Online payment security is getting another layer of protection in browsers

So, how does SPC make online payments more secure? Well, it helps various entities involved in payments, such as merchants, banks, payment service providers, and card networks, to amp up security. One way it does this is by ensuring strong customer authentication (SCA) and generating cryptographic proof to confirm that the user has indeed given their consent. This is crucial because regulations like Europe's Payment Services Directive (PSD2) require such consent.

Certain regions, including Europe, have introduced requirements for multifactor authentication in specific payment situations to prevent online payment fraud. While this type of authentication reduces fraud, it can complicate the checkout process, leading to customers abandoning their purchases.

During a transaction, SPC adds an extra step called "user consent." This prompts users to review and confirm the payment details through a dialog box provided by the browser. By using cryptographic verification it ensures that the user has genuinely agreed to the payment terms, as mandated by regulations like PSD2. This fancy process is known as "dynamic linking."

The Web Payments Working Group has been working on Secure Payment Confirmation since 2019 to meet the requirements of Strong Customer Authentication while keeping checkout difficulties to a minimum. SPC can be used for more than just card payments and can be extended to other payment systems.

SPC is available on Chrome and Edge browsers on macOS, Windows, and Android but not on Apple's Safari browser. However, as the Web Payments Working Group progresses to the Candidate Recommendation phase, they will work on implementing SPC on other browsers and platforms as well.