MasterCard Extends Zero Liability Policy To ATM Transactions

MasterCard Inc, the world's second largest debit and credit card company, said it was extending its zero liability policy in the United States to include all PIN-based and ATM transactions.

Zero liability protection means the account holder will not be held responsible for unauthorized transactions.

Earlier, the zero liability protection did not apply if an account holder's personal identification number (PIN) was used for unauthorized transactions.

Larger rival Visa Inc's zero liability policy does not apply to PIN-based and ATM transactions, according to information available on its website.

Visa was yet to respond to requests seeking comment.

U.S. cards issued by MasterCard will also carry Identity Theft Resolution assistance, which helps cancel missing cards, alert credit reporting agencies and conduct searches to detect if stolen confidential data appears online, MasterCard said on Wednesday.

The two companies have been pushing banks and retailers to adopt technology that would make it safer to pay with plastic in the wake of a series of high-profile data breaches.

Last week, eBay Inc became the latest victim of a cyber attack that compromised customer data and the company asked 145 million users of its online commerce platform to change their passwords.