Wells Fargo and Visa have launched the rapid alerts for Wells Fargo Visa credit cardholders. The service allows consumers to manage and track their spending while providing them with real-time detection of potentially fraudulent activity.
Rapid alerts by Wells Fargo are enabled by Visa’s transaction alerts platform. Alerts are sent on behalf of Wells Fargo directly from VisaNet, Visa’s global processing network, following the transaction.
The messages contain the amount, time and date of the transaction, as well as currency conversion and information relating to the merchant, such as name and location. Customers also will be alerted to Wells Fargo Visa credit card payments that are declined, which may also help remind customers of recurring payments that they forgot to update due to a reissued, lost or stolen card.
Peter Ho, product manager for card services and consumer lending at Wells Fargo, said: “We believe rapid alerts will give customers added peace of mind that they will be notified almost immediately when transactions occur. We piloted rapid alerts in 2009 and received an overwhelming positive response from participants who said text alerts were an invaluable tool for monitoring their accounts. In addition to the alerts, customer can rest assured that their cards are also protected by our WellsProtect program.”
Jim McCarthy, global head of product at Visa, said: “Visa is empowering cardholders to take an active role in managing and protecting their Visa accounts. Visa’s ability to analyze transactions ‘in-flight’ enables us to provide our cardholders with near real-time transaction alerts. Participating Visa cardholders can typically receive alerts before they walk out of the store, rather than hours or even days later.”