MasterCard is partnering with network company Syniverse to reduce fraud and take the headache out of using credit cards abroad.

The premise is simple – tie a credit card to the location of a mobile phone to make sure that where the card is being used is actually where the owner is, not a miscreant trying to use the card for fraudulent purposes.

“There have been many attempts to help prevent credit card fraud, but this is the first solution that works globally and without the need for new devices or infrastructure,” explained Hany Fam, president of global strategic alliances at MasterCard, talking to the Guardian.

No data needed

The system works transparently to the user and without the need for expensive roaming contracts. The user’s mobile phone simply needs to be powered up and be kept on the person and for them to have opted-in to the security service.

Syniverse, which acts on the phone operator’s side interconnecting between different networks behind the scenes reaching more than 5bn mobile devices globally, is able to locate users via the mobile phone signal alone – no mobile data is required.

“As soon as a mobile phone connects to the phone network we can see a user’s location within miliseconds, just by which mobile phone mast they connect to and it is unspoofable, as we get the data directly from the back end of the network,” explained Joe DiFonzo, chief technology officer of Syniverse talking to the Guardian.

Eliminate the frustrations of card blocking while traveling

Most credit card fraud occurs across country borders, according to MasterCard, so the simple ability to recognise that a cardholder is in one general location or another is enough to exclude a lot of fraudulent activity.

It also means that users traveling abroad will not face the frustrations of automatic blockade of cards by their banks or providers when using them in another country.

Fam explained that neither Syniverse nor MasterCard will actually track individual’s location, but will use a token system similar to the way credit card charges are authorised when a user inputs their pin.

The system is currently in pilot stages, but Fam said this was just the first stage of MasterCard’s push for intelligent, technology-driven solutions to problems like fraud.

Customers will be offered MasterCard’s anti-fraud system in the near future through their credit card provider, bank, mobile phone network or directly through MasterCard, depending on their country of residence.

• In 2012, the Serious Organised Crime Agency shut down 36 credit card fraud sites facilitating large-scale theft