E-commerce payment security is one area that several entrepreneurs suffer when it comes to ensuring that their customers are satisfied.
Fraud is increasing, scammers are also not relenting in their effort to scam and get money from people. So, below are some steps to secure your e-commerce payment.
1 All-in-one payment processor
Customers are more at ease with filling out their bank details and making an online transfer when they are sure that you secure your E-Commerce payments.
One way you can make them assured that their details will not be compromised, and they won’t be defrauded of their money is to use an all-in-one payment processor which is more secure.
The good thing about this payment system is that it has both checkout and merchant accounts in one service which is what most customers look for.
Also, even if you are a small business owner starting, it is easy for you to set it up, you can even embed some of it on your E-Commerce website.
Examples of such all-in-one platforms you can check out are Square, PayPal, and Stripe.
2 Use e-commerce platform payment services
Instead of using a payment processor to secure your E-Commerce payments, you can use e-commerce platforms which makes it a better option for you and your business.
Apart from it being easy to set up, it is also cheaper for you while making your online store easy for you to maintain. Shopify and BigCommerce offer these services.
3 Use a Traditional Gateway
To secure your E-Commerce payments you can opt for traditional payment gateways though it is usually difficult to set up.
Traditional Gateway enables users of an e-commerce website to use their merchant account to process payments sent to them.
However, when you are going this route, you must ensure that you put things in place to make it secure for you. This means that the hosted checkout with your e-commerce platform is secure.
4 Secure your e-commerce website
The good thing is that SSL certificates are not costly while they provide you with the extra layer of protection your website needs.
Google flags websites that do not have HTTPS because it proves that the website isn’t secure. The same way search engine warns visitors that a website is not secure when it is only HTTP.
Using single domain or wildcard SSL like Sectigo Premium Wildcard SSL Certificate, Digicert wildcard or RapiSSL widcard or any other SSL Certificates to secure your e-commerce website is important.
To avoid losing customers or putting your existing customer at risk of baking hacked or scammed you need to secure your e-commerce website and its payment.
5 Look out for suspicious activities
One can never be too secure when it comes to ecommerce payment security. This means that you need to watch out for several suspicious activities.
If someone is making an unusually large order, reach out to the customer and confirm. Is a single IP address using different credit cards to make an order from you? Blocking it may be a safe bet. Are you experiencing lots of chargebacks? You need to dig deeper.
There are still other suspicious activities you need to look out for and ensure it doesn’t continue for you to keep your E-Commerce website safe.
6 Educate your employees and customers
Most hackers use customers’ vulnerabilities to attack an e-commerce website and payment system.
They do this through phishing where they pose as though the links, they are sending are a legitimate website, and when you key in the information, they can get access to the payment system.
Employees are also susceptible because these hackers usually send emails for them to click on and when they key in data, they also gain access to information.
To prevent or minimize these, educating both employees and customers are important. For the customers, newsletters can be sent, or disclaimers put up on the E-Commerce website to keep them informed.
7 Secure your customers’ credit card information
As an e-commerce business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that your customers’ credit card information is safe because the relationship is based on trust.
So, to secure your E-Commerce payments from you ensure that your payment gateway is secure and has things like 3D Secure (3DS) Authentication, tokenization,
Address Verification System (AVS) and credit Card Security Codes are in place.
To strengthen the trust your customer will have in you, keep them informed that their details will be protected. Adding notices and security seals to let your customers know that the payment system is safe will increase their trust and make them carry on with the purchase.
8 Make the login to your e-commerce website secure
While your customers are logging into your E-Commerce website, ensure that the process is secure because that is the method most hackers use to gain entry into your customers’ personal and financial data.
With multi-factor authentication including a verification code usually sent to a phone number or email and a security question in addition to username and password, it helps to secure the login process.
Also, with password hashing where the login password is hashed and encrypted when it is filled in, it is hard for hackers to decode the password and use it to access data.
Setting CAPTCHA (challenge-response test program) on your E-Commerce website which helps to differentiate between a human and a computer proves highly beneficial to knowing when hackers want to access a website.
Telling customers to use strong passwords and to change their passwords frequently is also a security measure that should be used.
Final thoughts
E-Commerce payment security is one area a business owner should never joke with because it could make or break the trust between a seller and a buyer.
The good thing is that technology and security are constantly improving which gives various options to secure your E-Commerce payments. You can use any of the listed options available.