Fraudsters actively seek out vulnerabilities to access systems and steal data. However, shoppers must still be able to complete transactions using their preferred payment method and enjoy an efficient and frictionless experience when making payments.
Merchants should familiarize themselves with the most effective online security practices to safeguard their customers and businesses while providing a seamless checkout experience. Here are practices that will help improve online payment security.
Top E-commerce Security Solutions
#1 Choose a Trusted E-commerce Platform
One service that combines a secure hosted checkout and merchant account is the all-in-one. Small online sellers prefer this option due to its easy setup, transparent pricing, various services, selling options, and top-notch security.
These processors typically provide built-in encryption and data protection protocols, robust features for detecting and preventing fraud, and compliance with industry security standards. This ensures that sensitive data remains secure during transactions without requiring much effort from you.
#2 Encrypt Data
TLS (Transport Layer Security) and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) are protocols that authenticate and encrypt data as it moves on the internet. SSL protocols secure transactions, ensuring only the intended recipient can access them. VPN features can solve similar problems. You can use VeePN internally when working with client data, but it’s better to use it all the time to avoid getting viruses. VeePN’s service can protect against phishing, viruses, DDoS attacks, and data theft.
#3 Require Strong Passwords
Cybercriminals attempt to gain unauthorized access to user accounts by using frequently used combinations of names, birthdays, and dictionary words. Adding a line of defense, customer accounts should be protected with a strong password. In case customers cannot recall their strong passwords, a “forgot your password” process should be established to enable access to their accounts.
#4 Maintain PCI Compliance
PCI compliance governs the payment security standards and encompasses a set of rules. These rules define the security measures that sellers must meet when accepting credit card payments. The objective is to prevent security breaches and data theft.
Ensure that your chosen payment provider includes PCI compliance. Hosted checkouts by secure payment providers often fulfill these rules on your behalf. However, if you opt for self-hosted options, you will be responsible for maintaining a PCI-compliant checkout and payment data system on your own.
#5 Monitor Transactions
Make sure to review your transactions at least once a week. If you encounter a high volume of daily transactions, it is recommended to review them daily. This practice allows you to closely monitor any activities and promptly identify any suspicious transactions. As time passes, you will gather more data about the security of your e-commerce platform and the payments you receive. You will be able to identify patterns, such as chargeback trends. Addressing these trends should be a priority.
If you notice multiple orders from different credit cards originating from the same IP address, consider blocking that IP. But this must be logically justified and described in the terms of use of the service. Unnecessary restrictions will simply force clients to use web VPNs or other forms of circumvention. Additionally, if you receive an unusually large order, it may be wise to reach out to the customer to verify or request an alternative payment method.
#6 Implement 3D Secure 2
The 3D Secure 2 (3DS2) protocol is the latest version for authenticating online credit and debit card transactions, providing an additional layer of security against fraud and unauthorized transactions. During online checkout, the cardholder is prompted to provide extra authentication information, like a one-time password or biometric data such as fingerprint or facial recognition, ensuring the legitimate cardholder is making the purchase and not someone who has stolen card details. However, 3DS2 does introduce additional steps in the checkout process, potentially reducing user-friendliness. Therefore, it is important to balance fraud risk with customer convenience and only implement this protocol if significant fraud reduction is required.
#7 Use Payment Tokenization
Payment tokenization is a process that replaces sensitive payment information, such as credit card numbers, with a unique token. This unique token can then process transactions without the need to transmit or store sensitive payment information.
To reduce fraud rates, network tokens provide an alternative approach. Network tokens, similar to payment tokenization, replace sensitive card data with tokens. However, in network tokenization, it is the card scheme that issues the tokens, not the acquirer or payment service provider. These tokens are used throughout the payment pathway, making network tokenization suitable for a wider range of uses across the entire payment ecosystem.
#8 Choose a Reliable Online Payment Provider
To ensure secure online payment processing, reduce the number of parties involved in your company’s payment lifecycle. The most effective method is to choose an end-to-end payment solution, which unites the functions of an acquirer, gateway, and processor in one platform. This streamlines the payment process, allowing data to flow seamlessly from one stage to the next while minimizing its exposure to third parties. These solutions also integrate advanced fraud detection, 3DS authentication, and tokenization, providing you with all the necessary tools to protect customer data and combat fraud in a single location.
Conclusion
Working with sensitive user data requires the use of enhanced security measures. The more defense techniques used, the better. Of course, you need to find a balance between convenience and safety. However, clients must have the tools to protect themselves, otherwise, some will simply refuse to work with you.
