Posted February 4th, 2010
Payment Processing Tips
Everyone in the telephone order, mail order, or e-commerce business needs to take some measures to avoid transactions from fraudulent people and chargebacks. This is the type of industry where most Merchants tend to not follow the proper protocols on preventing fraud.
The question becomes what can business owners do to combat this issue and growing problem. The number one thing business are advised to do is make use of the CVV (card verification value; a three or four digit number on your card). have customers include this number as they sign out for added security. This trick is free and reduces the risk of goods being purchased with stolen credit card numbers. If the CVV doesn’t match what is on file with the credit card company the transaction is flagged and declined. This is great but sometimes thieves do have the actual card and can easily step through this security measure. It’s a great feature but not foolproof.
Another way to secure you online transactions as a company is to make sure you are aware of and using the AVS (address verification service). Once again this is a free service company’s need to make use of. This feature checks and monitors that billing addresses for online transactions match the billing address the bank has on file. This way a stolen credit card could not be used unless the person had access to the owner’s mailing address. It cuts down on fraud but does not completely stop it.
The best advice and safest way to conduct online business is to use a sign-on-delivery system provided by your shipping company. This will mean your customer must sign and show identification when receiving goods through the mail. It is the best way to provide safe and secure shipping in the business world.
Having a merchant account comes with added responsibilities and not following the proper rules can land you in hot water. Be sure to follow the tips laid out in this article to help reduce chargebacks and potential fraud committed on your company.
Tags: credit card fraud, credit card processing, credit cards, cvv, merchant account, merchant services, mo/to
