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Payment Solutions Company - No credit cards needed

Through an innovative security process called Triple Check, during a transaction JanusX is able to simultaneously authenticate the merchant, the bank and the consumer - a first for Singapore's online market. Raj Lorenz, CEO of The Payment Solutions Company which is based in Singapore, tells ZDNet Asia how all this is possible.
Written by Lim Fung Meng, Contributor
Raj

Through an innovative security process called Triple Check, during a transaction JanusX is able to simultaneously authenticate the merchant, the bank and the consumer - a first for Singapore's online market. Raj Lorenz, CEO of The Payment Solutions Company which is based in Singapore, tells ZDNet Asia how all this is possible.

When an online customer wishes to buy a product or service, or pay a bill, he or she will select their mode of payment from a list available. In the past, this was typically via credit card. Now JanusX can automatically link consumers to their Internet banking facility and allow them to pay directly from their chosen bank account.

But first the consumer and the merchant have to initiate a link between their bank and website to the JanusX gateway and then transactions made on the Internet will be paid instantly by debiting the consumer’s Internet bank account.

“For consumers, JanusX provides greater choice by offering an additional online payment option. It is also convenient, as all that is required of the consumer to initiate an online payment is their usual Internet banking user ID and password from their participating bank,” said Raj Lorenz, CEO of The Payment Solutions Company which is based in Singapore.

JanusX is a product offered by The Payment Solutions Company, a joint venture company between between DBS Bank and Adroit Innovations Limited. The Payment Solutions Company was founded incorporated on in October 19th July 2000.

Through an innovative security process called Triple Check, during a transaction JanusX is able to simultaneously authenticate the merchant, the bank and the consumer - a first for Singapore's online market. To date, most online payment systems have only been able to authenticate parts of the transaction process between consumer, merchant and bank and not all three at the same time.

In addition, when a consumer makes an online payment using JanusX, the gateway automatically takes them from the merchant's website direct to their own bank's Internet banking facility. As the consumer's personal information is already held by their own bank, JanusX offers added security, in that the consumer does not need to input any sensitive information onto the merchant's site.

More onThe State of ePayment.

-Through the Triple Check security process, the consumer is assured that the merchant they are paying is legitimate and the ease of use for the consumer should hopefully increase online shopping.

-Some payment methods require consumers to authorise future payments carte blanche – JanusX puts the control back into the hands of the consumer. It is the consumer who decides who, when and how much they wish to pay.

Linking to the JanusX gateway is simple and cost-effective. The merchant only needs to have an online retail store on their website and a dedicated server to be easily integrated into the gateway. The merchant need not acquire any additional hardware or a dedicated payment server to be integrated. Once the merchant is integrated, they have access to each bank connected to the gateway. To become a customer, the merchant must be approved by a participating bank.

Previously, within online credit card payments, merchants have been required to bear the final cost of any customer claim that a credit card has been misused. With Triple Check, JanusX is able to positively identify all parties in the transaction and verify payments.

JanusX provides a ready infrastructure that banks can incorporate into their existing framework – allowing them compatibility with any other bank or merchant on the gateway.

-“Each bank can do away with having to integrate each individual merchant into their Internet banking system, at a high cost for each – with JanusX, this cost is significantly reduced. Instead the banks can focus on developing world class Internet banking products rather than building the underlying infrastructure,” Raj explained.

A number of Singapore banks are currently in the process of integrating to the JanusX gateway. DBS Bank is the first bank to be connected. Four organizations have started utilising the JanusX payment option. These are Far East Flora, Boys Brigade, NKF and Joaquim. Other Singapore merchants that are on the shortlist includes MPH Online, Safe Superstore, eCourts, Yamaha Music, Fundsupermart, Noel Gifts and LeeHwa.

According to Raj, “For most merchants, installation can take less than a day. For those larger merchants who want to interface the MIG JanusX payment method right through to their underlying systems, the implementation can take longer.”

The process of integrating the merchant can take just a few hours, depending on the size and scale of the merchant’s online store.

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