MasterCard and WorldPay Advance e-Commerce Security; MasterCard's UCAF Now Being Implemented by 17,000 WorldPay Merchants

Business Wire, August 7, 2002

Business/High Tech Editors

PURCHASE, N.Y. and CAMBRIDGE, UK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2002

MasterCard International and WorldPay, a world leader in multi-currency secure payment processing, today announced the global launch of a programme to advance e-commerce security and boost consumer and merchant confidence, using MasterCard's UCAF(TM) authentication infrastructure.

Building on its technical architecture for authenticating payments over the Internet, MasterCard UCAF is used to collect and transport cardholder authentication data to an issuer involved in an online transaction. UCAF supports both MasterCard and Maestro(R) credit and debit transactions.

The implementation of MasterCard UCAF will enable WorldPay's 17,000-plus multi-currency merchants in 115 countries to accept cardholder authentication information from MasterCard issuers following successful verification of the cardholder's identity by password, PIN, or other issuer approved authentication techniques. This cardholder authentication information is equivalent to a signed sales receipt in the physical world and will help reduce incidences of online fraud, while driving both consumer and merchant confidence for orders placed and accepted over the Internet.

Importantly, WorldPay and its merchants will benefit from MasterCard rule changes that shift liability for fraudulent transactions not authorized by the cardholder away from the online merchant and its acquirer when UCAF has been utilized. Historically, if an online merchant shipped goods for a transaction that turned out to be fraudulent due to the cardholder claiming he or she did not authorize the transaction, the merchant ultimately bore the costs.

As WorldPay's European-based merchants are enabled, they will benefit from this liability shift immediately for all intra-European MasterCard transactions. Subsequently, all of WorldPay's merchants are positioned to benefit from a MasterCard global liability shift, planned for November 2002 for fully authenticated transactions.

"MasterCard has spent the necessary time building and refining the technical aspects of our guaranteed payments model for remote purchases," said Bruce Rutherford, vice president, Global -Business and Emerging Technologies, MasterCard International. "With the vast online merchant base that WorldPay brings to the table, MasterCard has accelerated the adoption of UCAF in the marketplace, helping WorldPay's merchants and their customers experience a new level of security and convenience when transacting online."

UCAF supports a broad spectrum of issuer security solutions, providing card issuers with the flexibility to choose how their cardholders best authenticate themselves. Whether an issuer has deployed MasterCard's PC-based Authentication Program, MasterCard's Chip Authentication Program, or other authentication solutions, MasterCard's UCAF infrastructure allows the data to be transported between participating merchants, acquirers and issuers. UCAF standardizes the means for collecting and carrying online cardholder authentication information, thereby reinforcing consumer confidence in the electronic channel.

"This is great news for e-commerce," said Nick Ogden, WorldPay Chief Executive Officer. "The costs and risks to merchants associated with payments being rejected or fraudulent is very real and MasterCard's UCAF infrastructure provides a great and practical answer to this problem."

"As a global launch partner for MasterCard," Ogden continued, "we are delighted to offer our customers an unrivalled level of user authentication to complement our recent fraud detection initiatives. MasterCard and WorldPay are making online commerce safer for shoppers and merchants alike."

About MasterCard International

MasterCard International is a leader in global e-business. The association is focused on providing its member financial institutions with customized, meaningful global e-business solutions that connect them to their accountholders. Through its investment in industry innovation, participation in standards development and business alliances, MasterCard is staying in the forefront of technology integration to enable anytime, anywhere payments across multiple channels and various devices. MasterCard's global e-business solutions include Internet security, smart cards, mobile commerce/wireless, business to business electronic commerce, and numerous emerging technologies.

MasterCard International has a comprehensive portfolio of well-known, widely accepted payment brands including MasterCard(R), Cirrus(R) and Maestro(R). More than 1.7 billion MasterCard, Cirrus and Maestro logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation today. A corporation with more than 15,000 member financial institutions, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard is a leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds.

MasterCard's award-winning Priceless(R) advertising campaign is now seen in 90 countries and in 45 languages, giving the MasterCard brand a truly global reach and scope. With more than 24 million acceptance locations, no payment card is more widely accepted globally than MasterCard. For the year ended December 31, 2001 gross dollar volume exceeded US$986 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com.