Online shopping with credit card

Clothes, food, furniture – it’s all available online. Online shopping tends to be quicker and less stressful, and just easier overall. There are often a variety of options available for paying for your items, and one is usually a credit card.

Credit card companies such as Mastercard and Visa have created a security protocol specifically designed to ensure that online credit card payments are safe. Mastercard has the “Mastercard Identity Check” and Visa has “Visa Secure”.

Both are based on 3D Secure technology, which allows both the buyer and the seller to identify themselves, making it harder for credit card data to be used fraudulently when paying online.

Online payments with credit card

If you order a new credit card, you can activate the security protocol immediately. Or, you can reg-ister directly before making your first online payment. The protocol takes place in four phases, and a simplified explanation of each phase is provided below:

1. Once you have decided on your purchase, choose “Credit card” as your payment method and en-ter your card data.

2. A pop-up window will open and request that you check the payment data are correct. You will then be asked to approve the payment. Depending on the protocol in question, your bank will send:

• a PUSH notification to your smartphone,
• an SMS-TAN or
• a mobile TAN with a one-time password

If you approve the payment using your phone, you can also confirm your identity via your banking app, for example with your PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition. This will depend on your bank.

3. The online retailer will now send a query to the bank that issued your credit card. The payment will be verified and authorised. The retailer cannot see any card details, verification takes place solely in the systems of the bank that issued the card.

4. You have now made your purchase. If you often purchase from a specific online retailer, you might have the option of doing away with two-factor authentication for that retailer. Some banks also offer the option of putting online retailers that you shop from regularly on an allow list.