One97 Communications Limited that owns the brand Paytm on Monday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Payments Services Limited, has become the first in the industry to enable merchants with Alternate ID (ALT ID) based Guest Checkout solution across networks. This, it said, will allow customers to checkout as a guest without saving sensitive card details on an e-commerce/merchant website for a transaction.
The Guest Checkout solution is made to cut down the long process of signing up for an account on the merchant website by sharing additional information and making purchases faster. To enable ALT ID transactions, Paytm has integrated with card networks to generate alternate ID for guest checkout transactions.
“Guest checkout solution enhances cardholders safety in an online transaction and protects from potential data breaches. The solution creates an Alternate ID for customers, wherein he will enter his complete card details to process a transaction instead of entering account details and password for an occasional purchase. This solution eliminates the risk of data breach as until now these card details were being passed to subsequent entities in the transaction flow to authorize and process the transaction,” the company said. Also, Paytm will offer an easy integration to enable this service on merchants’ websites.
Paytm said that the solution meets RBI’s guidelines as the regulator had mandated that entities involved in card transaction processing cannot save sensitive card credentials for guest checkout transactions, and that the card number has to be replaced by an Alternate ID associated with card information, by October 31, 2023.
“As the first to go live with Alternate ID solution, we continue to innovate and bring merchants the best of payment solutions. With this, we are empowering cardholders’ security and allowing fast guest checkout for customers, making transactions more efficient. This eliminates core risks like misuse of sensitive card information and aligns with RBI’s guidelines to provide a secure transacting experience to our users. We continue to focus on compliance and safe payments for all,” Paytm Payments Services Limited Spokesperson said.
Ramakrishnan Gopalan, Head – Products and Services, India and South Asia, Visa, said, “This solution is in line with RBI guidelines and aligns with Visa’s objective of enhancing payment ecosystem security, safeguarding sensitive card data, and facilitating a user-friendly and compliant transaction experience. The implementation of ALT ID is a significant stride towards accelerating the growth of secure digital payments in India.”
Anubhav Gupta, Senior Vice President, South Asia, Mastercard, said, “Mastercard is glad to collaborate with Paytm for its Alternate ID-based guest checkout solution that will allow consumers to conclude transactions on e-commerce platforms without saving card details.”
Paytm Payment gateway is offered by Paytm Payments Services Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paytm. Paytm PG gives businesses of all sizes access to the same world class payments infrastructure that powers the Paytm app.