AWS and Stripe: Boosting eCommerce with Stored Payment Credentials

Stored payment credentials play a significant role in eCommerce, and research indicates that their adoption could be further increased if security is emphasized. A study titled “How We Pay Digitally: Stored Credentials Edition,” a collaboration between PYMNTS and Amazon Web Services (AWS), explored the importance of stored payment credentials and how their proper use can enhance sales and customer experience. AWS Head of Payments Business and Market Development Mark Smith and Stripe Product Lead Josh Ackerman examined the findings of a survey of over 2,100 consumers, which revealed that 80% use stored credentials for some online transactions.

Ackerman stated, “Consumers care about and are going to optimize for what’s the fastest, most secure way to pay. What we’ve seen is stored credentials and mobile wallets make those things incredibly easy and satisfy consumer needs.” However, he noted that 93% of businesses do not support mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Link by Stripe, calling it a significant missed opportunity.

According to the study, a good checkout experience influences 90% of decisions to return to a business. Smith said that AWS helps companies like Stripe ensure they have the right data to create a good customer experience, which in turn helps merchants provide a positive experience for their customers, encouraging them to return.

The study also found that security is the primary reason many shoppers continue to use manual entry of payment information. Ackerman acknowledged that there are numerous missed opportunities in this area, with many businesses not displaying security logos on their checkout pages, not following up with customers who had abandoned carts, or not allowing customers to save their payment methods for future use.

To combat fraud, AWS advocates for the use of scalable machine learning (ML) models, which Smith said are continuously evaluated, deployed, trained, and retrained to create new rules and updated decision engines. AWS also provides services to protect sensitive data, such as AWS Nitro Enclaves, Amazon Macie, AWS CloudHSM, and AWS KMS.

Incentivizing stored credentials can be effective, with the study showing that discounts of just 5% to 10% can convert many stored credential “holdouts.” Ackerman and Smith have observed the impact of these incentives on stored credentials, as well as the positive consumer sentiment they generate.