Trust is at the foundation of your business’s success. Without your customers’ trust in your business’s products and services, your business will likely not see the desired growth and success. If you accept credit cards online, you need to put your customers’ minds at ease by ensuring them of your business’s security. Here are our top 3 security tips for your small business to consider if you accept payments online.
1. Get Educated (Go Beyond Our Top 3 Security Tips).
With the number of data breaches that occur at online businesses, you and your staff cannot afford to be in the dark about payments and business security. Despite your levels of compliance and security systems you have in place, you may still be putting your business at risk if your employees do not understand basic security measures. If you know of a threat that may affect your business, inform your staff immediately. For instance, if your business email received a phishing scam or spammy email, you should inform your employees to look for a similar email and report it as spam. Sensitive information should never leave your office space, and devices that contain customer data should always be password protected.
2. Verify Every Transaction.
Even though you accept credit cards online and operate in a card-not-present (CNP) environment, there are several measures you can take to make sure every transaction can be verified as an honest transaction from one of your customers. One thing you can do is require that your customers enter their credit card security code, otherwise known as a CVV number on the back of their credit card. You can also run an address verification on the card being used in the transaction. Address verification, or an AVS check, occurs by comparing portions of the billing address that is entered with the address data that is on file with the issuing bank. Taking these small steps is one powerful way to ensure trust between you and your customers.
3. Don’t Store Your Customers’ Data.
Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACTA), business owners are not permitted to include the full credit card number and expiration date on an emailed receipt of the transaction. There are strict guidelines in place regarding how much information you store and how much information you share. Storing CVV data, for example, is a big no-no. Of course, you need some record-keeping capabilities at your business; information should be stored using a private network or cloud-based storage that encrypts data that cannot be intercepted by hackers.
Consider a processor that never leaves you hanging and is ready to help troubleshoot any challenges you may encounter as your business grows. Accept credit cards online today by working with a reputable processor like Payline, offering more beyond top 3 security tips and a wide array of products and solutions along with top-notch support to fit your business needs.
