E-commerce has grown exponentially over the years, with India being one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets worldwide. Everything is being set up online, from businesses to schools. Mobile card payment is one of the significant upgrades in the market that has been there for a long time. The number of users and consumers paying online has taken over the number of offline paying consumers.
To understand the difference, let us first learn the fundamental ideologies.
Online Payments
When authorised funds from your account are transferred online to another account, the process is called online payment. The most common way of online payment is mobile card payment. Other convenient forms of online payment such as PayPal, GooglePay, PhonePe exist too.
This type of payment indicates the transfer of money electronically, typically using computer networks, the internet and digital value systems. Online payment is an internet-based method of processing economic exchanges.
This form of payment lets a vendor accept payments over the internet through direct database connections with a common database for the franchises and the main outlet.
Offline Payments
This allows you to make payments through cash, checks, bank transfers, postal orders, or other payment methods that do not use cards or the internet for economical processing.
Offline payments are transparent and the most traditional method of payment. It is direct and does not rely on services like the internet or payment gateway companies. Although it is easy to use, there are some drawbacks to this form of payment.
How Safe is Offline Payment?
Thanks to evolving cyber security and progressive digital payment technology, online transactions have become more popular and secure. While on the other hand, the upsurge of security breaches at bigger retail stores has instilled fear and has shown that offline payments are vulnerable. The massive misconception of offline payments being secure is changing.
In a retail store, when you offer your credit card for payment, the whole transaction is processed, and the data is stored in the merchants’ computers. Now, these computers usually are old-school computers running on age-old software with minimum security. Once you make a payment at such retailers, your data gets sent to a few databases to complete the transaction. The payment application communicates with the payment terminal at the point of sale. Then the data reaches the payment processor.
All in all, sensitive data is constantly being circulated, and the computers are practically unguarded and vulnerable to hackers. Legal guidelines made before online payments were even a thing don’t specify the necessity for this data to be encrypted. If and when the hackers choose to hack these old computers with unencrypted data, you risk losing all your money.
So, is Online Payment Safer?
The retailers online are very much different from those offline. One hack could ultimately bring down the entire business. They are aware of the risks involved in transferring funds through a system and so approach verified payment gateway companies for secure payment options. They also have a better set of options concerning security tools which obviously includes encrypting card data on devices and more. Many online card payment options offer a two-key authentication factor when logging into your account and a lot more security layers if they wish. The sites online must possess SSL certificates to protect data, which is a simple yet straightforward sign for consumers when choosing websites to shop on.
Growth of E-commerce
The internet lets you come across stores and vendors you’d never be able to find if you were to search on your own. Major online shopping companies link you to vendors all over the world. Online business has gotten more exciting with newer and easier shopping experiences. Since the dawn of modern computers, people have shopped online, and that consumer base makes up most of the world’s population, hence pointing the direction of the demographics in the e-commerce market.
Advantages in Mobile Card Payment
- Availability of cashback boosts the customer base.
- Elimination of currency fraud and chargebacks.
- Moving of significant funds without delay.
- Potential revenue for retailers with surcharges.
- It is easier to administer.
- There is a surety of payment as the security of the payment gateway company cannot be tampered with.
Mobile card payments are evidently dominating the world of e-commerce, from shopping to paying your child’s school fees online. All- cash is no longer a convenient solution to depend on. Moreover, the consumers are accustomed to the benefits and perks of making online payments. Any changes in the mindset of payment options will be towards mobile card payments. The shift towards online payment has already begun, and the shift is happening at a quicker pace.
Wibmo helps you seamlessly integrate any platform with our advanced technology. If you are looking for a secure online card payment for your business finances, contact Wibmo.