Walletdoc has launched Visa Payment Passkeys in South Africa, enabling biometric authentication for online Visa card payments.
Walletdoc has launched Visa Payment Passkeys for merchants in South Africa, allowing Visa cardholders to authenticate online purchases using a fingerprint, facial recognition, or device PIN. The service replaces one-time PINs and bank-app redirects with authentication through the customer’s device. The passkeys are designed for online card payments and use device-based credentials to authenticate transactions.
Visa Payment Passkeys change checkout authentication
Customers can enrol a card for a passkey with a few steps. Once registered, the passkey remains on the customer’s device and can be used to approve subsequent purchases made with that card on the same device.
The authentication process does not require customers to enter a one-time code or leave the merchant’s checkout to approve the transaction through their bank. Biometric information remains on the device rather than being shared with the merchant or payment provider. Walletdoc said the rollout builds on its existing 3-D Secure capabilities, under which customers may be redirected to their bank or asked to provide an additional authentication code before returning to the merchant’s website.
Passkeys extend Walletdoc’s payment options
Visa Payment Passkeys are available to merchants using the Walletdoc platform. The company said merchants can integrate the functionality without developing a separate passkey solution themselves. The technology is also intended to complement Walletdoc’s existing support for digital wallets, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay. Payment Passkeys enable eligible Visa card payments to be authenticated directly within the merchant’s online checkout. Visa states that Payment Passkeys uses device-based authentication designed to resist phishing and can support Strong Customer Authentication requirements where applicable.
The rollout adds another passkey-based authentication option for online card payments, allowing merchants to offer device-based verification alongside existing authentication methods. The technology uses FIDO-based authentication and links the payment credential to the customer’s trusted device. Visa Payment Passkeys can also work with EMV 3-D Secure, allowing merchants to use passkey authentication within existing payment security infrastructure
