PayU Unveils Industry-First Biometric Authentication Solution for Card Payments

PayU, one of India’s leading digital financial services providers, has introduced an industry-first biometric authentication solution for card payments – Flash Pay. Designed to simplify the payment experience, increase transaction success rates, and significantly enhance security, FlashPay was unveiled at the prestigious Global Fintech Festival (GFF) 2024. This cutting-edge solution combines the ease of seamless payment experience with robust security measures, meeting both customer aspirations for convenience and banks’ stringent authentication requirements.

Flash Pay leverages advanced device-based biometric technology, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, to authenticate payments swiftly and securely. With transactions completed in under 10 seconds, customers no longer need to rely on traditional OTP-based authentication. This removes the wait for OTP delivery, reduces the potential for manual errors, and eliminates the risk of frauds associated with OTP sharing.

For merchants, Flash Pay provides a one-stop solution for card payment authentication across all major card networks. Designed as a simple plug-and-play system, Flash Pay enables quick and secure biometric payments. This user-friendly solution not only enhances customer satisfaction but also fosters increased loyalty and repeat business. PayU plans to make Flash Pay accessible through SDKs, APIs, and web browser-based transactions, ensuring it meets the needs of all merchant types.

Banks will benefit from Flash Pay’s seamless integration with their existing ACS (Access Control Server) infrastructure, which is typically used for SMS OTP. Operating within the industry-standard 3D Secure protocols established by EMVCo, Flash Pay also incorporates advanced security features such as device binding and jailbreak detection. Supported by a comprehensive fraud risk management (FRM) engine, Flash Pay offers banks enhanced control over customer authentication and upholds high levels of financial security. Additionally, the solution aligns with the Reserve Bank of India’s latest draft guidelines on Additional Factor Authentication (AFA) and is extendable to other authentication methods, including a seamless shift to SMS OTP when needed.

Manas Mishra, Chief Product Officer at PayU, said, “At PayU, we take pride in serving the digital payments ecosystem by consistently launching industry-leading, innovative payment solutions that are safe, secure and easy to adopt, aligning with RBI’s vision. We fully recognize the potential and impact of multi-factor authentication (MFA) in unlocking opportunities for innovative and secure payment solutions, all while maintaining the highest levels of customer trust. Flash Pay reflects our dedication to customer-centricity and our ongoing efforts to provide secure, efficient, and seamless card payment solutions that meet the evolving needs of our users.”

FlashPay was successfully demonstrated at GFF 2024 in partnership with South Indian Bank, a long-standing collaborator of Wibmo. In addition to enabling biometric authentication for online card payments on merchant apps, South Indian Bank also offers customers the ability to authenticate transactions on the Bank’s app using the innovative Swipe-to-Pay feature.

Sony A, Chief Information Officer, South Indian Bank, said, “We’re thrilled to partner with PayU to launch Flash Pay, the embedded payment offering, powered by Wibmo, a PayU company. Flash Pay enables banks to effortlessly enable biometric payments for their cards with minimal tech effort, delivering a secure payment experience to the customers. SIB is happy to partner with PayU make the issuer app biometric authentication live and also pilot with the merchant app for GFF.”

About PayU

PayU, one of Indias leading digital financial services providers with Prosus as an investor, operates businesses that are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and offers advanced solutions to meet the digital payment requirements of the Indian market. PayU India companies aim to create a full-stack digital financial services platform to serve all (tapped and untapped) financial needs of customers through technology solutions. PayU provides payment gateway solutions to online businesses through its cutting-edge and award-winning technology and has empowered 5 lakhs+ businesses, including India’s leading enterprises, e-commerce giants and SMBs. It enables businesses to collect digital payments across 150+ online payment methods such as Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Net Banking, EMIs, pay-later, QR, UPI, Wallets, and more. It’s a preferred partner in the affordability ecosystem, offering the maximum coverage of issuers and easy-to-implement integrations across card-based EMIs, pay-later options and new-age cardless EMIs. PayU offers e-commerce brands best-in-industry success rates while ensuring a seamless checkout experience.