Gone are the days of going down to the bank to cash cheques and keeping large sums of cash under your mattress in the house. The dawn of the digital age has seen online payment methods become integral to daily living and conducting business. The majority of people have now embraced online payments, but this has meant the need for safe and secure online payment methods has had to be bolstered for people to remain confident that their money isn’t at risk in the matrix of the internet.
With 2025 well underway, the use of crypto payments, advancing biometric technology, and enhanced encryption are all ways that online payment methods are staying ahead of the game to continue redefining how we can protect our finances. But just what are the safest online payment methods in 2025, and which industries are focusing on the different security features available to them?
Crypto Payments
After the initial boom and hype around crypto payments following the launch of BitCoin in 2009, it seems like on the surface many people have left the technology behind, but this is not the case. Blockchain and crypto technology continue to grow in popularity and are an extremely transparent way for people to approach online payments. They are global and their decentralization means that they are accessible by anyone, anywhere.
The blockchain tech used by cryptocurrencies provides transparency and longevity in their security, which normal local banks cannot seem to keep up with. When blockchains are used, every transaction is logged on a public ledger, which means it is very hard to make undetectable transactions or dupe the system in any way. They are also not necessarily reliant on personnel, which means that there is less chance of fraud from within the system.
With all these positives in their corner, it is no surprise that many industries are starting to use crypto payments as some of their main forms of transactions. The gambling industry is perhaps one of the best examples of an industry adopting the use of crypto payments. Many online casinos are now using crypto to allow for safer and more regulated gambling. The technology of crypto stops hackers, fraud, or any funny business going on within online casinos and maintains the integrity that the businesses are looking to achieve. In Techopedia’s guide on safe online casinos, Vlad Grindu shares that many of the best and most secure online casinos are using cryptocurrency for transactions to add to that level of safety.
Biometric payment systems
Whilst standard PIN codes and passwords remain a level of security to protect online payment methods, the rise of biometric payments such as facial recognition, fingerprints, and retina scans have all become pretty staple methods of verification for many companies to add an extra level of security. The use of biometric payment systems has been popularised by leading banks across the world, with all the big names such as Chase, Revolut, and Citibank all using these systems to add that extra layer of security for their users. The use of biometrics drastically reduces the chance of fraud or hackers gaining access to someone’s accounts due to the difficulty in trying to replicate someone’s biometrics. The combination of the advancing biometric systems, which will no doubt get more advanced as time goes on, merges well with the increasing reliance on gadget technology that everyone now uses to make sure wherever people are entering their bank accounts and making online payments, they are protected.
E-wallets
Perhaps the most popular way to pay online remains cards in your E-Wallet. These have been popularised by the likes of PayPal and Skrill, which both offer easy and convenient ways to conduct transactions and remain safe whilst doing so. Often paired with two-factor authentication or biometric technology, these online payment methods allow people to complete payments without the need for the physical card, which protects users from fraud through the concealment of sensitive information and ever-adapting anti-fraud technology.
Tokenization
Used in digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, tokenization is quickly becoming a surefire way for businesses to enhance their security measures. Tokenization is a simple technology that replaces actual card and bank details with unique tokens. These tokens are then shared with the given trader, meaning there is less risk of fraud or card details being stolen from the buyer.
AI-Fraud Detection
As technology develops, AI systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated and will be relied upon more heavily as the developments become more widely embedded. AI fraud detection systems recognize and detect fraudulent activity on online payments in real-time. This technology is being developed so AI should be able to detect differing spending patterns or geographical discrepancies to stop fraud and provide a safer online payment system for people. This technology should be more proactive than reactive and prevent fraud from happening before it does happen and has been started to be used by Mastercard and Visa across the world. Once this is more widely implemented throughout online payment systems and in conjunction with other safety measures, it should make a marked difference in making things a lot more watertight from illegal activity.
