Mastercard Recognizes NABP’s .Pharmacy Program As A Third-Party Verification Service

The NABP .Pharmacy Verified Websites Program is now considered a recognized third party for verification of pharmacy merchants under a Mastercard policy related to card-not-present transactions. Under Mastercard’s policy, a merchant who is engaged in non-face-to-face selling of prescription drugs in a card-not-present environment must be verified by a recognized third party, such as NABP’s .Pharmacy Program, to ensure that the merchant’s activity complies with all applicable laws. This rule can be found in section “9.4.3 Pharmaceutical and Tobacco Product Merchants” in the Security Rules and Procedures – Merchant Edition document found on Mastercard’s website.

Similarly, Visa, Inc, recognizes the .Pharmacy Program as a third party internet pharmacy certification authority for pharmacy merchants engaged in card-not-present transactions. Under Visa’s policy, an internet pharmacy merchant is required to maintain a valid certification with one or more third-party internet pharmacy certification authorities recognized by Visa. More details are provided in the Online Pharmacy Guide for Acquirers on Visa’s website.

As more businesses are addressing rogue internet pharmacy merchants, NABP remains committed to protecting public health and vetting businesses that promote and distribute prescription medications over the internet. Online pharmacies and drug information sites accredited by the Association’s .Pharmacy Program and Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites^® program are permitted to advertise on search engine platforms, including Microsoft Bing Ads, Google, and Yahoo!. In addition, Twitter is the latest entity to update its advertising policy to require NABP verification for paid advertising of health and pharmaceutical products and services.