Did you know that in 2016 there were estimated losses in revenue of $24.71 billion due to credit card fraud? Even with new security measures put in place, fraud is still a serious issue for all businesses that accept credit cards. It is not just small businesses that are vulnerable to fraud. In fact, companies like Chipotle, K Mart, and Target have all been victims of credit card fraud in the last 2 years. The United States accounts for 47% of the world's credit card fraud, despite only accounting for around 24% of worldwide credit card processing volume.
While the implementation of EMV standards has helped curb in-store fraud; keyed-in and online transactions remain an issue, and identity thieves are adapting. Even before the new standards were instituted, card-not-present fraud accounted for almost 50% of ALL fraudulent activity.
Here are some tips and recommendations, both by experts and through our personal experience, to help protect your business AND your customer from credit card fraud.
- Trust your gut. Always, in all ways. If it doesn’t feel or look or sound right, it probably isn’t. If you are questioning something, get in touch with your payment processing rep immediately to ask for their direction.
- Check ID in face-to-face situations. Always. It doesn’t matter who it is. If you do not have a personal relationship with the person standing in front of you and the one listed on the card, check the ID.
- Keep the credit card terminal out of customer reach. PIN pads are fine to be customer facing, and necessary. But the actual terminal is where your files are stored and your program is built; protect it.
- Do not leave customer card data lying around. Ever. If there is any reason it is written on a piece of paper, keep it under lock and key with very limited employee access. Once inputted into your terminal, shred the paper.
- For phone or web orders, capture AVS data and the CVV code. Also get the full shipping address and phone number, and call the customer at that phone number when items are ready to ship. DO NOT SHIP until you speak to that customer at that phone number. If information is omitted or customer refuses to give you a portion of address or a contact number, refuse the sale.
- Be alert for orders and store transactions that far exceed the average transaction amount for your business.
- If you are not yet EMV compliant, you need to be. And stat!
We want to help your business by ensuring that they are safely accepting credit cards and that their customer's data is protected from credit card fraud! Call 504-434-0998 to learn more about preventing credit card fraud at your business.
