A large majority of retailers today offer both in-person and online shopping options for their customers. Having an online store gives the customer added convenience because they can shop in the comfort of their own home.
Making sure your online store is secure is very important for both your customers’ and your own safety. Without protection, a website is prone to hackers gaining access to confidential information that can lead to losses and devastate your business.
Tools We Offer
We currently offer a variety of tools to increase online security including ACH, PCI Compliance, EMV, and Tokenization.
ACH Payment Processing: ACH (Automated Clearing House) payments operate essentially as direct deposits into a customer or merchant’s bank account. ACH payments have certain security measures including tokenization, encryption, and merchant-specific registration to make sure anonymous transfers are not allowed.
Tokenization: This replaces sensitive financial information with a unique token, or identifier, that is impossible to reverse. Tokens take the place of credit card data and only the last four digits of the card number remain so the card can still be matched to its owner.
PCI Compliance: This applies to any company accepting credit cards, no matter the size. It is a set of requirements designed to ensure that any merchant who processes, stores, or transmits credit card data maintains a secure environment.
EMV: EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) is the worldwide security standard for credit cards that now contain a microchip or smart chip to increase payment security.
EMV & eCommerce
Since 2003, the United States has accounted for half of the total global loss from credit card fraud. And in 2016, we finally began the shift to EMV cards as a measure to fight fraud and increase financial security for customers.
MasterCard and VISA have begun implementing online security technology to increase card-not-present payment security, but EMV has not yet been fully integrated with eCommerce. Although the EMV cards and chip-enabled POS terminals don’t necessarily apply to online shopping, eCommerce retailers should still know about the relationship between the two.
Because there is not a unified solution for both in-person and card-not-present transactions, there is a risk that the increased security of card-present transactions will push more fraudsters to the ecommerce space, which may be more vulnerable to fraud.
Due to this risk, it is important for eCommerce businesses to implement a variety of security measures to mitigate fraud online.
Low Cost Security Tools and Tips
Encrypt Data – Getting an SSL certificate encrypts the connection between a browser and a server, protecting credit card information and the certificate can be found online for an affordable price.
Don’t store confidential data – You don’t need to store every financial detail about your customers. All you need is enough information in the case of a chargeback or a refund.
Require customers to create long passwords – This is just a simple instruction that can decrease the chance of an account being hacked.
Check your website regularly – You can scan your site traffic with inexpensive monitoring tools, which will alert you when there is suspicious activity on your website.
Address and card verification system – AVS is one of the most common security tools used by merchants to prevent credit card fraud. The service compares a customer’s billing address entered at checkout with their billing address on record at the bank. If the addresses match, the transaction will be authorized.
Set a security policy and protocol – If they are unaware of the dangers of communicating financial information online, your employees are at risk of leaking customer information to outsiders. Employees should also know which websites they should and shouldn’t access. Setting a security protocol to educate employees will decrease risk of an online attack.
Customers will always be concerned with security. When shoppers feel safe, the chance of them returning to your store for future purchases is high. It is crucial that you protect your business if you plan on being successful. Being a victim of a cyber-attack is an alarming idea, but with the right security measures you and your customers can find peace of mind.