What Is Click To Pay & Is It Safe For Online Payments?

Click to Pay is a new service that aims to make it easier for customers to pay online with credit cards. Click to Pay is offered by a consortium of Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. With a single Click to Pay account, a customer can store payment information for all of their credit and debit cards that were issued by these four card brands.

This guide breaks down everything you need to know about Click to Pay, including whether Click to Pay is safe, how Click to Pay works, and the benefits of using Click to Pay.

What Is Click To Pay?

Click to Pay is an online checkout that allows customers to pay with a single click of a button. Customers can choose which card to use from their stored payment methods and then complete the transaction quickly and securely.

How Does Click To Pay Work?

Click to Pay allows consumers to add their payment cards to a single account and pay for online purchases with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, debit cards, and prepaid cards. It works on any website or mobile app.

Ultimately, Click to Pay replaces similar programs offered by major card brands, including Amex Checkout, MasterPass, and Visa Checkout. The major disadvantage of these previous programs was that they each only worked with one card brand, potentially requiring customers to sign up for multiple accounts.

Click To Pay Solves A Major Problem With Online Payments

Click to Pay offers a convenient and secure way to make online purchases by creating a single sign-in account that works with multiple payment cards across many online retail websites and can be used with virtually any device with an internet connection.

One-click services, such as Click to Pay, help reduce online cart abandonment. Click to Pay also allows payment processors to compete directly with other one-click services and digital wallets offered by tech companies, such as Apple Pay, PayPal, and Google Pay.

Is Click To Pay Safe?

Click to Pay offers a level of security about on par with what’s offered by EMV credit card chips and digital wallets, such as Apple Pay. And, as we touched on earlier, the security standards for Click to Pay are maintained by the same organization that maintains EMV security standards. The primary security features include:

• Tokenization: Tokenization replaces credit card information with random letters and numbers when transmitting that data between systems. The token is ultimately worthless outside of the context of that transaction.
• 3D Secure: 3D Secure is a fraud prevention service owned by Visa that provides an additional layer of security for online transactions before final authorization.
• Security Code: When you sign up for Click to Pay, you’ll receive a six-digit security code. To make a payment from your account, you’ll enter that number.

How Does Click To Pay Work For Consumers?

Click To Pay icon

To use Click to Pay, you’ll need to sign up for a Click to Pay profile. Mastercard and Visa allow you to create a Click to Pay profile ahead of time directly from their websites. Your issuing bank might also offer a sign-up process from the website you use to manage your credit card.

American Express and Discover don’t have dedicated sign-up pages at this time. Instead, you can complete your Click to Pay profile when you make your first purchase using the service.

When you check out with a participating merchant, simply click on the Click to Pay icon (see above). If you already have a profile set up, you just have to choose which of your credit cards you’d like to use.

How Does Click To Pay Work For Merchants?

Generally, to use Click to Pay as an eCommerce merchant, you’ll need to add a Click to Pay payment API to your website so that your customers will see the Click to Pay icon as one of their payment options at checkout.

In most cases, you can obtain the necessary code from your current merchant account provider. Both Stripe Payments and Braintree provide some information about Click to Pay in their developer documentation for those trying to add the service to their hosted payment page.

Braintree also mentions that the program is currently on a limited release, so small businesses might have to wait a while longer before it becomes available to them.

Are Click To Pay Transactions Different From Credit Card Transactions?

Transactions processed using Click to Pay will incur the same interchange fees and processing costs as a credit card transaction of its type normally would. You’ll also have to be concerned about chargebacks and PCI compliance requirements, just like you would with any other payment method.

The bottom line is that adding Click to Pay will almost certainly increase your sales while costing you nothing to implement. It’s a rare win-win situation where both you and your online merchant account provider should make more money by using the service.

8 Reasons Click To Pay Makes Payments Simpler For Everyone

We’ve already covered most of these points above, but let’s do a quick review. Here are the advantages and benefits of using Click to Pay, both as a consumer and as a merchant:

Are There Any Disadvantages To Click To Pay?

While Click to Pay is a low-risk, high-reward prospect, there are some minor disadvantages.

The Bottom Line On Click To Pay

Photo credit: Visa’s Click to Pay secure online payments

Click to Pay is still a fairly new service, but adoption seems to be growing quickly among retailers.

Should you be one of them? We would definitely say yes. There’s little downside beyond a small amount of work upfront. It also offers a clear advantage over proprietary payment methods, as Click to Pay isn’t restricted to just merchants who are using the proprietary platform.

If you’re interested in joining the eCommerce merchant game, you’ll need an eCommerce platform to manage your online storefront. The best eCommerce platforms offer online sellers multiple ways to accept payments, including Click to Pay options.

Frequently Asked Questions About Click To Pay