On the ninth day of payments, my processor gave to me: the ability to accept payments securely.
It’s no surprise that for business owners, payments security is of the utmost importance. From the large-scale data breaches we’ve seen this year, to the need for pay-at-table solutions, security will continue to be a concern so long as payments technology continues to advance alongside customer demand.
And, with almost half of all retail businesses found to accept payments insecurely, modern merchants need to be wary of security capabilities that impact their business and their customers. Here are some of the ways to accept payments securely at your business this holiday season and beyond.
Mobile Payment Solutions
Mobile payment solutions allow merchants to convert their smartphone or tablet into a handheld device to accept payments from their customers easily and on the spot. These readers allow for similar functionality of a countertop POS, making this solution ideal for businesses that want to appeal to a customer’s preferred way to make a payment.
As we’ve mentioned before, mobile payment solutions provide a variety of fraud prevention tools that are available to the merchant right from the palm of their hand. Such data security and fraud prevention tools that merchants should employ through their payment processing are:
- PCI Compliance: the security standard for any business that accepts credit cards
- Tokenization: the process of replacing sensitive consumer data with a “token” that hides personal information but keeps identifying details secure
- Address Verification System (AVS) Check: the ability to cross-reference the billing address of the credit card provided by the cardholder with the address on file with the credit card company
- Biometrics and Password Protection: a form of identification to know your true customers (Facial Recognition, Age Verification, Fingerprint Scanning)
- Secure Internet Connection: an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) establishes an encrypted link between a web server and a browser when a merchant goes to accept payments from consumers
A Secure POS System
The most familiar way to accept payments at your business is through a physical checkout terminal that is equipped with the customer-friendly functionality to keep your business running smoothly. Many countertop solutions today provide merchants with a traditional machine that won’t require a complete overhaul of the current POS system. While this hardware feels familiar to both consumer and retailer, these solutions allow your business to accept payments electronically via an NFC-capable reader while also providing inventory management, seamless integration, and simplified PCI compliance capabilities.
Online Payment Processing
For card-not-present transactions, online payments provide an easy-to-use e-commerce solution for businesses to accept payments securely. E-commerce merchants have a few options when it comes to how they accept payments from their customers — through a gateway on a website or through a virtual terminal. With the growing threat of security breaches, your business needs to remember to adhere to PCI standards that help businesses refrain from being caught off guard by fraudsters.
Merchants today need to be prepared to detect security threats, address any problems when they do occur, and ensure that they are working with the right payments partner to help thwart ongoing threats that compromise the integrity of the payments ecosystem. When you accept payments securely with solutions from Payline, you remove the potential for fraud and associated complexities.
