You demand security for your customers’ information. Still, not every customer has the background knowledge to stay safe when it comes to electronic transactions. Even more troubling, the variety of transfers is growing, with novel payment options like Venmo, Facebook P2P, and Snapcash vying for a bigger piece of the transaction pie. As the holiday season plows forward, your customers may be eager to know how to keep their information safe—and if you’re concerned with credit card processing for small business, you yourself may be looking at these new types of payments as options, too.
If your business has an online store, it is true that you cannot do everything alone. There is much that your customers must also take responsibility to keep safe. Here are a few reminders:
It’s been said, but it bears repeating: it’s safest to avoid public Wi-Fi connections if you are purchasing something, or transferring money. That’s because more often than not, the security measures in place for public connections aren’t as robust, and Wi-Fi hotspots have more people logged onto them, meaning more potential for a hacker to be present and waiting for an opportunity to gain your information.
In the event of someone stealing your identity, or otherwise gaining access to your account, it will be less dire if your credit account is compromised, when compared to the checking account that all your monthly expenses are linked to. If it ends up taking a while to reinstate the lost funds, you don’t want to be worrying about making your car payment. It’s smart to simply use the credit card, and pay it off before the interest is charged.
On this note, for transactions that are completed through PayPal, linking up a credit card makes sense, because if, for some reason, the purchased item doesn’t show up or isn’t as described, the buyer is eligible for a refund.
Finally, if you’re out and about in store and online, the simplest precaution may be one of the best—check your balances. Throughout the year, it can be easy to get into the habit of just assuming transactions went through as planned. With the sheer volume of transactions increasing steeply around the holiday shopping season, it may be wise to get in front of your online statements much more regularly to ensure that hiccups, mistakes, and, especially fraud don’t put a wet blanket on all your holiday cheer.
Perhaps you’re a small business retailer that has been relying on Paypal. If you’re interested in taking the next leap in security and convenience for you as well as your customer, look into Moolah as a brilliant option for a dedicated merchant account and credit card processing for your small business.