AUCKLAND, September 12, 2019 – New Zealand payments leaders Adyen, Bambora, Cybersource, Paystation by Trade Me, and Windcave, have committed to
rolling out a new payment tech-nology in partnership with Visa, making New Zealand one of the first countries to
introduce the capability. Called credential-on-file (COF) tokenisation, the technology will strengthen e-commerce
security and en-hance conversion rates, resulting in savings for businesses and a simpler payment experience for
every-one that shops online.
COF tokenisation replaces card details such as account numbers and expiry dates with unique digital identifiers
(‘tokens’) that are used for payment without exposing a cardholder’s sensitive information. Each token is
merchant-specific, so can only be used with the merchant where it is stored, removing any incen-tive for hackers to try
to steal the account data and decreasing the risk of data breach attempts. Busi-nesses usually store card numbers for
direct debit, top-up, loyalty, subscription or account-based online shopping. This same technology is used to enable the
various mobile wallets that are available to Kiwis today.
“This commitment to drive tokenisation across the industry represents a win for New Zealand businesses, consumers,
financial institutions and payments companies alike. The technology enhances consumers’ experience, enables retailers to
retain consumer loyalty and protects all businesses from fraud. With the advent of open data and the creation of new
experiences based on data, initiatives such as tokenisation will ensure consumer data is protected and held securely,”
said Riaz Nasrabadi, Visa’s Head of Product for New Zealand and South Pacific.
In addition to enhancing security, COF tokenisation enables businesses to have consumer payment de-tails instantly
refreshed when a card is lost, stolen or expires, meaning there is no need for the consumer to log in and update their
details, or the business to lose out on that payment cycle.
This development will be welcomed by Kiwi consumers, with a YouGov survey finding that 44% identify updating
pre-existing details with merchants and service providers among the most annoying conse-quences of losing a card or
having it expire*.
COF tokenisation is a win for New Zealand merchants too, with higher conversion rates and less time spent chasing
payments likely to result in savings. The survey also found that nearly one third (26%) of Kiwis take over two weeks to
update their details when they lose a card or have it expire, and 10% take more than a month*.
The automated process could also help prevent online merchants from missing out on subscription re-newals, with 19%
saying they would use the manual card update to try out an alternative, and 13% opting to stop using a service
altogether*.
With tokenisation in place protecting their card details, 37% of New Zealanders said they would be more likely to
purchase from small retailers, 46% would be more trusting of online businesses, and 36% said they would buy from
retailers they had not bought from in the past*.
“New Zealand businesses, including retailers, are operating in an increasingly competitive and global landscape, in
which every dollar not spent on addressing problems could be invested in business growth. The opportunity to enable this
growth for Kiwi businesses is the motivation driving this cross-industry col-laboration,” said Nasrabadi.
This partnership with major New Zealand payments gateways reinforces the strategy behind Visa’s Future of Security Roadmap, which sets the direction for New Zealand payments security from 2018 to 2020, and beyond. Comprised of five
initiatives, the Roadmap will ensure security continues to evolve at the same pace as innovation.