Existing in the online world comes with certain prerequisites if you expect your customers to place their trust with your business. The fact that the tech we use has advanced beyond our wildest imagination still doesn’t mean that tech alone is enough to ensure your customers’ peace of mind when it’s time for them to share their most vulnerable private information with your website. Making a purchase online has become exceptionally simple, but due to the increasing number of competitors as well as hackers and fraudulent entities online, companies need to do their best to provide secure online payments for their customers to stay loyal to your brand.
Security in general remains a top priority of all businesses today, and since online payments have become so prevalent that even paying bills and any money transfer is now possible digitally, the need for strong security measures is on the rise. Let’s go over several of the most helpful tips you can use to ensure safe online payments and thus help your brand retain your loyal customers for the long haul.
Prevent the Issue of Human Error
No matter how much we love tech solutions and relying on software to prevent mistakes during the payment process, there’s still a component that can cause significant damage: your employees. If everyone sticks to a secure protocol when they conduct their duties within your business and especially when handling sensitive data, they have nothing to fear. However, failing to update your business software, or to follow certain steps in your security protocol can expose your customer data to a breach. Simply put, no software solution can compensate for the failings of our human nature.
What you can do, however, is educate every single employee that works with sensitive data and all others who could potentially present a security issue of any kind. Regular workshops and training to refresh their memory and to learn the latest in security and theft prevention can be of great help for businesses of all sizes. Also, make sure to grant security clearance only to employees that have earned it with their expertise – by no means should every single employee have access to every bit of data you manage.
Automate Through a Secure Platform
Payment platforms need to go through rigorous security checks and pass with flying colors if they intend to become accredited by the industry. It’s no accident that we have a limited number (although a growing one) of providers who can qualify for that service, and you should always partner with ones that have optimal solutions for your particular business. This is especially vital when you need to manage several websites and different kinds of purchases, so that you can simplify and increase the safety of them all.
Today’s businesses often implement direct debit solutions with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance, precisely for their high levels of security and automation. In addition to boosting and stabilizing cash flow, which is vital for smaller companies that have yet to grow and scale their business properly, security is by far the most relevant reason for choosing this particular payment model. Automated invoices, tokenization, and industry-grade security protocols integrated within such platforms give you peace of mind and ensure security levels that last.
Use Tokens for Every Transaction
We’ve mentioned tokens in the previous segment, so let’s see how that particular segment of your security protocol helps protect your customers’ data and your own reputation. A seemingly simple process, yet integral to any digital transaction, the usage of tokens is one of the most trusted ways to instantly transform a partially risky transaction into a secure one.
In simple terms, tokenization is a process that helps your business “translate” a card number into a chain of characters chosen at random that will represent that card’s number in the transaction. It’s a one-time code that each transaction receives and that cannot lead back to the actual card number, even in the case of a cyber-attack when a hacker somehow gains access to that token. Plus, it takes away the need to store this sensitive data, which further reduces security risks significantly.
Use Encryption to Stay Safe
Yet another way businesses nowadays rely on smart tech solutions to increase the safety of their web stores is the usage of point-to-point encryption (P2PE). The most sensitive moment of any transaction is the moment the data is transmitted from the cardholder to your business, which is precisely when hackers will try to intercept and steal the information. Enter: the latest encryption protocols, among which is our P2PE approach that helps prevent any incident during that phase of the transaction.
It’s one of the preferred standards enforced by the PCI Security Standards Council to make sure each digital transaction is indeed safe at every touchpoint. One of the main perks of this form of data encryption is that both parties involved, meaning you as the brand and your customers are protected from a data breach. Even if the encrypted data somehow ends up in the wrong hands, they can do nothing without access to the encryption key.
Every time a customer visits your store, they need to see that you’ve done everything in your power to reduce the risk of data theft. Always present all of your security badges on your website and let them know the best way they can also make the transaction safe, and you’ll grow your business and your reputation over time.
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