How tokenized payments keep ecommerce safe from humbug, interview with G+D

The festive season is coming closer, and for a lot of businesses, the big focus is November and December, when over 40% of annual sales take place

For ecommerce, this consumer shopping euphoria kicked off on the 11th of November for Single’s Day, it is forecasted to peak by the end of November on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and to amass around Christmas. Jennie Johansson Carnhamre from G+D talks to Jukka on how to have a Christmas proof ecommerce strategy.

What emerging payment trends from the last 12 months are here to stay now and post-pandemic?

The COVID-19 era saw a massive spike in the numbers of people shopping online. There were increases amongst all demographics and geographies and we are seeing a permanent shift in some online shopping behaviours.

But whereas during a time of restrictions people HAD to shop online if they wanted something, now it is becoming something of a choice between online and bricks and mortar. One of the keys to keeping people shopping online will be to make the customer journey into a joyful shopping experience, and simplifying payments is a key part of that.

Having an effective and easy-to use payment offering in place is one important way for merchants to distinguish themselves from the competition. At the same time, there are now so many different payment options and systems that it can be hard for consumers to know which ones are safe and secure.

Therefore, checkout experience which is both smooth and secure is increasingly what customers expect: 18% of online shopping carts are abandoned because of complex payment processes.

Referring strictly to payments, how secure is it to shop and pay online nowadays? What are the main scams that shoppers and merchants should keep an eye on?

Recent reports show that phishing scams are on the rise, targeting consumers primarily through email, secondarily through text messages but also thru reach out via direct phone calls. Actually, as many as 27% of consumers have been hit with pandemic-themed phishing scams, according to a survey done by TransUnion. Here it is important to be aware of the fact that there are risks when shopping online, and only use and offer payment methods that safeguard the consumers and their payment credentials.

How can merchants provide a secure and seamless checkout for increased conversions?

Using token-based payments technology can help address this problem. Because card information is replaced by a secure token, the merchant is simply passing that token to the payment provider. They use it together with the transaction details and map against actual card data. It is superior to other technologies because it enables higher authorisation rates without compromising on security.

Narrowing down the discussion to network tokenisation, which has accelerated rapidly in 2020 and 2021, becoming the way to pay in ecommerce, there is a lot of potential here.

Network tokenisation covers a variety of use cases such as in-car payments, in-app, and mobile ecommerce payments to mention some. With card-on-file (CoF) supporting network tokenisation, merchants can offer secure payments without having to store sensitive customer data, avoiding or reducing the need for costly risk management tools, and removing the risk of data security breaches and cyber threats. Instead, a merchant can stay ahead of the competition by focussing on the core business and at the same time offer a state-of-the-art and convenient customer experience when it comes to fulfilling the payments at the checkout.

This is done thanks to optimised Card Lifecycle Management where the network token is decoupled from the funding card for automatic renewals, and as a result there is no need for the customer nor the merchant to update any card data if as/when cards expire as this is done automatically. Network tokenisation offers significant benefits over proprietary solutions and having such uninterrupted payment experience is one important benefit.

With 2022 just around the corner, what are the main trends on securing payments that merchants should keep an eye on?

Just making payments simpler without making them more secure exposes businesses to reputational and financial risks. To battle this and to provide best ever performing online payments, G+D has partnered up with Netcetera in order to offer optimised security at the checkout.

The Netcetera and G+D partnership enables to use synergies to further strengthen innovation and international growth for clients when it comes to secure everyday digital payments.

With the joint approach of eCOM Tokenizer, our network tokenisation platform, and a close cooperation with both Visa and Mastercard, we are enabling multiple payment brands and network tokenisation with a single integration – for scalability and convenience!

About Jukka Yliuntinen

Jukka Yliuntinen, Head of Digital Payment Solutions at Giesecke + Devrient, is well versed in identifying and delivering high performing, innovative, and business generating payment solutions for the industry, leveraging on his over 20 years’ experience in payment and identity technologies.

Jukka is also driving industry initiatives within the Mobey Forum, where he is co-chairing their Digital Identity. expert group. And as an expert in his field, he is continuously contributing to papers as well as giving keynotes on numerous conferences world-wide on digital payment and identification topics.

About Giesecke+Devrient (G+D)

Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) technology is unconsciously used by billions of people every day! With more than 700 global Banks putting their trust in G+D and our offerings, we enable secure and convenient transactions for everyday usage. Founded in 1852 in Leipzig as a printer of bank notes, now with HQ in Munich, G+D is a global powerhouse in payments - be via cash, card, or digital services.