While the concept of making payments with just a click sounds great, it also comes with a few issues such as transferring money to a wrong account or failed transactions.
Ever since demonetisation was announced, there has been a spurt in digital payments. More people from smaller towns and cities are paying digitally for goods and services, boosting India’s transition from a cash-driven economy to a digital and cashless economy.
While the concept of making payments with just a click sounds great, it also comes with a few issues such as transferring money to a wrong account or failed transactions. Let’s dig deep into these issues and solutions that one can offer.
1. Amount debited twice
The ease of using the digital mode of payments is incomparable. It is easier and faster, and the popularity of digital payments continues to increase. However, there are some pitfalls, one being double debit i.e. amount debited twice for the same transaction. Many a time, while making digital payments, you encounter a failed transaction, so you make the transaction again but when you check, the amount is debited twice from the account.
There is only one solution to this problem i.e. bank must make a quick refund of the second transaction. Though the practice is being followed sometimes the customer needs to keep poking the customer care for the refund. Improvements in terms of guidelines and swifter actions are already seen but more tangible improvement will help gain more customer trust.
2. Card Chip stops working
You or someone around you must have faced this problem at least once while making digital payments. You or the merchant dips the card multiple times into a reader in an ATM or EMV point of sale (POS) terminal, but authorisation doesn’t happen. It might be because those chips on debit or credit cards stop working due to wear and tear. In such a situation, card swipe can be used instead of card dip. Chip bypass is another way to tackle the problem.
3. Credit/Debit Cards not accepted
This is the most annoying issue for a customer. There are some debit or credit cards that are accepted only at a few swipe terminals. Sometimes, a customer is not aware that his/her card is not accepted at all terminals which might land him/her in a challenging situation, considering the high dependency of people on digital payments nowadays. This calls for the urgent attention and action of acquirers who need to enable acceptance on their terminals.
The acquiring bank is the financial institution that maintains the merchant’s bank account. The contract with the acquirer enables merchants to process credit and debit card transactions. The acquiring bank passes the merchant’s transactions to the applicable issuing banks to receive payment.
4. Unsuccessful EMI transactions
While making an EMI transaction, you might face a situation whereby the transaction is successful i.e. the amount gets debited but the same doesn’t get converted into an EMI. Well, there is nothing to panic. All you need to do is call your issuer and get the transaction converted to EMI.
The issuing bank is the financial institution that issues credit/debit cards to consumers on behalf of the card networks (Visa, MasterCard, RuPay).
5. Wrong Amount Entered
There are marginally higher chances of the problem occurring at the merchant’s end. You might end up making a transaction against the wrong amount. But, nothing to worry. Digital payments are as safe as your money in the bank. In such a case, the initial transaction should be declared null and void and fresh transaction should happen.
6. Contactless payments
Contactless payment, a transaction that requires no physical contact between a device and a payments terminal, may not be available at places where terminal is not NFC enabled. Tapping or hovering your device to pay is, of course, easy but you can just swipe of the card for making the payment if contactless payment is not available.
Summing It All Up
Fintech companies, aggregators and the banking authorities are all progressively working towards making the digital payments better, enhancing the ease, trust and reliability of users. The sector presents immense opportunities for digital players. The government is initiating great measures by comprehensively studying different components of digital payments with respect to global best practices and the list of indicators which are universally accepted and relevant.
