The online payments revolution is underway. By 2030, your bank card will no longer have any visible numbers and your online payment habits will radically change. This major transformation, driven by payment giants Visa, Mastercard and the Groupement Cartes Bancaires, promises to simplify and secure our online purchases.
Gone are the days when you had to laboriously copy out the 16 digits of your card, the expiration date and the cryptogram for each purchase. The future of online payment relies on a concept called “tokenization”a technology that replaces your sensitive card data with a unique digital token associating your card with each merchant.
Towards more simplicity
The new payment process will be extremely simple: All you need to do is indicate your email address or telephone number. linked to your bank card. A notification will then appear on your bank’s application, which must be validated by fingerprint or facial recognition. This method, called “Click to Pay”, aims to offer the same fluidity as contactless payment in store.
The advantages are numerous. First, security: in the absence of visible numbers on the card, the risks of hacking are considerably reduced. This development is far from trivial: bank card fraud is in fact seven times higher on the internet than in physical stores.
This development is accompanied by other practical advantages. In case of loss of card or change of bankit will no longer be necessary to update your information with each online merchant. Consumers will also have better visibility of their subscriptions and will be able to manage them more easily.
In addition, the disappearance of embossed numbers on cards makes it possible to consider more refined and customizable designs, thus meeting the aesthetic expectations of modern users.
For retailers, this transformation also represents an opportunity optimize their payment processes and reduce cart abandonmentcommon when entering card information becomes too tedious. Simplifying the customer journey promises to significantly improve the conversion rates of e-commerce sites.
Some adjustments to be expected
The implementation of this new system requires a complete transformation of the payment ecosystem. The first changes are already visible: the embossed numbers are gradually disappearing from the cards, replaced by a discreet print on the back. Visa has already reached an important milestone with more than 100 million tokens issued in 2024.
Despite obvious advantages, this development raises some practical questions. How, for example, can you book a hotel by telephone without being able to provide your card number? Establishments will have to adapt by developing alternative solutions, such as sending secure payment links by SMS or email. Pre-authorization systems, commonly used in the hotel industry or vehicle rental, will also have to evolve to work with the new digital identifiers.
The deployment will therefore be done gradually. The payment networks are planning a staggered implementation: Visa will start at the end of 2024, followed by the Cartes Bancaires Group and Mastercardfor generalization planned for 2026. The first cards completely devoid of numbers will only appear around 2030, while all players, particularly merchants, adapt to this new reality.
- Bank cards will no longer have visible numbers by 2030
- Online payments will only be made with an email address or telephone number, validated by biometrics.
- Fraud will be considerably reduced thanks to the absence of sensitive data circulating on the internet.
