The consumers preference always goes to Visa. This is a tremendous advantage over traditional retail sales. One major online hurdle Visa faces in winning over these potential customers is consumer concern over security. Wild stories circulate almost daily about the questionable safety of online credit card purchases. The strength of Visa's brand is called into question here, to see if a consumer's trust in Visa can overpower his or her online usage fears.
Silver feels that the company's point of sale branding efforts have helped.
She says that when consumers see the Visa logo, or read that the merchant welcomes or prefers Visa, they transfer their trust of Visa in the real world to the virtual world. Visa also has been testing some education efforts, providing consumers with a realistic picture of the potential risks, at the point of sale. My sense is, and research shows, that consumers' fears about credit card numbers on the Internet aren't about the transmission itself, it's about how a site that has its numbers is protecting that information. With our partnerships, we re convinced the credit card information is secure as can be. This is a function of having the right partners.