Why you should care about payment security

Payment security is the business of every online vendor. Business owners must take maximal care to protect not just their money but customer’s money and personal information. This will involve taking security measures that are in the best interest of their business and customers. Online fraud is everyone’s enemy; accepting payments online means taking steps to make payments safer for the people you do transactions with.

Payment security measures are becoming more and more stringent in reaction to the increase in cyber theft. As an online business owner, you should understand what these measures entail and the  role businesses can play to ensure safe payments for customers. This would reduce chargeback incidences and improve your business’s reputation. It will also afford your customers a trusted and seamless shopping experience.

What is online payment security?

Online payment security entails that you do all the right things to guarantee that your business and customers do not fall prey to internet fraudsters. This will involve complying to rules, regulations and adopting best practices that guard against security breaches that would impact card holder accounts or information.  

It means that as an online merchant, you must protect customer’s privacy, data and ultimately their money.

We have described the best payment security practices in this article so that you may identify them in a payment service provider and be confident of a “sheltered” environment for processing payments.

PCI  compliance

The payment card industry (PCI) data security standards council ensures that security standards are consistent across the globe.  It is important to be compliant because non compliance can lead to legal action and fines for large-sized merchants.

 There are 4 levels of PCI compliance.  The level of PCI required for your business would depend on the amount of transactions your business handles.

Because compliance can be complex for merchants, Gateway services that have PCI certifications, take that burden off you. Proactive merchants can turn to a service provider like Credo that can provide PCI compliance for your business.  Payment service providers (PSP) help merchants protect sensitive card data and assume responsibility. Consequently, merchants are relieved of PCI obligations and transactional security risks.

SSL protocol

Secure socket layer is a security encryption protocol. SSL ensures that sensitive information is transmitted with an encrypted connection. Websites that start with “https” have what is called an SSL certificate. It means that the site uses SSL encryption and data transmission is secure. On some other websites this is represented by a padlock.  There are three ways to adopt an SSL protocol’. 

1. By building your website with a builder that offers SSL certification.
2. Buy an SSL certification from a third-party seller.
3. Use a payment gateway

Most payment service providers offer a payment portal that is SSl certified. 

Tokenization

To further safeguard cardholder data during card transactions, this security feature is used. With tokenization, card details are replaced with numbers or other random data called tokens without losing essential card details. 

Only the payment gateway/processor that adopts this method can translate the token when processing a transaction. This helps merchants move data securely between networks.

3D secure

3D secure validates card ownership by prompting customers to provide extra information. This is done to demonstrate ownership of the card the customer or buyer is attempting to use. The only person who has access to the requested information is the cardholder.

3D authentication is employed by the cardholders bank and the information required cannot be predicted. However, not all payment gateway offer this. 

Address verification service(AVS)

Customers must enter a billing address, in this case, to confirm their credit or debit card. When making payments, the billing address must match what the cardholder has on file with their credit/debit card issuer. If there’s a discrepancy, the transaction will be denied. With AVS you can detect any suspicious card transaction and successfully prevent fraud.

2FA (two-factor authentication)

See Also

The best way to make Google Workspace payments in naira 

2FA is a security measure that requires a customer or user to provide two credentials to authenticate their account. It may include OTP, SMS messages, security questions, push notification or biometrics. 

Encryption

When your customers receive targeted ads, it is as a result of information stored which includes their personal information, buying behavior and other online activities they get involved in.  All thanks to computer cookies. Encryption is a way of preventing the wrong people from accessing customers’ data from their devices. 

It conceals information in a string of codes. These codes are unreadable until it is converted or decrypted to plain text by the people who should rightfully use them.

In the case of payment, card details that customers share are encrypted and can only be decrypted by the payment gateway.

Your cash flow isn’t unimportant to you anymore than payment is. When you receive payments your business cash flow improves. So, ensure to use a payment gateway like Credo that takes care of your payment security to keep your customers safe ALWAYS. Clearly, your choice of payment gateway tells a lot about your security standards. Making the right choice regarding your business PSP is the first and crucial step to effectively handle payment security concerns for your business and crack down on fraud.

Don’t forget to share this article if you found it helpful.

Say hello to us on our social media handles!

Credo on Twitter , Credo on Instagram, Credo on Linkedin, Credo on Facebook ,