Web Payments: A New Standard for Online Checkout
Web Payments is an emerging web standard developed by the W3C to simplify online payments and lower the barrier for new players in the payments ecosystem. The standards are intentionally flexible, working across various payment systems, browsers, devices, and payment service providers. This design goal supports development simplicity, consistent deployment, and future compatibility with new payment technologies.
What Web Payments Offer
The benefits span the entire payments chain:
- Consumers get a faster checkout that takes a few taps, replacing repetitive typing on a virtual keyboard.
- Merchants implement support more easily and can present payment options that are already filtered and relevant to the customer.
- Payment handlers can bring virtually any payment method to the web with relatively straightforward integration.
- Payment service providers gain the ability to introduce new payment methods and serve more customers with a better developer experience and more robust security.
Core Principles
Standard and open
For the first time, the web platform has an open payment standard that anyone can implement. This removes proprietary constraints and levels the playing field for all participants.
Easy and consistent
Web Payments streamline checkout for users by reusing stored payment and address information, so they no longer need to fill out forms from scratch. Because the browser natively implements the user interface, customers see the same familiar checkout experience wherever the standard is used.
Secure and flexible
The standard brings industry-leading payment technology to the web and accommodates the integration of secure payment solutions without forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.
Next Steps
To continue, see how the payment ecosystem works with Web Payments.
