Assuring Customers Their Payment Account Data is Secure
Allowing your customers to pay you via credit card is a great way to boost sales. However, your customers may not give you access to their credit cards if they are unsure that their personal details are safe on your online store.
Get an SSL certificate
The most basic form on web security is the SSL certificate. Once you have a valid one, your website URL will switch from “http://” to “https://,” with an “s” at the end, and on some browsers, a padlock icon will appear in your address bar. Both these symbols show your customers that it’s safe to input their credit card data on your website. Alternatively, you can use a trusted merchant processor, allowing your customers to redirect to their portals for payment. This way, you can piggy-back off the trust that these payment processors have built for themselves.
Ensure that you are PCI compliant
The PCI (Payment Card Industry) Council is a regulatory body that is trusted and accepted by many credit card companies and payment processors. Some card issuers (like Visa) will not permit your business to transact with their cardholders if you’re not complaint. Go through the twelve requirements, ensure that your business follows all of them, then display your compliance certificate on your website for all your customers to see. You can keep a framed copy in your brick-and-mortar store as well.
Enable instant verification
The longer a card transaction takes, the more your customers may worry. In some corner of their minds, some of them may think a delay means some hacker is typing theft codes on a keyboard somewhere. Or they may be worried that the transaction is repeating itself, leading to multiple charges on their account. Use a payment processor that guarantees instant card verification, and make sure your customers know it too.
Display your encryption levels
You may not know the science that goes into online store encryption, but we’re all aware that military and tech sites are the hardest ones to ‘hack’. So if your site uses military grade encryption, shout it out. Place it on a starburst somewhere on your website so that your customers can’t miss it. Also, if you have any tech giants among your clientele, ask them to post a testimonial on your site. It boosts your credibility.
Mention your customer data policy
Direct marketing is a popular tool to reach your customer. That’s why so many online stores have an opt-in service for newsletters, updates, e-book downloads and subscription list. However, don’t trick your customers into signing up. Make it perfectly clear the type of emails they will receive and how frequently.
If you don’t, they will lose trust and may worry that you extracted their email addresses from their card data, which will leave them wondering what other information you’ve gathered. This can stop them – and their social media followers – from shopping on your site.
For more information on reassuring your customers about data security, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.
