Announcing CardControl Powered by Ondot Systems, the Mobile Platform That Puts Consumers in Control of Their Payment Cards

After Three Years in Stealth and $18 Million in Funding, the New Technology Will Transform How Consumers Interact With Their Payment Cards, and Enable Card Issuers to Lower Fraud and Increase Customer Engagement


SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2014) - Today, Ondot Systems is announcing the launch of CardControl, a new technology that will help protect against fraud and give consumers control over when, where and how their payment cards are used. Ondot has partnered with four major card processors, who handle transactions for credit, debit and prepaid cards for 10,000 banks and credit unions across the United States. The company is also announcing it has raised $18 million in funding from private investors.

Over 100 million cards have been hacked in just the recent past, impacting one in five Americans. Card issuers are looking for ways to lower fraud and engage their customers. With CardControl, card issuers can provide their customers with a single mobile application to remotely manage all aspects of their existing payment cards, including:

  • Switch It Off. Lock or unlock cards with a single touch. With ultimate control comes peace of mind.
  • Control By Location. Specify location preferences for "active around me" or a region on a map. For card-present transactions, presence of cardholder at merchant location is proof positive, and absence of cardholder is strong indicator of potential fraud.
  • Control Preferences. Set merchant categories, transaction types, and spend limits. Cardholders can personalize preferences according to their unique spending behavior.
  • Instant Transaction Alerts. Act instantly on real-time transaction alerts and offers. Higher engagement drives consumer loyalty and card usage.
  • Self Service. View available balances, analyze spending trends, and manage transactions. Self-service increases customer satisfaction and lowers support cost.
  • Control Dependent Spend. Parents and businesses can proactively control and instantly monitor spending on their dependent cards.

"As a parent and a victim of fraud myself, I value being able to proactively control my own cards and my dependents' cards, coupled with the convenience of instant visibility of every transaction conducted on the cards," says Dr. Vaduvur Bharghavan, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ondot. "We are excited to deliver this solution via a simple integration in our customer environments, since accelerated time-to-market is the key to rolling out new financial services."

Fraud victims often reduce card usage or even switch primary cards -- impacting not only card revenue but also the cost of acquiring new customers to remain competitive in the marketplace. Giving consumers tools to control, monitor, and manage card usage is a cost-effective way to protect cardholders and enhance the value of existing debit, credit, and prepaid cards.

With CardControl, Card Issuers reduce operating costs and increase revenue:

  • Lower Fraud. Preventive controls and instant visibility to all transactions enables card issuers to lower fraud.
  • Top-of-Wallet. Consumer confidence and increased engagement with Card Issuers brings Ondot-powered cards to top-of-wallet, driving interchange fees and interest revenue.
  • New Cardholders. Card Issuers can attract new cardholders from strategic growth segments such as high net-worth individuals and businesses, tech-savvy users, and parents of dependent cardholders.
  • Differentiation in a crowded marketplace.

To see the solution in action, please visit http://www.ondotsystems.com/howitworks

Card Issuers can either offer CardControl as a stand-alone app or a Control button in their existing mobile app. CardControl can be deployed either at Card Issuers or their Processing Partners. Ondot's patent-pending technology integrates cardholder context and preferences seamlessly into the authorization stream leveraging universally adopted ISO 8583 payment processing standard, accelerating time to market.

Lone Star National Bank (LSNB), a pioneer Ondot customer, has been using the solution in production for one year.

"With CardControl, we were able to significantly decrease our fraud losses. This has been a big breakthrough, and justifies the solution on its own," says Mr. David Penoli, LSNB's Chief Operating Officer. "Getting our cardholders to use their cards more has been the most cost-effective way to increase debit card margins. Not only does it drive direct revenue, but engaged cardholders are more loyal, have higher deposits, and also come to us for loans and other financial services, which drives additional pull-through revenue." 

For more details on how LSNB is benefiting from the solution, please visit http://www.ondotsystems.com/featuredcustomer

Ondot's CardControl solution is available now -- card issuers can launch the service by flipping a switch at Ondot's processor partners, or deploy a customized solution directly with Ondot.

For more information, visit us online at www.ondotsystems.com or email us at info@ondotsystems.com

About Ondot Systems, Inc.
Ondot Systems is the creator of CardControl, a white-label solution that gives consumers control over payment cards. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ondot brings together an experienced management team from mobile, security, and payment card industries who share a vision of transforming how consumers interact with their financial institutions.

Company ProfileOndot