How to Protect Your Customers By Securing Payments

Online sales have been growing exponentially. With the rise of online shopping and mobile services, more money is spent digitally than ever before. In fact, a number of experts have predicted the death of cash by 2030.

Perhaps it’s time to assess the risks of a cashless society as we hurtle towards it.

Online security has always been an abiding concern. It seems instances of online fraud and data theft have grown alongside the volume of online transactions. With high-profile attacks on Target and Apple, CIOs at multinational firms are more concerned than ever about the safety of client data.

But online payment fraud is an even bigger concern for small and medium sized businesses. Data thieves find it a lot easier to fish for credit card details and passwords from smaller firms. Some estimates suggest that 70% of online attacks are on small businesses.

This is why your business needs to urgently reassess the way customer data is handled and invest in tools to protect online payments.

Here’s what you can do to boost security for your clients:

Authenticate Accounts

One of the most common threats online is a so-called phishing scam. The attacker fools the customer into handing over account login and password details. A lot of customers fall for this common scam and end up losing data stored on your servers.

Businesses assume the responsibility of securing client accounts. Which is why investing in tools like two-factor verification ensures that only the customer can get into the account they have with you. Authenticated accounts can only be accessed by the client.

Encrypt Data

When hackers attacked Ebay in 2014, they got access to 145 million account passwords. Luckily for Ebay users, all the passwords were encrypted and no one lost money in the ordeal.

This goes to show how important it is to encrypt client data. Shop around for an online security software vendor and find one you can trust.  The more sophisticated the encryption software, the stronger it is and the investment is surely worth it.

One of the easiest ways to encrypt payment processing data is through a high risk payment gateway The gateway encrypts card data to protect your customers.  And keeps you safe in the case of a data breach.  Since the gateway stores the encrypted card info, your business is not exposed to the risk of stolen card data.  

The gateway is designed for  high risk merchants.  Yet merchants in non high risk categories can enjoy the same benefits.

For example, extensive fraud protection tools are easily customized to meet the exact requirements of your business and the targeted markets in which you operate. Cascading rules and comprehensive filtering options provide you virtually unlimited ability to optimize the security of your payment processing and keep your customers safe.  

SSL encryption

SSL encryption takes care of the data been transmitted between the server and the browser. According to Google, only 77% of the websites online are SSL encrypted. The rest are at risk of losing every bit of information passed from server to browser.

Regardless of the size of your company, a large online insurance company, SSL encryption is a necessary expense. A lot of browsers simply block websites that don’t have it. This means customers could be prevented from visiting your site if you lack this encryption. Although the encryption certificate isn’t expensive, there could also be ways to get this certificate for free.

Offer ACH & Echecks as Alternative Payments

In the US, echecks are the most popular alternative payment methods.  Echecks can be processed through the ACH Network or through bank to bank image transfer.  ACH and bank-to-bank financial services networks are one of the safest ways in the world to send & receive money.  

Millions of Americans regularly pay for goods and services with electronic checks. It is a trusted and familiar alternative payment method for US shoppers.

The growth of electronic checks has been driven by bill payment companies who encourage consumers to pay electronically to stabilize recurring income.  The rapid rise of online bill pay has translated to consumer demand for echecks as a payment option for all ecommerce transactions.

One time & recurring electronic check payments are now becoming the norm for businesses selling online.  More than 30% of internet retail sites already offer checks online as a alternative payment method at checkout.  

Echecks offer extensive security measures such as account validation, fraud detection system, age verification and identity verification protocol.

The more ways your customers have to pay you, the more sales you will make.  Adding echecks to card processing is one of the fastest (and secure) ways to protect your business.  

Conclusion

Online commerce is going to keep growing. Regardless of the nature of your business, customers will prefer cashless online payments in the future. These payments are convenient but subject to risk of attack. Protecting customer data is your responsibility. 

• Invest in heavy encryption
• Utilize the full potential of your payment gateway
• Use identity verification and transaction protection services
• Provide alternative payment methods  

All these measures protect your customers online.

How secure is your payment processing?

Contact info@paynetsecure.net today