Collaboration of credit card giants in securing digital payments

Visa, MasterCard and American Express have proposed the introduction of a New Global Standard of tokens for online payments.

In response to the growing number of digital transactions and the resultant demand for increased payment security, the three internationally recognized credit card companies have merged in their recommendation of a new global standard whereby tokens will replace account details during the digital payment process in order to heighten payment safety and to reduce (or eliminate) the storage of account details by merchants and other involved parties.

Merchants, Issuers or digital wallet providers request a token and when a customer pays online (or with a mobile, tablet etc.), the token is used (instead of account details) in order to process the payment.

Important features of the standard include:

*A single standard across the board

*Reliable methods to identify and authenticate a customer before swapping the card account number with a token

*Improved Data fields to generate more in depth information to enhance fraud detection

The proposal involves many stakeholders, and aims to align further with important payment bodies such as The Clearing House, PCI Security Standards Council and EMVCo.

In terms of this collaboration among the card companies, Mike Matan, Head of Global Network Business at American Express says: “By working together to form a common global standard for online and mobile shopping, we will be able to provide enhanced security, interoperability and consistency for all participants within the digital payments eco-system. In addition, we will be able to drive the rapid adoption and expansion of digital payments, delivering innovative new products and services that will allow consumers to realize the full potential of digital commerce in today’s world.”