Online Payments: What Changes With Chrome 95

Since January 2021, online payments have become much safer and more inconvenient due to the PSD2 regulation, but thanks to Google Chrome 95, paying will be accessible again.

The global release of Chrome 95, the latest version of Google’s Internet browser, is underway in these hours. Along with several minor innovations, in the new version, there is also a

significant one for the convenience and security of online payments from mobile and desktop/laptop, which have become a little more complicated but significantly safer in recent months.

In fact, in January 2021, the new European directive PSD2 on electronic payments came into force which, among other things, introduced the mandatory nature of the so-called SCA (Strong Customer Authentication). It is an extra layer of security for those who shop online and a more inconvenient mechanism to use because, during the payment phase, you have to enter the codes that arrive on the phone, via SMS, or inside the payment card app.

As these innovations affect hundreds of millions of buyers worldwide, and not just in Europe, Google has found a way to keep security high, comply with PSD2 with SCA, and make everything much more convenient.

How To Pay With The SCA

Today, the telephone is used as a second security factor for electronic payments. To finalize the payment, the user must enter the credit or debit card data ( first factor ) and then one or more codes that the payment circuit sends to the phone ( second factor ). The system is mandatory for purchases worth over 500 euros, but many payment circuits also apply it to lower figures to increase security.

This, at least in theory, prevents a cybercriminal from making purchases with our money if he has come into possession of our card data: to authorize the payment, he should have our phone in his hand and read the codes to it.

The PSD2 regulation itself, however, also provides for another possibility: instead of using codes to strengthen security, it is possible to use the payer’s biometric data. And that’s what Google did by inserting this novelty in Google 95.

How To Pay With Chrome 95

On Google 95, therefore, it is now possible to use biometric data to confirm online payments and, in particular, the fingerprint registered on the phone. Therefore, it may happen that during payment, we are asked to place your finger on the sensor to authorize the transaction.

Definitely more convenient than waiting for the SMS or code to arrive in the bank and card app but also very secure: fingerprints are registered on the device and are not transferred to any remote server.

As payment circuits begin to adopt this system, therefore, we will see this possibility more and more often both from mobile, where the fingerprint is already used for many security functions and from a desktop or laptop: all systems modern operating systems, from Windows 10/11 to MacOS, passing through Chrome OS, allow the user to enter the fingerprint as an authentication method if there is a physical fingerprint reader.

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