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Mastercard Inc. says it is preparing for a better online payments experience by backing the EMVCo secure remote commerce specification. Visa Inc., too, says it supports the spec.
The specification, announced in November, establishes the technical framework for enabling consumers to use their payment cards across channels more easily than current protocols allow. For example, a consumer could choose to set a tokenized version of her payment card with an eligible merchant though that merchant may not use the current card-on-file system.
“We will use that framework on the Masterpass checkout mechanism,” Jess Turner, Mastercard executive vice president, digital payments and labs for North America and global customer engagement, tells Digital Transactions News. “The framework offers a streamlined customer experience that works across all browsers and devices.”
Turner envisions this manifested as a common checkout button. The card brand’s support is an effort to mirror the buy button consumers commonly see on point-of-sale terminals, which they universally understand, she says.
“We also believe that tokens need to move into the markets in all use cases,” Turner says. Tokens today are mostly used in digital wallets, but there is a greater opportunity to enable their use for card-on-file transactions, Mastercard says.
Turner says Mastercard’s products based on the EMVCo spec will be designed to give consumers and merchants choices. Choice is important because not all merchants offer a card-on-file capability and not all consumers want to store payment card details with a merchant.
Just how these products could appear is still in the development stage, she says. One way, the common buy button, might work like this: a merchant would have a simple integration to complete to its Web site, or it might use an e-commerce platform provider or payment company that provides the button.
Ideally, the end result will be a uniform payment experience that produces an easier way to check out, Turner says.
Visa Wednesday announced the Visa Digital Commerce Program, built on the EMVCo spec, at Transact 18, the Electronic Transactions Association’s annual conference in Las Vegas.
“Built on top of the EMV SRC Technical Framework, it is designed to provide merchants, financial institutions, payment gateways, acquirers, commerce platforms, and new participants with technologies and resources necessary to optimize today’s and future digital-payment experiences,” TS Anil, Visa global head of payment processing, products and solutions, says in a blog post. “With the program, our goal is to build an environment where digital-commerce transactions are secured and standardized end-to-end, from capture to delivery to storage of payment credentials in eCommerce, mCommerce, as well as in emerging environments, such as [Internet of Things] and voice-activated devices.”
In a statement, American Express Co. says it supports “exploration of a common user-interface for Secure Remote Commerce. We believe providing a consistent experience for consumers and merchants, whether they are purchasing or selling through a mobile app, desktop browser or other internet-connected device, is integral to the future growth of digital commerce.” AmEx also says it looks forward to “continued discussions with industry stakeholders about whether and how to develop a common platform building on the SRC framework and specifications that would be compatible across different methods of payment and card brands, preserving payment choice and flexibility.”
EMVCo, which manages the EMV and related specifications, is owned by the six global card brands, JCB International, American Express, China UnionPay, Discover Financial Services, in addition to Mastercard and Visa.
