Things That Prove Your Payment Processing Is Secure

Sandra Wróbel-Konior, Content Marketing Specialist at SecurionPay

16.08.2016 09:45 am

Our shopping habits have changed. eCommerce comes with many benefits, but there are also new possibilities for cyber criminals, who steal our personal and banking details. As a merchant, you need to do everything within your power to make your customers sure that the transactions on your website are secure. Customers usually can’t choose their own payment gateway, so it’s up to you to make the best choice.

The average consumer doesn’t even think about the whole process that takes place when he/she pays for items at an online store. It is also important to understand that in the payment process there are many players, not just you and the customer(s). There are also card brands, acquirers, and issuing banks or other companies. Therefore, It is crucial to have the whole process under control and reduce the risk at every point possible. Making yours and your customers’ data secure is one of the most important issues for your online business.

Credit card payments are still the most common type of payments, but unfortunately with the growing number of online payments, there are also more fraudsters. Data thieves have a huge amount of knowledge on how new technologies work, so they are always looking for the vulnerable points of payment processing.

What makes online payments secure?

It’s not easy, and almost impossible, to eliminate fraud, but there are many ways to secure your data and prevent it from being stolen. Read below to find out what to focus on in order to ensure that payment processing on your website is secure (or what to consider when choosing a payment gateway for your page).

1. SSL

All transactions should be secured with SSL protocol. Using SSL helps to encrypt the information so that the card details and all other sensitive data is protected. It, of course, improves payment security, but also makes customers more willing to buy.

The SSL is symbolised by a padlock icon in the URL bar, and the web address begins with https.

2. PCI

When you’re processing payments on your website, PCI is a must. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) provide guidelines for merchants that tell them what they need to do in order to secure sensitive data in payment processing.

A merchant doesn’t have to be PCI compliant if he/she chooses the right payment provider (one with PCI level 1). He/she can leave it up to the payment gateway to comply with the industry level security standards. Note that data encryption is required by PCI.

3. Tokenization

You should never store your customers’ credit and debit card information on your server. When choosing the right payment solution, the customers’ data doesn’t even touch your servers. More importantly, it’s encrypted before it is ever stored on database servers.

Tokenization replaces sensitive data with a randomly generated string of characters, so it reduces the risk associated with data breach. One of the best protection methods is using a token that represents a real credit card number. When the transaction is authorized, the data is sent to the centralized server and stored securely. At the same time, a merchant’s system receives a unique number. Then the token can be used as a substitute for the card’s data, e.g. with one-click payments on the customer’s future transaction.

Choosing a payment gateway with tokenization can minimize the risk of payment fraud.

4. 3D Secure

3D Secure is an additional security layer that helps with fraud prevention in debit and credit card transactions. In short, when an online shopper wants to buy something, he/she creates a secure password for the credit card he/she uses to pay. At that time, every transaction will be confirmed with the password in order to add extra protection.

5. Anti-fraud tools

With fraud prevention tools, every transaction is scanned and monitored (automatically or manually), so it’s easier to prevent and eliminate all suspected fraudulent activities.

Moreover, when you seek out a payment gateway, choose one with great customer support. It’s extremely important for your business because you need to be sure that you can contact the payment provider easily for troubleshooting.

To sum up, when you choose a payment gateway for your website, you need to make sure it comes with the following:

PCI level 1
Data encryption (Do they use HTTPS?)
3D Secure
How is sensitive data protected?
How they identify and prevent fraud?
Quick support in case of fraud

There are some basic rules for both merchants and consumers to follow in order to make secure transactions. Online business owners definitely have to use encrypted payment services, remove credit card details after completed transactions, or apply the privacy policy to make sure customers know what information will be collected during the payment process.

However, customers also have to be cautious and check the website they are buying from before purchasing. Also, they should only enter essential information in the payment form (such as card details and billing address), and never ever send a scan of their IDs or credit card copy.

Using the right solution and paying attention to the security of online payments can definitely reduce the overall level of vulnerability.

Source