Visa is supporting eligible small business owners in the fuel industry by enabling Visa Transaction Advisor (VTA) for no additional charge to help combat fraud at gas pumps.
VTA offers real-time risk assessment when consumers pay for fuel at the pump, helping deter fraudulent payment attempts as fuel merchants work toward implementing EMV® technology, proven to reduce fraud.
As fuel merchants upgraded their pumps to support EMV payments last year, counterfeit fraud rates declined simultaneously. From January 1 through September 30, 2020, counterfeit fraud rates declined by 22% and counterfeit fraud dollars declined by 32%. At the end of February 2021, approximately 51% of transactions on U.S. fuel pumps were EMV (VisaNet).
Visa Transaction Advisor will be automatically enabled for one year starting on April 17, 2021 to business owners who have yet to upgrade their pumps to process EMV. Visa Transaction Advisor operates invisibly to the cardholder to ensure a positive customer experience and leverages existing payment processes so no new investment in infrastructure is needed. If a transaction is deemed risky, the tool will help small business owners by prompting the consumer to pay inside the store. This deters fraudsters who often choose to drive away instead of going inside.
Visa’s intent to migrate to EMV chip transactions for secure payments was first announced in 2011 and the liability shift date for fuel pumps was extended for more than five years in total to support solution readiness. Visa continues to work closely with merchants, acquirers, and technology providers to support EMV chip acceptance at fuel merchants.
