Integrated payment and transaction processing company Interswitch has launched Safetoken in compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy concerning mandatory tokens for payments made online in Nigeria.
Safetoken is an innovation which initiates One-Time-Passwords (OTP) whenever customers make online payment transactions using their credit and debit cards.
Explaining Safetoken, Charles Ifedi, Interswitch’s Director of Payment Solutions and Value Added Services (VAS), said it gives the cardholder an additional measure of security as well as protecting users against illegal usage of their cards on the internet.
Ifedi said: “The system generates 6-8 digit OTP whenever a transaction occurs via the Interswitch Web Payment Platform, Webpay, that meet some criteria set by the issuer of the card. When a customer attempts to perform a web transaction above a set limit, say 3,000 naira for airtime recharge, the customer is prompted for a One-Time-Password.
“The Safetoken platform supports the use of hardware tokens, software tokens, grid cards and OTP delivered via SMS or email. To use the Safetoken service, a cardholder must have undergone a pre-registration process, which can be done at www.quickteller.com, ATMs and bank branches.”
United Bank for Africa (UBA) has already implemented the Safetoken SMS and email OTP solution for its customers, while Access Bank, GTBank, First Bank, FCMB and Zenith Bank are currently implementing the hardware and SMS OTP solution to improve web payment security.
