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by Nicholas Aaron Khoo, Singapore

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Peace of mind for Japanese online gamers?

Jan 28, 2009 15:08

Japanese online gamers can now do safer transactions, thanks to a partnership by Visa International and Japan Online Game Association (JOGA). Visa and JOGA recently announced plans today to implement Japan's first industry-wide push for the adoption of Verified by Visa, Visa's online authentication tool, across all online gaming companies in Japan by the end of 2009.

This move is aimed at securing the online space for gamers and protects online gaming companies against fraudulent transactions made with stolen account information. Verified by Visa authenticates a cardholder's identity when he shops online as it requires the cardholder who needs to be enrolled in the Verified by Visa service, to provide a fixed or dynamic personal password when paying for goods online with his Visa card just as he would provide a PIN or signature at point of sale. This authentication tool provides retailers with better assurance that the cardholder is who he says he is, and reduces the likelihood of fraudulent transactions.

According to JOGA, Verified by Visa has already been implemented by over 60 percent of online gaming companies in Japan--the highest among any online retail and service provider industry categories. "Visa has worked at the industry-wide level to promote the adoption of Verified by Visa and we are pleased that the online gaming industry recognizes the need for stronger online authentication through this mandate. The strongest defense against any form of payment risk is when all players in the industry acknowledge security as a shared responsibility and take their role seriously to close any gaps," said Kazuhiko Okamoto, Japan country manager for Visa.

Verified by Visa is built upon the technology platform called Three-Domain (3-D) Secure. The 3-D Secure technical specifications and protocol uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption that is already supported by the majority of online merchants.

Very interesting service, indeed. Now the only obvious question is: Do gamers really have credit cards? Well, according to some industry reports I've been reading, it seems that in some countries like the US, adult gamers have overtaken the number of young gamers. So, why not?

Now, if only this service can be extended to securing the online gaming accounts like the World of Warcraft (WoW) authenticators which do two-factor authentication when logging into your WoW accounts. This service came about simply because WoW accounts can be worth so much that people actually lose thousands of dollars when their WoW accounts get hacked.

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About Nicholas Aaron Khoo

Nicknamed "Gadget Boy" by friends at age 18 because he used to scribble Grafitti on a PalmPilot faster than most would type, Nicholas Aaron Khoo is web developer turned technopreneur and Singapore tech blogger who also pretends to do strategic advisory for tech startups and 'un'Fortune 500s (when he's not pretending to be the gadget-loaded Batman). A digital nomad, his tech interests range from gadgets, games, tech trends, social media, security, and just about anything that runs on 1s and 0s. See his industry affiliations here.
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