded into it, to allow users to enter their PIN and generate a one-time use passcode. This passcode is then authenticated, in this case, by Deloitte's VPN. In addition the card ensures that cardholders have the convenience of only having to carry their Corporate Barclaycard, without the need to carry a separate security token or device. The technology that the card uses was developed in conjunction with EMUE Technologies.

The Barclaycard pilot is the first corporate card pilot of the Visa Card with one-time code functionality in Europe and is expected to reduce user costs substantially compared to using a separate token device for remote network access. In addition, Barclaycard's proven capability will provide improved information on card usage with up to date transaction statements available online.

The pilot will include up to 500 cardholders and will run for 3 months from April 2009.

The Visa Corporate Barclaycard with one-time functionality features other applications. In addition to supporting remote network access it is compatible with Verified by Visa which could prevent card not present (CNP) fraud and identity theft associated with online banking, telephone authentication and other remote channels.

Barclaycard's leading role in the piloting of this new card was recognised when it won the ‘Best use of innovation within Visa systems or services" award at the recent Visa Europe Insights event. The event was attended by representatives of Visa Europe's member banks from across Europe and was this year held on the 23rd and 24th April in Berlin.

The award highlighted Barclaycard's commitment to using technology in an innovative way to bring additional benefits for its customers.

Neil Radley, Managing Director Barclaycard Commercial, comments: "This product is an ideal solution for our corporate customers as it effectively combines two items in one - as well as being a standard Visa corporate card it incorporates a token which enables safe and secure virtual private network (VPN) access. We are delighted to be developing this innovative card with Visa Europe."

Simon Owen, Senior Partner who leads the Information and Technology Risk practice at Deloitte, said: "The EMUE technology enabled Visa Corporate Barclaycard offers real benefits for card issuers based on our own experiences of providing staff with one time code functionality for remote access. We estimate that we could save up to 65% per user over having a separate traditional token device."

Sandra Alzetta, Senior Vice President for Innovation at Visa Europe commented: "Innovation is as a key factor in Visa Europe's continued success and growth. We are continually working to make Visa the most secure and convenient choice for both corporate and consumer cards. By embedding a battery, PIN pad and LED screen in a payment card, we believe we are offering the most innovative card product in the marketplace"