In the modern-day and age, people are adapting to digital transactions at a rapid pace. This also increases the need to keep users’ sensitive account information safe as they navigate multiple online and offline payment gateways. 

In this article, we’re taking a look at the Visa Provisioning Service, learning what it is, how it works and whether or not it’s safe for you to use. 

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Visa Provisioning Service explained: How does it work?

The service is essentially the activation of mobile payments on your smartphone using NFC. Network operators, financial institutions and transit operators have already been using this payment method to link VISA payment accounts to users’ smartphones. 

Consumers can download an app on their phone and then request their financial institution to activate these mobile payments on their devices. The Visa Provisioning Service, otherwise known as VPS, authenticates the user account using a secure passcode to exchange secure ‘keys’ to unlock the NFC chip inside the phone, activate the service and download the payment account information locally the device. 

The method mentioned above is also known as tokenisation, as it replaces the user’s account number with a token generated by the company to protect the user’s sensitive information. This whole process can be broken down as follows.

• You enroll your VISA account with a payment service. When doing so, you enter all relevant account information such as account number, security code and any other required information.
• The service provider will then contact VISA and request a payment token for your registered account.
• VISA will share the token request with your account holder. Most likely your bank. 
• Once the account holder has approved the request, VISA replaces your primary account number with the token.
• This token now gets assigned to your transactions and gets shared everytime you make a payment, instead of your actual account number.

What is the $0 charge on my account?

When you use a VISA provisioning service, you may see a $0 charge on your account. You don’t have to worry about it as simply an authorisation process to validate your card number without holding any funds. 

If the issuer by any chance declines this request, another card number can be requested by the customer. This further helps speed up transaction times. 

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