With the booming eCommerce market, the use of payment gateway has moved upward as well. There are multiple options available to make online payments, but customers look out for ways that can promote secure online transaction and protect sensitive data transmitted through the payment gateway. Let’s learn more about online payment gateway in India and how eCommerce sites are using it for securing online transactions.

What is Payment Gateway?

A payment gateway is a software that encrypts customers’ sensitive and confidential information and passes the details between an online store and a bank, which helps in accomplishing the online transactions safely in real time. In simple words, a payment gateway is a process that ensures to secure customers’ credit/debit card details when they use it for doing online transactions. The software authorizes the online financial transactions for maintaining a safe network for both the retailers and the customers.

As security is an indispensable element, the card association has designed a set of procedures and policies to improve the safety of debit/credit card and cash transactions taking place online and protect the sensitive and confidential data of the cardholder. This set of security protocols is known is PCI DSS, which stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security and Standard. It ensures to protect the customer data from any online frauds.

How does it work?

It hardly takes a minute to complete an online transaction, but there’s a lot of things going on behind the stage. There are three main parties involved here that include the merchant website, the Acquiring Bank and the Issuing Bank.

Here we have explained the process with an example on how Ecommerce site uses a payment gateway to protect customers’ sensitive data.

A customer purchases an item online and now moves ahead with the payment process who holds a MasterCard. He then checks out, chooses the payment gateway and this is where you feed the card details. Once the customer fills in the information, the details are securely processed in an encrypted format to the chosen payment gateway. Then the payment processor will collect this information and then communicated with the card company, which is the MasterCard.

Later, the card association will cross-examine the details of the MasterCard and the bank that has issued the card to the holder, and in addition, it also checks if the holder has enough account balance or credit to make the purchase. Now, the bank sends an approval to the card association, which then gives an approval to the merchant’s bank and then the merchant’s bank sends an approval to the payment gateway, which then approves the overall transaction. This sounds too technical, but it’s so easy when you do it practically.

Tips for safe online transaction

With thousands of Ecommerce store, it might be difficult to find out a reliable store to make a purchase. Well, it not at all a task of hardship. Just follow these few points.

Look out for the green padlock at the corner of the domain name. This lock ensures customer information safety as the details you sent through your browser to the server is encrypted, assuring online security. Use credit card or online payment services such as EBS, PayUbiz, UPI, etc., to do your transaction because it is safer than debit card transaction.

Online shopping stores never demand your social ID details or additional personal information that has nothing to do with the transaction. Make sure you don’t fall into such traps and end up compromising your bank account. Be smart while doing online transactions.

Check out e-statements and make sure that there’s no additional deduction made from your account. If you find any, even from a reputable payment service provider, report the issue immediately. It is not just the duty of the online service provider to take care of your personal details, but you are equally responsible. Keep your computer’s anti-virus software upgraded as there are hackers waiting for an opportunity to hack open systems. Ensuring to follow these simple steps can protect you from online frauds.

Popular Payment Gateways:

Paytm, PayUbiz, UPI, RuPay, Citrus Pay, BitPay, CCAvenue, PayU Money, PayPal, EBS, etc. are among the few popular payment gateway service providers in India. Four large banks – SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Dena Bank are still dominating the retail digital payments business, riding on the Unified Payments Interface.

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