CardinalCommerce Corp. says it has developed technology to enable online merchants to offer consumers a PIN-debit payment option at the checkout screen or through a mobile phone, while Acculynk Inc. separately is building its Web-based PIN-debit payment service.
Mentor, Ohio-based CardinalCommerce will offer merchants what its is calling the Universal PIN Debit Solution as part of its Centinel service, which enables merchants to accept payment authentications and alternative-payment brands independent of online-payment gateways, shopping-cart software and processors.
Cardinal’s product is dependent on taking data from a PIN-debit card and converting it to a more system-friendly set of numbers, according to CardinalCommerce CEO Michael Keresman. Current online processing systems are unable to recognize PIN-debit card information, he adds.
“We understand how merchant systems work and know how to flow data through so their systems work the way they are designed,” Keresman says. However, he declined to reveal more specific details on how the Universal PIN Debit service works.
The technology gives PIN-debit networks a chance to gain traction in the online, and later mobile, marketplace as commerce shifts from the face-to-face environment to remote methods, Keresman tells PaymentsSource.
“Every dollar that shifts to a remote [payment method] is a dollar lost” for the PIN-debit brands, Keresman adds.
No PIN-debit brands have publicly aligned themselves with CardinalCommerce’s product, but Keresman expects announcements to come soon.
Card issuers ultimately will determine how consumers authenticate their online or mobile purchases at checkout. Subsequently, merchant sites could ask consumers to enter a PIN, use a peripheral device attached to a computer or phone, or something different altogether, Keresman says. “Some issuers have told their customers to never enter the PIN anywhere, and those issuers are not going to come off that stance,” he adds.
Such issuers “may have an alternative form of [authentication] credentials” that has yet to be developed they want customers to use, Keresman says.
Issuers will notify participating PIN-debit brands which authentication method is best for them, Keresman says.
The technology also enables merchants to accept additional forms of payment without having to change their online payment infrastructure. “Merchants don’t have to worry about keeping up with it or adding different features because it’s automatic,” Keresman says about the Centinel service.
An added bonus to merchants accepting PIN-debit brands is the opportunity to service consumers worldwide, Keresman says, noting CardinalCommerce is working to develop partnerships with PIN-debit brands outside the U.S.
“The way we’ve built this service gives the merchant a chance to use their existing infrastructure to add a new payment brand and reap the benefits of the new payment brand,” Keresman says.
In other Internet PIN-debit news, Acculynk announced Sept. 21 that payment-services provider JetPay LLC will offer merchants Acculynk’s PaySecure service. Chase Paymentech Solutions, Elavon Inc., LLC Merchant e-Solutions Inc. and Universal Air Travel Plan Inc. also offer PaySecure to merchants and airlines.
Acculynk expects to announce a partnership with a top acquirer in the next month, a company spokesperson says.
Acculynk enables consumers to use PIN-debit cards to make purchases online by integrating its PaySecure software into a merchant’s online-checkout system. After a consumer enters his card number into a designated field, the system will determine if the card is eligible to be used with a PIN. The consumer has the option to complete the purchase as a signature-debit transaction or as a PIN-debit one.
A virtual PIN pad that appears on the screen scrambles the numbers as a safety precaution each time the consumer enters a digit. The issuing bank’s brand also appears at checkout, providing additional peace of mind for the consumer.
What do you think about this? Send us your feedback.
