Shopping is a pleasurable experience for many consumers. Whether perusing through local malls or looking for items to buy online, safe payment transactions are extremely important. Valued Merchant Services offers some insight about security and fraud protection during the checkout process.
About Fraud Protection
Global security threats are a serious concern for small and large businesses. As shoppers rely on electronic payment methods, hackers are diligently working to steal a user’s credit card number, banking information and other identity-related details.
Fraud protection devices and software tools are continuously being updated to help shield a cardholder’s identity and other personal information from bad actors.
Using reliable merchant processing equipment to keep hackers from prying into a shopper’s financial information could establish more loyalty and trust among repeat customers.
Data Protection
Not only does a data breach expose a company and its customers to a variety of threats, but the vulnerability might also tarnish a merchant’s reputation.
The potential for negative media attention and lost revenues are strong reasons for maintaining data protection support.
Data protection support can protect merchants from various types of liability that could result from security breaches.
Working with a reliable merchant services company is an excellent way to secure and to protect a cardholder’s data against fraudulent activities that could occur at checkout via tapped, swiped or dipped card reader transactions.
PCI Compliance
Requirements that are set by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council are designed to help safeguard a consumer’s information from hackers and scam artists.
At every touchpoint, a business owner must relentlessly work to ensure that a shopper’s data and personal information are not compromised at the point-of-sale or online.
A merchant must maintain a level of protection that coincides with the total dollar amount of transactions that are processed each year.
Some credit card processors will charge a business owner monthly or yearly fees for PCI compliance. Many of the same companies will charge a company additional non-compliance fees for failing to maintain coverage.
Adhering to PCI standards, such as maintaining a firewall to block unauthorized access, storing cardholder data in a secure location and periodic testing to detect vulnerabilities are prudent steps toward fraud protection for business owners.
Cybersecurity
When making an online purchase, consumers prefer convenient shopping options that are safe. However, when online banking transactions and online purchases are performed, consumers are vulnerable to a lot of threats.
Ensuring that a computer or a mobile device has Internet security can help protect consumers during ecommerce transactions.
Web pages that require a consumer to enter personal or financial information should reflect a padlock within the address bar.
A padlock and web address that begins with “HTTPS” indicates that the website has an SSL security certificate, which is used to facilitate an encrypted connection.
Business owners can speak with a merchant service provider about ecommerce software and equipment that complies with the highest security standards.
Suspect a Fraudulent Transaction?
According to the Mastercard website, a merchant can instruct her employees to call the Authorization Center to report a Code 10 authorization. A special operator will handle the call and provide specific instructions for the checkout representative to follow.
If a transaction reaches the point, where a cashier decides to call the Authorization Center, the employee should retain the customer’s credit card or debit card, and calmly proceed with the special instructions from the Authorization Center.
Summary
Without security measures to partition a cardholder’s personal information from hackers, a business owner could be exposed to an assortment of risks that outweigh the cost for fraud protection.
Contact Valued Merchant Services today for more information about software and equipment to safely accept credit cards payments.
