Fraudsters and nefarious individuals are constantly searching for vulnerabilities they can take advantage of to steal data and access systems. While this is true, shoppers still need to be able to complete purchases and transactions with their preferred payment method while enjoying an efficient and seamless experience.
To protect customers and your business while delivering a superior checkout experience, you must know and implement the right security practices when accepting payments online.
How to Ensure Secure Online Payment Processing
There are three main factors merchants must understand and properly manage to create checkout experiences that are secure, simple, and account for all types of payments, including debit and credit cards, along with alternative methods.
Three main factors need to be considered to reduce payment risk. These include:
- Fraud
- Security
- Compliance
Fraud
Fraud management is a key element for any business. In some cases, it requires you to alter the payment methods offered and implement buyer identification verification. Higher fraud rates can result in some credit card companies revoking a businesses ability to process payments. Over time, this can impact the business’s reputation.
Security
Cybercriminals are constantly looking for vulnerabilities. This is how they steal financial and personal information. Because of this, merchants must make sure the payment process they use is secure and fully protect valuable and sensitive data.
Compliance
Regulatory bodies or even individual countries set data security and privacy standards. The purpose of these is to protect both individuals and businesses. Merchants must understand their obligations and make sure they continue to comply with all requirements for every country where they do business.
Tips for Securing Your Online Payment Processing Process
Now that you know the importance of secure online payment processing use these tips to make it happen.
Match Billing Address Info and IP Address
It’s important to check the details during the transaction. Doing so can flag potentially fraudulent transactions and protect your business to ensure fraud doesn’t occur.
Encrypt Data
SSL and TLS are protocols that work to authenticate and encrypt data when it moves online. Using SSL protocols to ensure that sensitive information is encrypted and only accessible by the intended recipient is a must in today’s online world.
Use Payment Tokenization
With credit card tokenization, you can de-identify sensitive payment information. This is done by converting it to a series of randomly generated numbers called a “token.” This token is then sent through the payment networks or internet to complete the payment without the risk of exposure.
Mandate Strong Passwords
One of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to access your information is by accessing user accounts with easy-to-gu guess passwords. Because of this, you should make strong passwords a requirement.
Are You Ready to Secure Your Payment Processing?
Ensuring you offer a secure payment processing option is a must for modern businesses. If you don’t have this now, it is time to invest. Trust online is a must if you want a chance to compete and succeed in your industry.