India-based Paytm has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Payment Gateway launched an alternate ID-based checkout solution. By integrating Alternate ID (ALT ID), the solution allows customers to checkout as a guest without saving sensitive card details on an ecommerce website for a transaction.

The Guest Checkout solution reduces the process of signing up for an account on the merchant website by sharing additional information, resulting in faster purchases. More information about Guest Checkout solution To enable ALT ID transactions, Paytm integrated with card networks to generate a substitute ID for guest checkout payments. The solution aims to enhance the cardholder’s safety in an online transaction, as well as to protect from potential data breaches. The Guest Checkout solution allows the customer to enter its complete card details to process a transaction, instead of stating account information and password for an occasional purchase.

Through this, the risk of data breaches is minimised as until now card details were being transferred to subsequent entities in the transaction flow to authorise and process the transactions. Moreover, Paytm provides an easy integration to enable the service on merchant’s websites. The solution meets RBI’s guidelines as the regulator mandated that entities involved in card transaction processing cannot save sensitive card credentials for guest checkout transactions. The regulator also mentioned that the card number must be replaced by an alternate ID associated with the card information. According to officials, Visa’s ALT ID solution, in partnership with Paytm, enhances payment security by merging guest checkout convenience with improved security measures.

In addition to being in line with RBI’s guidelines, the solution aligns with Visa’s objective to increase payment ecosystem security, safeguard sensitive card data, and facilitate user-friendly and compliant transaction experiences. About Paytm and Paytm PG Launched in 2010, Paytm offers consumers and merchants a comprehensive suite of payment solutions, aiming to bring Indian communities into the mainstream economy through technology-led financial services. At the beginning of September 2023, the company launched Card Soundbox, one of the first Soundbox in the region set to accept all local and international card payments.

Through this, Paytm seeks to enable merchants to accept both mobile and card payments across all Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and RuPay networks through its Soundbox with tap-and-pay functionality. Moreover, in August 2023, Ant Group announced that it wants to substitute approximately 50% of its equity stake in Paytm in exchange for convertible debt. Reportedly, the decision was based on the recently increasing geopolitical tensions in the area, as New Delhi imposed a crackdown that singles out Chinese enterprises. Paytm Payment Gateway (PG) provides businesses of all sizes with access to the same payment infrastructure that enables the Paytm app, supporting all payment instruments and offering 99.99% uptime, improved success rates, next-day settlements, and a processing capacity of over 3000 TPS. Furthermore, Paytm PG offers a wide range of payment solutions including payment links, subscriptions, and analytics, all of which have been developed based on the industry, business size, and use case.

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