CAPP - Card Authentication Security

CAPP – Credit App is a prototype mobile app that links debit and credit cards from any bank to the cardholder’s smartphone. It uses multi-factor authentication to verify the cardholder’s identity when making an online card transaction before any transaction is processed.

How it works: At the core, what we do for card users’ identification is what physical tokens do for online banking. The user first downloads the app and registers their debit or credit card with CAPP on their phone. Thereafter, whenever a card transaction is made online using that card, the user will immediately receive a notification on their smartphone to accept or reject the transaction.

Why is it safer and better? Unlike 3D Security, CAPP offers a merchant and country agnostic solution for user identification by linking the cardholders directly with the issuing banks. CAPP is also impervious to SIM hijacks that use SMS One Time Passwords (OTP) because only the user’s smartphone can be used to authenticate transactions. Additionally, communication with users via data networks enables CAPP to utilise secure encryption technology for its notifications with read receipt functions to track delivery.

Benefits for the banks: CAPP will ultimately reduce fraud rates borne by issuing banks and will have more consistency in the user authentication process. This in turn will reduce the sundry costs associated with resolving fraudulent post-transactions issues. Furthermore, CAPP is cost effective as it sends push notifications through data at a fraction of the cost of SMS used for OTPs. Through CAPP, banks can also send other notifications to its users for various purposes such as online banking activities and offline card transactions.

Benefits for the users: CAPP is designed to provide security with minimal friction to the end user. By sending notifications through data, users can use their smartphone for authentication anywhere in the world even if they swap to a local SIM card or after turning off their roaming network (data sent through Wi-Fi). CAPP also provides value added features with an organised transaction log that can be used for analytical purposes such as budgeting, reconciliation and expenses summary. Overall, CAPP provides a consistent user experience and bolsters card security confidence while providing additional benefits to the user.