Experts wary of new online payment systems

Two new payment systems remove the risk of giving credit card details online but if the banks don't join in just how secure are they? Two new systems claim to make it easier and safer to shop online, by letting you pay for goods directly from your bank account without having to hand over card details. But experts are warning consumers not to be "lulled into a false sense of security".

The POLi and eWise systems, launched this month, offer the option to pay directly from a bank account at supporting online retailers'checkout pages.

Shoppers selecting the option are automatically taken to their bank's log-in page where, after they have manually logged in, a page appears on which the necessary payment fields are "pre-populated" with the correct amount and the retailer's bank account details.

Once the consumer has accepted the purchase, the funds are transferred and the retailer is given a confirmation code so they can ship the goods.

The companies behind each system claim this process of being automatically directed to a bank account gets around the problem of people either not having cards or not wanting to type in their card numbers on a merchant's site.