Do you need to memorize your debit, credit card number, CVV from next year?

Refuting reports that customers will have to remember their credit and debit card numbers, the Payments Council of India (PCI), the representative body for payment companies in the country, has said that the claims are false and there is no need to memorise the numbers.

The clarification comes after several news reports claimed that from next year, people will have to memorise their 16-digit card numbers for online payments.

“The industry and PCI are working in alignment with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on possible secure card on file solutions which will ensure a near similar customer experience for online purchases whilst enhancing the security of the storage of card credentials of customers,” a statement from the PCI read.

In March 2020, the RBI had asked payment system providers to come up with workable solutions to improve the security of the storage of customer’s card credentials within the framework of the relevant guidelines issued by it. In line with it, the PCI has shared the principles that the industry can adopt to develop such a secure card on file solution with RBI.

“We are working closely with RBI on charting a roadmap of the possible solutions that could be adopted by the industry for securing the storage of raw card data. Solutions being worked upon, would not require the customers to enter their card number manually every time they make an online purchase” says PCI. “The solutions will adhere to the security checks and controls and frameworks prescribed by RBI”, the PCI statement added.

As per reports, new guidelines proposed by the RBI prevents payment aggregators and merchants like Amazon, Flipkart and Netflix from storing the information credit or debit card used by the customer on their servers or databases. The new guidelines basically mean that customers with debit cards or credit cards will now have to punch in their 16-digit card number in order to make a payment. 

Generally, the e-commerce model works on the data stored by the companies who use it to market new items to customer demographics based on the information they have. Once the guidelines are implemented, it will become difficult for such sites to target their audience and decrease their reach.