At a time when user acceptance of mobile apps and mobile-friendly websites is growing, merchants are actively seeking solutions to provide a seamless payment experience to users. Modern consumers expect to pay securely, quickly and easily. Globally, paying with credit cards is the most popular way to pay online. In order to increase the security of online credit card transactions, an additional authentication process needs to be added which requires multiple interactions with the user as well as browser redirection to finalise the payment. :- www.deekpay.com

At a time when user acceptance of mobile apps and mobile-friendly websites is growing, merchants are actively seeking solutions to provide a seamless payment experience to users. Modern consumers expect to pay securely, quickly and easily. Globally, paying with credit cards is the most popular way to pay online. In order to increase the security of online credit card transactions, an additional authentication process needs to be added, which requires multiple interactions with the user as well as browser redirection to finalise the payment.

Generally, to complete a credit card payment on any website, users need to:

1. Enter the name, card number, CVV and expiry date on the card, or use the "stored card" function provided by the merchant, in which the user's card information, as well as his/her name and expiry date, are already stored, so that each time a payment can be initiated by providing only the CVV.

2. The user will be redirected to the Bank's ACS page, i.e., 3D Secure page, where the user is required to enter the OTP sent by the Bank to his/her registered mobile number.

3. The user enters the OTP and clicks submit. If the authentication is successful, after an authorised call from the backend team, the user will be redirected back to the merchant's website and the final transaction status will be confirmed.

Problems faced by users while making credit card transactions include:

1. Due to slow mobile network speeds, users may be disconnected when redirected to/from the bank's page, resulting in an interruption of the transaction in the forward or return link, forcing the user to close the browser or application.

2. If the bank's ACS page is not user-friendly and not optimised for mobile devices, the user interaction experience will be poor and difficult to operate.

3. Users must leave the merchant's website or application to complete the transaction, increasing the number of browser hops during payment processing and directly impacting the user experience.

In this article, we will discuss some of the solutions that merchants can adopt to optimise their customers' credit card payment experience. To address all the above issues, PayU has introduced a native OTP process.

What is the Native OTP Process?

The native OTP process allows the user to stay within the merchant's website or app and complete the card authentication process of entering the OTP directly on the merchant's website without having to redirect the user to a 3D secure page to complete the transaction. This means that there is one less possible point of failure or interruption in the checkout process and transactions are completed faster.

Why should merchants integrate this process with PayU and what are the benefits?

1. The native OTP process improves the success rate of credit card transactions3-5% and has a more positive impact on transactions initiated on mobile devices, as it reduces the abandonment rate due to user network speed issues.

2. It improves the overall user experience as multiple redirects are removed. Also, the customer never leaves the merchant's website, which helps provide a seamless experience.

3. Providing optimal dynamic switching function in authentication and authorisation phases, it builds a high availability network with multiple backup channels, providing higher stability and success rate. This is one of the unique selling points of PayU.

4. PayU works closely with all card issuers to continuously add support to the native OTP process. wibmo, the ACS service provider for all top banks in India, is now part of PayU and has worked with banks to create the ExpressPay process - a server-to-server-based based API authentication solution to help PayU achieve seamless integration and direct connectivity with bank authentication systems.

5. PayU supports all major banks - including 15+ banks like HDFC, AXIS, ICICI, SBI, KOTAK, RBL, etc. - to use this process.

What features are offered beyond API certification and their impact?

- Function: Options for front authentication (OTP)

Support: 3-5% conversion rate increase

Description and Impact: Using Native OTP

- Function: Backup support

Support: Ensure that customers are able to complete transactions in the event that an OTP is not received or the user is not comfortable entering an OTP on the merchant's page

Description and impact: Increased certification success rate

- Function: Resend OTP

Support situation: the first time the customer does not receive an OTP

Description and Impact: 1-2% increase in certification success rate

- Function: Retry OTP

Support situation: Customer enters incorrect OTPs

Description and Impact: 1-2% increase in certification success rate

- Function: Automatic reading and automatic submission via OTP of mobile SDKs

Support scenario: reduce OTP authentication failures and provide a seamless user experience

The native OTP trading process is as follows:

1. The user navigates to the merchant's website and proceeds to the checkout step.

2. The user enters card details or selects a stored card on the merchant's website.

3. The merchant initiates PayU's native OTP API through a server-to-server call when clicking the "Continue" button, and an OTP will be generated for this request.

4. The merchant displays an OTP input page on the checkout page, where the user enters the OTP received by the registered mobile phone number.

5. After the user enters the OTP, the merchant initiates a call to the PayU to validate the OTP. The PayU will validate the OTP and interact with the bank, and if the authentication is successful, it will then make a server-to-server authorisation call and return the final transaction status to the merchant via the Validate OTP API response.

If a merchant needs to use PayU's native OTP functionality through the SDK, we offer a modular OTP Assist SDK that will help provide native OTP functionality, as well as features such as automatic OTP reading and submission for a smoother experience.

All the leading merchants offering online services in the market, including Flipkart, Phonepe, Freecharge, Swiggy, Zomato, Airtel, VI, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, FirstCry, OLA, Grofers and many more, are currently using PayU to provide this seamless experience.

This feature has become a standard in the market and many exciting developments around it are underway to take it to the next level of frictionless payments. Feel free to contact us to learn more about this feature.