In today’s global climate, it is imperative that every business has an online presence in order to reach all potential customers. As online shopping continues to grow and become more common, you might be wondering if it is time for you to begin accepting credit cards online.
Prior to accepting credit cards online, as a merchant, you need be aware of the risks involved with online transactions. Fraud is one of the risks you run when accepting credit cards online, and if you have processed an online transaction and receive a chargeback, it is somewhat difficult to contest it. Since you aren’t retrieving a signature, having customers swipe or insert their card, you wouldn’t have much to argue against the chargeback. It is very unlikely that a merchant would win a chargeback dispute.
How To Protect Your Online Store
To combat security issues there have been a number of best practices and new products that merchants can adopt in order to ensure the security of online transactions. Protect your business against fraud by implementing a few things on your website.
Look into a payment-processing provider and see what security measures they have in place for online merchants. It is not uncommon, for certain payment processing companies to have security best practices when accepting credit cards online. Take the time to go through your online solution with a payment processing provider to get all the facts before starting to accept credit cards online.
Verify Suspicious Transactions
Another good practice when accepting credit cards online is monitoring your transaction reports. Most payment processing companies provide access to online reporting, and you will be able to check all transactions to ensure that things are running smoothly. If you do come across a suspicious transaction, or multiple transactions within a small period of time, contact the cardholder for verification purposes. It demonstrates that you have made the effort and taken the time to protect your website against fraud, and have therefore ensured that all customer credit card information is secure as well.
CVV Drop Down Field
Card Verification Value (CVV) is a field on the checkout page of your website that asks cardholders to provide the 3-digit code on the back of their cards. CVV verifies the information before proceeding. The transaction will not be approved until the cardholder has proved that the credit card was present at the point of sale providing additional security when accepting credit cards online
Address Verification System
Similar to the CVV, AVS verifies transactions by checking the delivery/billing address that the cardholder has provided against the address registered to the credit card being used. The more information that you request from the cardholder when accepting credit cards online, the more secure your online store will be.
If you have an online store, or if you are planning on starting one, you should protect your website and transactions against fraud by implementing one or more of these products. Increase your security and decrease the risk when accepting credit cards online.
