The Evolution of E-commerce Checkout via Click to Pay

The EMV released its Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) Specifications in June of 2019 after receiving industry-wide feedback. SRC has since been rebranded to “Click to Pay”, and aims to facilitate a simple, familiar, convenient, and trustworthy e-checkout process. Participating merchants will use the Click to Pay icon so that consumers may recognize the standard.

Merchants participating in Click to Pay can tap a consistent framework that can interface across the digital commerce environment. With the need to enter card and shipping information dramatically reduced, the expectation is that merchants will enjoy lower cart abandonment rates. Consumers enjoy one, consistent checkout experience that mirrors an in-store experience in the sense that consumers have just one way to pay, regardless of the retailer they are checking out with. This new framework promises to change the checkout experience for both merchants and consumers alike.

Narrowing Compliance Burden

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover, which operate through EMVCo, debuted the single pay button to make the checkout process easier at participating E-commerce sites. Some independent networks as well as some merchant groups viewed it as favoritism toward certain card brands and a tactic to steal volume from alternative payment providers.

While Click to Pay boasts that it does not favor any one card brand over the others, it does promise greater security for the brands. PCI DSS compliance remains a difficult endeavor and a large burden for merchants, so removing payment credentials from the merchant networks can actually ease that compliance burden.

This is a huge step toward a balance between security and convenience. Not unlike the PayPal experience, consumers will be able to enter their payment information into a singular payment account, which then gets linked to the retailer with which the consumer wishes to shop. Rather than entering a card number, the consumer can simply Click to Pay.

Click to Pay Enhances Mobile Experience

Mobile devices have captured more than 50% of online purchase transactions in bigger countries. Click to Pay may further bolster mobile wallet penetration and growth in the U.S.

This trend will only continue as we move closer to a cashless economy, with cash transactions declining from nearly 90% to 80%. As that decline continues and as solutions like Click to Pay make mobile online transactions increasingly simple, secure, and convenient — expect the volume of mobile payments to rise.

The rise of E-commerce, in general, will boost mobile payments as data analytics and analysis tools flood the market, making it easier for vendors to create more personalized payment solutions. Already, more than a quarter of consumers make purchases weekly on a mobile device, mostly on retailers’ apps or websites.

Tackling Abandonment Head-On

Data from SaleCycle points out that the average E-commerce cart abandonment rate is 81.08% as of July 2021. While part of that is due to consumers waiting for better deals, other factors also impact card abandonment rates. Users report that extra costs being too high, having to create an account, and a long or complex process are the top three reasons to blame for cart abandonment. Given that information, solutions like Click to Pay should do wonders in reducing cart abandonment rates and streamlining the entire checkout experience for consumers.

Between a simple one-click experience, more secure payment options, and the elimination of the need to manually enter card data, consumers will enjoy a more convenient and streamlined customer experience with Click to Pay. Payment processors and platforms Authorize.Net and CyberSource have already made the functionality available to their merchant clients via seamless integration. As more retailers and processors hop aboard the Click to Pay train, the evolution of the E-commerce checkout process will continue.