Heena Sharma Blog

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted authorised card payment networks to offer card tokenisation services to any third party requesting it. Tokenisation acts as an additional layer of security as it masks sensitive card data such as the 16-digit account number, expiration date and security code. It creates a set of numbers that is used to substitute your card information. This ensures that your card information is not disclosed to the website or merchant you are transacting with. "Services such as the Visa Token Service can help prevent fraud by offering financial institutions, merchants, and third party payment providers, such as digital wallet providers, a secure way to enable mobile and online payments without sharing sensitive account information," said T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India & South Asia, VISA. Tokens can be device-specific, retailer-specific or even use case-specific. It is a service offered by leading card networks all a...

Soon, mobile wallet companies will be able to issue their own branded prepaid cards . According to a report in The Economic Times, mobile wallet companies in India have received a briefing from major card networks on the integration process for interoperability. Visa, MasterCard and RuPay had held meetings with the prepaid payment instruments (PPI) licence holders in the middle of December on the integration process and the technological and other requirements for the issue of interoperable payment instruments. The move will propel PPIs or the wallet industry further. Wallets were previously close-looped ecosystems. Bipin Preet Singh, chief executive officer (CEO) of e-wallet company Mobikwik, had earlier told Business Standard: “Wallets have always been treated as second cousins in the payments ecosystem. How will customers benefit? Consumers will be able to use these cards at merchant outlets and for online shopping. They will not, however, be able to use them t...