Today marks one of the biggest days in the retail calendar – Black Friday.
Renowned for shocking discounts and scenes of frantic shoppers scrambling from store to store, Black Friday is the perfect time for many to pick up items at jaw-dropping prices. With Christmas just around the corner, the day after Thanksgiving is an ideal moment to grab gifts for friends and family ahead of the festive season, skipping the sometimes inevitable last second shopping which all too many partake in.
However, over the countless iterations of Black Friday, the shopping habits of customers have changed, with as many as 62% of consumers opting to shop online in the past 18 months. While there are bound to be stampedes of people running around shopping malls, many Black Friday shoppers will likely be making their purchases from the comfort of their own homes.
From banks to retailers, it’s critical that organisations ensure that shoppers enjoy a seamless, safe and enjoyable shopping spree this Black Friday, regardless of whether they’re shopping online or in person. So how can this be made possible? With the help of innovative payment technology, of course!
From biometric bank cards to payment data protection, here are four payment technologies that can help retailers provide a smooth, seamless shopping experience for customers this Black Friday:
One technology that could benefit customers this Black Friday is EMV Tokenization. This replaces user data with a token, which is restricted to a specific device, merchant and transaction type. This makes payments inherently more secure, meaning card issuers don’t have to spend time identifying and solving fraudulent payment activity. With enhanced security and fraud management, false declines get drastically reduced, leading to higher transaction approval rates. Equipped with tokenization, issuers can ensure that a user’s card won’t fail them when they need it most, while shoppers don’t need to worry about their cards being declined and missing out on that great deal.
Another technology that can ensure a seamless shopping experience for customers this Black Friday is the biometric payment card. It contains an integrated fingerprint biometric scanner, which compares the user’s fingerprint with the reference data stored in the card’s chip to authorise a payment. This increases the security of contactless transactions, as only the card holder possesses the credentials to make a contactless payment with their card. As well as speeding up the checkout experience for store owners, this also makes the user data unusable for potential thieves – meaning shoppers and their banks can be confident that no unauthorised purchases will be made if a customer’s card is stolen mid-shop. Furthermore, using a biometric card means that shoppers do not need to be constrained by the contactless transaction limit, as biometric cards do not have a threshold limit.
Getting the biggest discount possible is a core part of Black Friday. However, carrying around dozens of cards to get the best deal on certain items is wholly impractical. With digital credit and debit cards stored on their mobile device, shoppers can pick and choose different cards for each purchase, and don’t have to worry about bringing multiple cards with them on their biggest shopping spree of the year. With a digital bank card, customers can also enjoy higher transaction limits, contactless payments, and card details that automatically update, creating a seamless, secure shopping experience for customers worldwide. And, if they want to sign up to a new card in store, they can get it on their mobile immediately.
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Payment data protection
Higher spending this Black Friday will also mean an increase in payment processing behind the scenes. Therefore, ensuring the security of consumer data is essential to the integrity of both mobile and credit card payments. Regardless of the processing method, payments must be handled securely and quickly, particularly when the transactions are of high value. Deploying Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) that use encryption technology to protect both face-to-face and remote payments can help financial service providers and merchants give consumers a safer and more secure shopping experience this Black Friday-without them even knowing.
Interested in reading more about these technologies? You can find out more here:
- How online retailers can boost sales completion at checkout
- How biometric payment cards can perfect the contactless payment experience
- Why digital issuance is the perfect recipe for modern financial services
Or, leave a comment below and make sure to follow us on Twitter at @ThalesDigiSec!
