Every time you open financial news, chances are that you see an article about new victims of credit card fraud. Millions of Americans annually report unauthorized credit card charges, account losses or other forms of identity theft that incur as a result of data-security breaches. It may take months to repair the damage caused by fraudulent charges. In order to protect people from credit fraud, Visa Inc. and eight American and Canadian lenders have launched a pilot program that will alert cardholders in real time about all critical transactions involving their plastic money.

Visa, the world's largest electronic payment services provider, has started to test the delivery of fraud alerts to as many as 2,000 cardholders. The service is designed to help customers keep closer track of their transactions and spending levels.

The participants will receive a notification within several seconds after their Visa credit cards have been used. It is much faster than standard fraud protection services. For example, if you subscribe to credit monitoring, it could take more than a month to discover identity theft because some lenders report your credit activity to the bureaus once a month.

Fraud alerts will be sent by e-mail or mobile phone. Cardholders can find out about different types of their credit card usage: ATM withdrawals, international transactions, Internet or phone transactions, and transactions above specified amounts. The details of every transaction should be checked and verified. If a cardholder didn't charge money, he or she can immediately contact their bank to block the account and prevent further damage to their credit.

The pilot fraud protection program is being conducted in cooperation with some of the largest North American issuers. They include PNC, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, SunTrust in the United States and TD Bank Financial Group, Royal Bank of Canada, and Vancity in Canada.

If the delivery system is successful, Visa could offer the fraud alerts to all its cardholders. Thus you can track your transactions and detect unauthorized usage of your plastic as soon as possible.

Fraud alert notifications are a part of a wide range of mobile services supported by the Visa Mobile Platform. It is a comprehensive suite of high-technology tools, security standards, and business models that will let Visa credit card issuers and mobile operators drive product development and commercialization of various mobile payment services.

Consumers all over the world are relying on their mobile phones to do far more than just handle calls. Recent researches show that over 80% of people between the ages of 18 and 49 use their mobile devices to send text messages, take pictures or browse the Internet. Visa Mobile Platform enhances their options. The customers can make mobile payments via text message or the Internet, receive offers, coupons and rewards directly to their mobile device, accept payments, and transfer money to family and friends around the world directly from their accounts.