3 Things You Absolutely Need To Know About Electronic Payments
In 1871, WesternUnion added the ability to transfer money electronically between New York, Chicago and Boston. That’s right. Epayments were a thing eight years before Edison created his first light bulb in 1879.
LINKS:
____________________________________________
https://etactics.com/blog/how-do-elec...
____________________________________________
By 1914 Western Union also introduced “Metal Money”, known today as one of the first credit cards. I know, my mind went to coins too when I first read that. WesternUnion was ahead of its time and was really the starting block for many fintech companies we’re familiar with today. Yet, even though electronic payment has been around for over a century, a lot of people still don’t understand how it works. I’m not trying to call you out if you’re in that boat, the process is completely different than what it used to be back when Henry Ford pioneered the automobile.
First, what in the world is Fintech?
Fintech stands for Financial Technology (real creative, I know).
In a nutshell, it’s a technology that improves and automates financial services.
It also used to only include back-end processes. We now live in a world driven by consumer expectations and experience, therefore, fintech now involves more consumer-oriented services. It’s also what drives the ability to pay for things online.
It’s projected that the fintech industry will reach a total value of $310 billion by 2022. In other words, this industry has found its way into our daily lives without us even realizing it.
You don’t hear about people talking about the latest payment processors or gateways out there (more on these terms later), and we don’t have to. They’ve gotten so streamlined at what they do and are such an integral part of our life that we don’t even realize how many organizations touch our money before, during and after purchase.
Think about the process of purchasing something online. It’s ingrained in our brains as, “I want it, I buy it.” But, there’s a little more nuance to it.
You find the item you want and add it to your cart. Once you’re done shopping you visit your cart and click the “Checkout” button.
On the next series of screens you put in your billing information, choose your shipping preferences and click “Buy”. Then you’re sitting in front of a receipt page and usually receive an email confirmation of purchase.
That entire process is fintech. You probably got redirected to a fintech organization’s gateway without even realizing it the moment you clicked on “Checkout”.
The second thing you need to know is the inner workings of electronic payments.
First, as you probably know, there are multiple ways to pay online: Credit/Debit cards, Prepaid card payments, Bank transfers, E-Wallets, and Mobile payments. There are also several players working in front of you and the background that help make an electronic payment go through… a Merchant Website...where you find something you can’t live without. A Payment Gateway...or the platform you would enter your credit card or banking account information into, to get that super something special ASAP! And a Payment Processor: the behind the scenes and does all of the communication between the credit card companies and/or banks to verify that you have enough money to pay for your extraordinary find.
There’s also the seven step process to electronic payments that includes purchase, encryption, verification, authorization, transfer, and completion.
The third essential piece to electronic payment that you need to know is PCI.
PCI Compliance is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). It’s a set of security standards designed to ensure that ALL companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.
The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) officially launched on September 7, 2006. Its goal is to manage the Payment Card Industry (PCI) on an ongoing basis by implementing security standards. These standards place a particular focus on improving payment account security for every transaction and the process in between.
PCI SSC managers PCI DSS. Talk about acronyms.
Basically, they’re like the Jedi Council, but for payments instead of the balance of the Force. In other words, they’re an independent body that exists with the of from major payment card brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.
So you may ask yourself “how big does a company need to be to have to follow these PCI rules?
► Reach out to Etactics @ https://www.etactics.com
►Subscribe: https://rb.gy/pso1fq to learn more tips and tricks in healthcare, health IT, and cybersecurity.
►Find us on LinkedIn: / etactics-inc
►Find us on Facebook: /
#ElectronicPayment #Epay