Steps to tokenise your card date in view of RBI’s new rules for credit and debit cards

New Delhi, Aug 23: The Reserve Bank of India in June had extended until September 30 the deadline to replace the credit and debit card data used in online, point-of-sale and in-app transactions with unique tokens. The new rules were scheduled to come into effect from July 1.

The RBI says the tokenisation system will improve the payment experience for card holders by making it safer and more convenient. Customers' card details will be stored as an encrypted token to ease the transaction process for them.

So what is tokenisation? The RBI says tokenisation is the replacement of actual card details with an alternate code called the token. This shall be unique for a combination of card, token requestor and device.

Here, the requestor is the entity which accepts a request from the customer to tokenise their card and then passes it on to the card network to issue a corresponding token.

How to generate tokens:

• To make a purchase and payment for any item go to any e-commerce merchant website or application
• Choose your card and enter its details and the other relevant information when checking out
• Secure your card and also tokenise it as per the guidelines of the RBI. For this you have to go to the secure your card as per RBI guidelines' option
• Then authorise the creation of the token. To complete the transaction use the one-time password or OTP that is sent to your registered mobile number from the bank
• Create your token. The date of your card is now replaced with this token
• In order to help you recognise your card while making a transaction, the last four digits of your saved card are displayed when you revisit the same website or app. This would mean that the tokenisation of your card has taken place.