How Blockchain can Lower Theft Losses for your Business

The holidays are an exciting, and sometimes chaotic time of the year, where money changes hands, and bags chock full of products are everywhere. It’s part of what makes Christmas great. Unfortunately, it’s also what makes the holiday season a prime target for thieves. Both buyers and businesses suffer theft losses during this season.

For businesses, this theft can occur amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, due to the many distractions that come into play. To minimize these loses, some businesses are turning to online retailing. However, this is not foolproof either, which makes for a particularly troublesome Catch 22. If the business stays in the brick-and-mortar store, they face losses at the hands of thieves. If they go online, they face losses at the hands of hackers. How do you address this? Well, some businesses are turning to blockchain.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is a decentralized cryptographic technology that ensures security by noting all money transfers in a ledger that is spread across multiple computers. So how does it work?

When you make an online purchase using a credit card, there is a chain of information transfer, starting from your computer, and then going to the vendor’s website, which then registers the information and relays it to their bank account. From there the information goes to the credit card agency, and then to your bank account, before finally reversing back to the business’ account. This long series of events presents plenty of opportunity for a hacker.

When using blockchain on the other hand, the data regarding the transfer is not transmitted in a linear fashion, but is broken down into small bits and transferred in a web-like network of millions of computers. This makes the information nearly 100 percent secure.

How does it lower theft losses?

Currently, blockchain technology is not widespread through brick-and-mortar stores, but in physical locations, it can remove the need for cash and checks, which can be stolen or forged.

In the online realm, where the technology is more prevalent, it can prevent theft by removing the need to transfer and store sensitive information. Data breaches are a real problem in today’s interconnected world, and businesses have to protect themselves as much as possible against cyber criminals. We have written at length in this blog on how to prevent and mitigate such attacks. Blockchains are another defensive tool available for the business owner’s arsenal.

If you have a client base that is likely to understand and use blockchain, than it’s a great idea to add it as a payment option. If not, you can try to educate your clients on the benefits of this method on the checkout page.

For more information on how to implement blockchain or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.