Digital Wallet

May 26, 2022

Digital Wallet

Ten years ago, the idea of being able to pay directly from your phone with just a tap seemed more StarTrek than FinTech. The payment industry has undergone a major revolution, and with this comes new ways fraudsters can intercept secure data. Ensuring you keep digital wallets secure is vital for your business.

What is a Digital Wallet?

A digital wallet is a software-based system that securely stores users’ payment information and passwords for numerous payment options.

A digital wallet operates by using software to link the wallet (usually in the form of an app) to payment details from the consumer’s bank. Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay are all example of digital wallets.

How do digital wallets work? A consumer will click on the digital wallet button on the checkout page. They will then have to verify their identity using either biometrics or a password. The cardholder's payment details are encrypted with the use of tokenisation and transfered to the payment gateway

In a world that seems to be constantly speeding up, providing a quick and easy solution is essential. Consumers want to be able to check out anytime, anywhere, and a merchant who can offer a digital wallet payment method will reap the benefits of this tech boom.

Benefits

Using a digital wallet can offer many benefits, both for merchants and consumers.

  • No more filling in card details every time a consumer goes to pay. Customers are less likely to abandon carts at checkout when there is an option to pay using a digital wallet.
  • Payment information is stored in one secure location. Your card details are encrypted and assigned a digital number. This means that a cardholder’s data is never stored directly within their wallets.
  • Most wallets require biometrics such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, or two-factor authentication (2FA) to use. If the device containing the digital wallet is lost or stolen, other people are less likely to be able to access the users’ payment details.

Keeping Digital Wallet Payments Secure

Ensuring you can accept payments securely will not only boost your revenue, but it will also increase your brand’s trust. There are steps you can take to ensure payments are being taken securely .

  • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) – Ensuring you have an SSL protocol implemented on your website will add a layer of payment security, as it encrypts data that is being transferred through the E-Commerce site.
  • PCI Compliance – Keeping up to date with security compliance guidelines and making sure you are at the correct level of PCI Compliance.
  • Implement Tokenisation – Tokenisation replaces sensitive information with a string of random characters. This means that if a cybercriminal accessed data, they wouldn’t be able to use it.
  • 3-D Secure (3DS) – EMV 3-D Secure v2 is a system that uses Risk-Based Authentication during payment transactions. Cardholders verify their information usually by using biometrics or a password.

Cardstream’s Gateway supports an internal digital wallet that is available to all Merchants  using the Gateway. The Gateway allows you to store customers’ payment card, billing and delivery address, and other billing information encrypted in its internal wallet. You can then allow your customer to select from one of their stored payment cards to check out faster on your website.

 

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