It is of great benefit to accept payments over the internet, but it is necessary to take certain precautions. Credit card payment processing can be a little bit of a challenge because the person giving you their information is not available to do so in person. You are required to keep their information safe as well as your own. Within the scope of this article we will cover some tips to help you be able to accept payments securely.
Use the Proper Software
You will want to make sure that your equipment and credit card payment processing software is compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards or PCI DSS. All businesses, regardless of their size, need to adhere to the standards set for the by the PCI. These are broken up into groups that depend upon the numbers of transactions and data handled by the merchant, and this complete list can be found on their site. Following these recommendations will help to make your payment processing payment safe from vulnerabilities.
Get a Third Party to Process Your Payments
Having a business can be overwhelming on its own without having to worry about the correct means of processing your payments. There are a variety of companies available who can complete this task for you. They can manage keeping sensitive information safe for you, and you can outsource many other tasks to them as well. These businesses are put through rigorous testing by a group called the Qualified Security Assessor. Using a company that has been thus certified is also accepted by the PCI.
Follow Proper Storage Protocol
This will sound contradictory to the headline, but you should not be storing any of the ‘track data’ from a person’s credit card. This would include the CVV from the back of the card near the signature strip or any data stored in the strip itself. There are regulations that prohibit this activity even though you may need to keep the credit card number for reasons that pertain to your business. The reason is because those pieces of information are the main safeguard to make sure that hacked bank card numbers can’t be used for fraud purposes. If you store them together and then your information is hacked, the system will not work.
Encrypt Electronic Account Numbers
In order to protect your customers, be sure to keep all electronic information properly encrypted. If you have paper files, make sure that these are kept in a locked area that is not easily accessed by others. There are companies that will also keep your digital data safe for you that are also PCI recognized. If you’ve recorded conversations for quality purposes, you will need to make sure that the specific account numbers spoken on those recordings are kept within a system that incorporates encryption.
