A Guide to Online Credit Card Payment for Business Owners

As e-commerce sites continue to grow bigger, and stores and botiques move toward the digital space to rake in more customers, it’s become essential for business owners to be knowledgeable about processing online payments. In order to ensure the security and safety of online transactions with your customers, here are a few things to remember for online business owners:

 

1.    See if the billing address is the same as the shipping address.

One way to see transactions are legitimate is by comparing the customers’ billing address with their shipping address. Having the product shipped to an address that is different from the billing address should raise a red flag, and could indicate fraudulent transactions.

2.    Ensure that your digital service provider has SSL certificates.

It’s your responsibility as a business owner to ensure that your digital service provider complies with security standards. Although there are many service providers that provide payment processing, not all of these meet standards for credit card transactions. Check to see if the level of security you’re being given is enough, and switch to another provider if you’re not satisfied.

One way of ensuring payments are secure is by using SSL certifications such as Globalsign and Verisign. SSL certificates on a website means that the site is prepared to process secure sessions with the browsers. After establishing a secure connection, the transactions may now be able to go through the web server while ensuring that the browser is secure.

3.    Verify if the person making the purchase is the authorized holder.

There are some transactions that will require you to make sure that person making the transaction is indeed the owner of the account. Such transactions include mail order or telephone order transactions. To verify that the transaction came from the card holder, ask for the billing address. People who are trying to commit fraud will most likely not know the billing address of the card holder.

4.    Remember that you are liable for online transactions.

You also need to be vigilant and to constantly monitor online security as your business highly depends on it. Know that you’re liable for all credit and debit card activities that transpire on your site, including fraudulent purchases. It’s not the responsibility of the payment-processing service you utilize, nor is it the responsibility of the customers’ banks. This is why you need to do your best to ensure the safety and security of people buying on your site.

Keep in mind that a customer may file a complaint against your company any time they see that there has been an unauthorized use of their credit or debit cards. Be prepared for this, and try to come up with steps on how you can deal with each card use disputes.

5.    Secure a DTI permit.

Another way for securing transactions and boosting the credibility of your site to your potential customers is through securing a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) permit for all the products and services you’re selling online. This will boost customer confidence about your business. Make sure to include your DTI permit number in the details of the items you are selling.

6.    Research about partner merchants.

If your site sells products from other companies, be sure to do your research first. Before partnering up with suppliers or merchants, ask for feedback from past businesses that have worked with these businesses. Partnering with fraudulent merchants will compromise not only the good name of your company, but your customers’ security as well.

7.    Know Your Options

There are several ways to process online payments and the more you know about, the easier it will be for you to choose the most suitable one for you and your customers. Credit card application and payments are acceptable worldwide so if you make this available, you’ll be able to draw in more customers, who can easily make a Citibank credit card online payment or a Standard Chartered credit card online payment to avail of the product or service that you offer. PayPal is another option you should look into, as well as third-party payment processing services.

These are just some of the key points you need to know about when establishing an online payment processing system for your shop. You have the responsibility to ensure that your online transactions are secure, and when you take all the abovementioned steps, there will be less complaints and headaches coming from irate customers.