Accept Credit Cards

Protecting yourself from Credit Card Fraud

Most new business owners when considering a merchant account pay little  attention to fraud and will never feel the true pain of credit card fraud until they are hit hard in the wallet. Unfortunately the credit card companies have it all stacked in their favor and the merchant is the one that has to prove himself in the event of fraud. Believe it or not the first action a merchant provider takes upon being notified of a fraudulent transactions is to go into YOUR bank account and seize the money that is disputed. So they are automatically covered in case of fraud and justify the exchange rates based on their fraud lose. A double standard no doubt but one that cannot be beat if you are the merchant.

If you are processing credit cards on the internet then the BASIC that you need is AVS or address verification on your account and any other type of  verification is useful. To add another kick in the stomach, if you are hit with more charge backs then normal due to no fault of your own your transaction rates will increase. If you are a brick and morter merchant then you are pretty much covered because you physically have the card with an impression and a signature but the Internet is still the wild west to some processors and they consider it a risky proposition. Authorize.Net is one of the best virtual gateways to process through and their fraud plug ins are getting better by the day.

Some but not all internet gateways charge an additional transaction fee top process but if that includes any additional fraud protection consider it worthwhile. There are some processors that are still in the dark ages when it comes to fraud control. Plimus is a horrible example and I have abandoned several purchases when encountering Plimus. They suck big time. Even if the card matches and there is a valid AVS code they still require a phone call to verify and I’m sorry but if I am purchasing something from you I do NOT have the time or inclination to sit around and wait for some pencil neck to call me on the phone for a 30 dollar purchase. The technology is far beyond the point of needing a phone call. Check the fraud features before purchasing any virtual terminal or payment gateway as this is your ecommerce underbelly and is what will cause you the most aggravation in the future…Online Merchant Accounts