The crux of human civilization is money and how we transact it. Initially, money was in the form of goods when people used to exchange an item for another following the “barter system”. But as our society evolved, money became a form of record and came the age of cash payments. And now as we humans are progressing into the world of internet, the use of digital payments is taking over cash. And now with the pandemic, the question needs to be asked how secure are digital payments in 2020?
Are digital payments really safe?
The fact that everyone is adopting digital payments because of the pandemic makes the question very important. So, I will try my best to explain the best I can. Starting with the loss of data from companies or directly from a user by phishing or malware attacks, it becomes very difficult to make digital payments 100% fortified. From frauds happening through phone calls or someone sneaking your atm pin and stealing money also happens very frequently.
So, even though these risks are there, the benefits and ease of digital payments outweigh the cons. But, there are many ways companies are coming up to deal with the potential risks in online transactions. One such thing that I learned about is tokenization. This technology helps in replacing the account number of a person with a temporary token that helps them keep their bank details private.
Another important factor is the use of OTP in online transactions. If people become aware that their OTP should not be shared the number of frauds happening would reduce drastically. Also creating awareness about not opening unknown links and providing any form of personal details to anyone is important. This step can also hugely increase the security of digital payments.
How should payment platforms deal with security risks?
Every big payments platform in the market should try to work on understanding the potential security issues. And figure it out beforehand to avoid any problems. The use of multilayered security systems and encryption is also very important to keep online payments safe. Talking about how Worldremit, one of the largest online payments platform, manages its security, Ruzan Ahamed, Country Director for India, said:
“Security is at the heart of our business, and WorldRemit was built from the ground-up to be digital-first. We are digital only on the pay-in side, meaning that we work with leading banks and payment providers to securely get funds from the customer to WorldRemit. We do not deal in cash. On the pay-out side for our customers, we work with a trusted network of partners around the world to ensure that customers’ money arrives quickly and securely. We are regulated in all our send markets and are constantly uplifting our customer verification and transaction monitoring technology for the benefit of our customers, and the markets in which we operate. Over 4 million customers have trusted our platform to send money around the world, including friends and family in India.”
What do you think about the steps taken by WorldRemit to manage security on their platform? And should other platforms follow it too? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative, do like and share it with your friends.
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