There has been a significant rise in shopping online among Internet users in India. As per a report from Juxt,
13.5 million people bought non-travel products like mobile accessories
and computer software online and 8.6 million people bought travel
products online. Going forward, these numbers are only going to see an
upward trend. But along with the rise in online shopping and online
transactions also come increased security threats and cyber crimes. The
number of online shoppers would be much more if people did not have to
reveal credit card and debit card details.
Banks and other institutions have come up with new innovative ways
for online shoppers. Let us look at three products that aim to reduce
discomfort in online shopping:
- E-wallets:An e-wallet is like a credit card linked to your savings account. You can transfer money to the e-wallet and there is a fixed time validity to use this amount. The amount unused is transferred back to the savings account. The e-wallet is provided by most banks free of cost. The use of an e-wallet is limited either by number of transactions or they can be time-based. This protects one’s account. Axis Bank has launched an e-wallets offering that has a minimum limit of Rs. 10 and maximum of Rs. 50,000 and the e-wallet is valid for 48 hours.
- Virtual Cards: Virtual cards are credit cards that can be used on the net exactly like a credit card. Once you register for a virtual card that is linked to your savings account and decide the amount that the card has to loaded with, you get user credentials, a 16-digit credit card number and a CVV number. You can use this information and shop online. They typically have a validity of 24-48 hours and after the time limit, the unused money is transferred to the savings account. Banks allow anywhere from Rs.100-Rs. 50,000 per day on virtual cards. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank have the facility of virtual cards for their banking customers. The virtual card from HDFC Bank is called Netsafe and the card from Kotak Bank is called netc@rd.
- Scratch Cards/Prepaid Cards: There are a number of companies that provide cards for shopping. For example, Oxigen provides an Oxicash card that is a card that has some value stored in it and one can use it to make utility payments, buy movie tickets or shop online. There are one-time use cards as well as re-loadable cards. They are also available in different denominations. ITZ Cash Cards Ltd. has a couple of cash cards that cater to specific needs. For example, the noQ24×7 card, one can pay utility bills, book travel products online. It is available in various denominations and is valid for 6 months or one year.
The validity of the cards is less compared to debit and credit cards.
This helps to reduce losses if one loses the card for example. These
secured cards thus offer easy and secure online shopping.
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