How To Transform Your Webcam Into A Card Reader

Hard on the heels of a whole rash of recent developments in payment systems technology including the Mobile Wallet and the Square comes a new, patent pending invention called Netswipe. Hyped as'another milestone in the history of online payment', Netswipe is a high-tech product which can transform your webcam into a card reader.

Netswipe is the brainchild of a start-up company called Jumio, founded by Daniel Mattes of Jajah. Jumio's board of directors also includes none other than Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Jumio is looking to grab its share off the hugely valuable e-commerce market, currently estimated at $62 billion per annum, and expected to double over the next 4 years, by bridging the gap between face-to-face and online payments.

The idea is to combine the security and reassurance of a face-to-face or card present payment transaction with the speed and convenience of an online payment.

To use the new system, you just have to hold a credit card in front of your webcam. Netswipe then scans and verifies the card details. On completion of the transaction no details are stored, and your webcam is turned off automatically.

The big advantage for the customer is that this system saves them the trouble of having to type in their 16-digit credit card number. As the Jumio website puts it:- 'Jumio simplifies payment. Nothing more, nothing less'

According to more hype on their website, Netswipe also constitutes 'the most secure form of online payment possible'. The technology has been developed and tested over a 2-year period in cooperation with a number of universities and the Computer Vision Company.

Jumio explains that credit cards that are used to pay for goods and services via Netswipe are not photographed but scanned, using videostreaming technology, which enables the company to recognize and verify the card details without storing any data on the client side.

Card features are validated by Netswipe's security based algorithms, ensuring no fake cards get passed on to the payment processing gateways. Only when all algorithms have produced a positive result will the transaction be marked as "Netswipe verified".

Netswipe is capable of accepting all types debit and credit cards; it currently accepts Mastercard and Visa, and is planning to extend the range of accepted cards. Jumio is currently marketing three products for online merchants: Netswipe Start, Netswipe Scanning and Netswipe Processing. Further products, including a mobile solution, are due to be released later this year.