Collaboration leads to Visa investment in Emue Technologies

Peter Dinham
Friday, 20 November 2009 06:07

IT Industry - Strategy

Visa Europe has taken a stake in Australian global authentication company, Emue Technologies, following collaboration over the past 18 months with Emue in the development of the Visa CodeSure solution which provides authentication and transaction security through what Visa says is a “unique payment card” with embedded display, microprocessor and numeric keypad.

  Visa Europe’s SVP and head of innovation, Sandra Alzetta said Visa was “working with Emue to develop the Visa CodeSure product to bring innovative card technology designed to combat online fraud both now and in the future. The investment is just a further extension of our existing partnership.”

According to Alzetta, the combination of Visa’s “proactive approach to improving cardholder security combined with Emue’s award-winning technologies” are providing the banking market with a solution that addresses the core concerns of customers without burdening them with intrusive technology.

Emue Technologies CEO,  Brendan McKeegan, said Visa Europe’s decision to invest in Emue “builds naturally on the strong working relationship we have developed over the past 18 months,” adding that “we are beginning to build a solid market presence in Europe with our convenient, secure and customer-friendly authentication solution.”

McKeegan said that with multiple banks already piloting Visa CodeSure in the UK, Switzerland, Italy and Israel, the announcement that Visa Europe has taken a stake in Emue Technologies “confirms the significant interest in this product by Visa’s member banks in the UK and other European markets.”

Emue, which also counts the Australian partnership of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as a cornerstone investor, says it has been fine tuning its anti-fraud enabled payment card with Visa in Europe during the past 12 months, and Emue director and managing partner for Deloitte Consulting in Australia, Gerhard Vorster said “Emue is a great example of how an innovative product can grow from an idea triggered by a market need into a fully proven technology solution.”