Mastercard has announced a partnership with Syniverse to deliver enhanced payment security and convenience for consumers travelling abroad, by tying their payment card settings to the geolocation of their mobile devices.

The collaboration is designed to reduce payment card fraud, the majority of which takes place across borders. The two companies are currently in pilot-phase to enable payment transactions only when an opted-in cardholder’s mobile device is switched on in a certain geolocation. The first phase of the pilot program will roll out in Q2, but there are no details of participating operators.

In addition to receiving an extra layer of security over their finances, the companies say the move will mean that travelling consumers are less likely to encounter the frustrations associated with unqualified card cancellations or blocked transactions. By confirming that the location of the point-of-sale and the location of the cardholder’s mobile device are the same, financial institutions mitigate the risk of illegitimate charges and improper denials.

Speaking to Mobile Marketing, Syniverse CMO, Mary Clark, accepted that the solution relied on consumers having their phone switched on when roaming out of their home network, but said the company believed that while many people turn data roaming off when abroad, most leave their phone switched on, in which case the geolocation authentication will work. Last week, however, research released by the European Commission suggested that 28 per cent of Europeans switch off their mobiles when they travel in the EU.