What makes E-Commerce Payments Secure?

 

The e-commerce market in India is so popular these days that everyone buying products on e-commerce websites is very much aware of what a payment gateway is. An E-commerce payment gateway is basically the platform that handles the transaction from the user to an e-commerce website. Payment Gateways provides multiple payment modes for customers so that they can make payments through a mode that is convenient for them like credit/debit card, Net Banking, UPI, and more.  Because of the increased purchase using a payment gateway, it becomes mandatory for the payment gateways to be to carry out certain security measures. Without a secure payment gateway, E-Commerce cannot sell their products online and the customer cannot proceed to the payment gateway to make the purchase.

Fraud Concern: To date, people still find it more trustworthy to buy products from a local shop than buying them from an e-commerce website. The chances of becoming a victim of fraud are very much less compared to that of buying online. The common fear that customers have with online shopping is, paying for the product online and not receiving it or risking personal card details to an e-commerce site.

To avoid all such fraudulent activities, an e-commerce business spends a huge sum to maintain a secure payment system for the customers to make a transaction for purchasing products.

Following are some security practices adopted by the payment gateway providers:

  • Data Encryption: Data encryption is an essential security measure. When you enter your data, it is encrypted with a public key that can only be decrypted with the payment gateway’s private key. If this sounds tough to understand, refer to this example: When you are buying a product from an e-commerce website when you are directed to a payment page and you add your details for making the payment, your details are saved with the website to speed up the payment process for next time, but only you can view your details and no one else. This is called encryption. Also, the payment gateway providers will not be able to see your details in the backend as it appears decipherable to them, this is known as decryption. Even in an attempt of hacking they still will appear decipherable to the hacker thus securing your credentials.
  • Security Socket Layer (SSL): When it comes to online business, an essential component is a secure payment gateway that creates a trustworthy environment for your potential customers. SSL builds up trust by achieving a secure connection. SSL is a standard security technology that helps in achieving an encryption link between a server and a client. In simple terms, you enter your information on the browser and the information is taken to the server, this is done by SSL. SSL is also used to authenticate the visitor that visits a website and also protect sensitive information like the card details of your customers. All the major e-commerce websites use SSL making them secure for customers to make an online purchases. The same cannot be guaranteed for websites without SSL. So it is not recommended to make online payments from such websites to avoid any online fraud. Websites with SSL can be easily identified, check for ‘https’ before the website address.
  • Tokenization: Tokenization is the process of replacing sensitive information like card details or passwords with non-sensitive information also known as a token. A token is an identity that maps sensitive data through a tokenization system. For example, sensitive data can be replaced with random numbers. When a token replaces live data in the system it prevents sensitive data to be accessed by unauthorized users thus reducing the risk of accidental exposure. The sensitive information like Credit/Debit card details is replaced by a token. It secures the details of customers in the server and provider them with a unique token that can be used for one-click payment when they revisit the website for purchasing any product.

All of these are the security measure that payment gateways have adopted to ensure safe online transactions. If you are looking for payment gateway solutions for your e-commerce website visit Digital Payment Guru for top payment gateways at the best market rates.

To know what is PCI DSS compliance click here.