Visa International said Monday seven major Japanese credit card companies have agreed to introduce its service to verify cardholders for online shopping.
The companies are Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co., Nippon Shinpan Co., Daiei OMC Inc., Credit Saison Co., DC Card Co., UFJ Card Co. and UC Card Co.
While conventional verification services use card numbers and expiration dates, Visa's service also checks passwords assigned by the issuing card companies.
Unauthorized use of credit cards is possible if the verification process only checks the numbers.
Visa International expects 1 million cardholders to be registered under its verification service by the end of March.