3 Tools Your Business Needs to Prevent Fraud

Brandon Ernst, Founder & CEO
Brandon Ernst, Founder & CEO
Credit Card Security

Credit cards are becoming the option of choice for most shoppers online due to their ease of use and accessibility. Hosted payment forms should include credit card sale options to increase the number of people who buy from their sites. 

While this option is becoming increasingly popular, credit card sales are still quite risky for both sellers and buyers. Fraud and phishing schemes are still at large online, which makes putting information online dangerous at times.

Fortunately, the internet wouldn’t be what it is if the good people out there didn’t come up with solutions to deter the actions of the bad ones. There are three amazing tools that can be used for almost all credit card sale processors available for any business to use. 

If your business is new to sales via credit cards, take these into account with your payment page builder for safer transacting:

Card Verification Value (CVV)

The CVV code is normally a three or four-digit code printed at the back of a credit card. This is an extra piece of information that can prevent fraud, as even if a picture of the front of your card is taken, it will likely need the CVV to complete a purchase. This number proves that the customer indeed has a physical credit card when making their purchase. Unauthorized users of a card will likely only have the card number, which means that including the CVV option will deter a lot of fraudulent purchases. 

This basic layer of defense is a must for all online sales, as it is ensured that the buyer has the physical card and is not using stolen card numbers. A CVV number cannot be stored by businesses, which is why it makes for the best first line of defense. 

Address Verification Service (AVS)

AVS is another common anti-fraud system that must be used by online businesses. Almost all credit cards support this and can assist in spotting fraudulent activities. 

This service compares the accuracy of the address provided with the one on file with the credit card company. A letter code indicates the information to see if it matches, doesn’t match, or partially matches. The list of letter AVS codes in full can be found here.

Utilizing AVS appropriately may even give your business lower processing costs and can help if you receive a chargeback. Businesses using this have been found to be better protected than those who didn’t use the service. Additionally, fees for this service generally range from just one cent to ten cents—but the value ultimately depends on the processor chosen. 

3D Secure

3D Secure is a fraud prevention tool that works through three parties as part and parcel of the authentication process. This is somewhat like an extra layer of defense against someone who has unauthorized access to a credit card with the card number and the CVV. 

It works by sending a verification code to the card owner when a purchase is about to be made. It is likely that only the cardholder has access to this code—which means a better and more secure transaction for your consumers! This way, even if someone with a stolen card tries to make a purchase, a code will be asked to be input to ensure that the purchase being made is truly by the card owner. 

Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode are carriers of this feature and ensure that purchases made online are safer. A plugin by a provider can be provided to add this additional safety feature with your payment page.

Conclusion

Having added lines of defense when creating a payment page is important to remove the risks of fraud. Fraudulent actions and purchases can be potentially damaging to both the seller and the buyers, which is why investing in proper plugins and protective services can go a long way. 

Payment Page aims to assist international businesses of any scale craft simple and highly customizable payment pages that support credit cards and other forms of transactions. If you want a better way to run online payment pages, sign up for our services to be notified when we launch!

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Brandon Ernst

Brandon Ernst

Brandon Ernst is the founder of Payment Page. He writes about eCommerce and other interesting topics in the WordPress space. You can follow his journey on Twitter.

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