Launching initially in the UK, but with scope to be rolled out into other European markets, Adyen’s new solution is simple and secure. Open banking payments are authenticated directly between consumers and their banks, meaning, unlike with direct debits, merchants can avoid charge backs generated due to fraud or an inability to capture funds.

It works in a similar way to most online banking methods. A customer simply selects the payment type during the checkout process, at which point they are redirected to their bank’s online banking environment to securely confirm the payment.

Their bank utilises the customer’s preferred method of authentication—such as Face ID, Touch ID fingerprint recognition, or an online banking password—which enables the funds to be pushed directly from the consumer. This facilitates direct authorisation between the shopper and the merchant, and Adyen handles the payment flow between the bank and the merchant. The system unifies hundreds of individual bank connections behind a single integration, ensuring a fast, secure settlement of funds.

Due to the direct nature of this new payment type, existing processing costs for higher transaction values can be significantly reduced.

“Adyen constantly strives to innovate and simplify the payments process for consumers and merchants,” said Myles Dawson, UK Managing Director of Adyen. “Bank transfers between consumers and merchants are already extremely popular in mainland Europe because they offer greater fraud protection without adding friction to the payment process. We are excited to be the first payments provider to offer a fully-compliant, direct payment solution in the UK and it has been great to work with the Open Banking Implementation Entity to bring these benefits to consumers and merchants.

“It is exciting to see another great example of open banking powering innovation and leading to new services which ultimately help drive efficiencies in payments.” said Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE, Trustee of OBIE (Open Banking Implementation Entity). “Using open banking, Adyen is a great example of how consumers and organisations can benefit from increased collaboration and secure data sharing between financial institutions.”

Dutch airline KLM is the first major brand to rollout the new offering—the service is now live for its UK customers. “It is great to see that KLM is the first airline to offer this open banking payment option to our UK customers. After our home market, the UK is our most important foreign market. By working with Adyen latest payments initiative, we are offering our customers a wider choice of payment options in a secure and seamless way. Our customers can choose their preferred payment method whenever shopping online at KLM. This way, KLM remains its front-runner position in the online payment industry,”  Pieter Groeneveld, senior vice president at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said.

The post Adyen launches new payment method powered by open banking appeared first on International Finance.

Passwords and PIN numbers are becoming a thing of the past as they can be copied, stolen, guessed or shared easily. Now thanks to biometrics, customers and businesses alike have a far more secure choice of authentication and verification.

Big day for Apple iphone fans

Although thumbprints and facial recognition are a good starting point in introducing consumers to biometric methods, a key area for the future of biometrics is palm vein. This technology combines the convenience of a contactless sensor with biometric security, and uses near infrared technology to scan over 5 million reference points of the internal vein pattern of an individual, thus making it extremely secure.

Whilst not currently available on smartphones, palm vein continues to be deployed across the globe for applications such as patient ID and verification in hospitals, financial transactions at ATMs, physical access in smart buildings, cashless payments and as a secure login to core applications such as banking platforms.

Apple’s biggest event to showcase its new launches

For users, the system is more convenient and faster than typing a password – with identity verification usually completed within one second. Each palm vein pattern is unique and it stays the same throughout a person’s life.

While biometric adoption won’t happen overnight, the proliferation of biometric technologies in consumer devices, such as the Apple iPhone, will result in consumers becoming more familiar and comfortable with the technology. As such, biometric verification of identity on a personal device will, in one way or another, become a standard identification process.

Ollie Hayler is Business Development Lead – PalmSecure & Surient at Fujitsu Cyber Security

The post Apple’s face ID highlights shift in security culture appeared first on International Finance.