Secure payments specialist Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) has added the capability to take a secure payment directly via live web chat, the first Level 1 service provider to do it claims.
Live Chat is a booming segment of online shopping and allows consumers immediate access to information about products and services while they are browsing a website.
Eckoh’s development means a consumer can now place an order within the chat session rather than having to be re-directed to another channel to complete their purchase such as email or a messaging app.
Card-not-present fraud is the fastest growing form of credit card fraud globally and totalled nearly £400mln in 2015.
Eckoh acquired the technology when it bought Klick2Contact (K2C) last July.
Graham Pollard, K2C’s managing director ,said its innovation makes the live chat purchase process completely seamless to the customer, while their card data is never exposed to the chat agent or a merchant's IT environment.
Nik Philpot, Eckoh’s chief executive, added: "By combining Eckoh's secure payment capability with K2C's Live Chat, Eckoh has created a new, flexible and scalable way to take secure, hassle-free, PCI compliant online payments.”
It will boost cross-selling between the two customer bases, he said, adding that Eckoh is now the world's first Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards ("PCI DSS") Level 1 service provider able to offer secure payment solutions across the full spectrum of phone, web, mobile app, SMS and Live Chat.