Small businesses should be worried about the security of their credit card transactions. Whether you’re accepting card payments in a brick and mortar store or taking online payments. You should also be worried about the security of your point of sale system and ensuring compliance in the cloud.
Unfortunately, credit card fraud happens every minute of every day. In many cases, it occurs when a small business experiences a breach and credit card numbers are stolen. Sometimes, the owner of the business won’t even know the breach occurred, leaving the door open for future theft.
Consumers are getting smarter than ever. They’re recognizing when a security threat may be present, and if your website or POS system isn’t up to code, you could lose their business. Here are a few statistics that will help you prepare your company for the threat of credit card fraud.
- Seventy-one percent of Americans are worried that a hacker will steal their credit card information.
You could argue that this is the biggest fear of the everyday American consumer. It seems like there’s a new publication about major cyber attacks affecting businesses both large and small, so it’s no wonder that the typical consumer is concerned about the safety of their information.
Get ahead of this fear by including secure ways to pay. You might take payments through PayPal or help consumers feel better about paying with explanations of your security measures.
- The U.S has more credit card fraud than any other country.
Each year information is reported about credit fraud around the world. In 2018, nearly 39 percent of all reported card fraud losses around the world were in the United States. Considering the fact that we’re not even close to the largest country in the world population-wise, this should be concerning.
Educate yourself on the threats on your own soil and act. Install security measures that will protect your customers from ever experiencing this kind of attack.
- “Card not present fraud” is the most likely form of point-of-sale fraud.
There’s a type of credit card fraud growing in popularity around the country called “card not present fraud.” This occurs when a cardholder doesn’t present a card to a merchant in person but pays online, through phone, or over the mail. One report stated that this type of fraud is 81 percent more likely than point of sale fraud.
Securing your point-of-sale system is important, but note that the most likely fraud occurs in this way. Direct much of your security measures accordingly.
Credit card fraud is the largest form of identity theft around the world, and businesses need to be aware of what’s out there so they can take steps to avoid making their customers into victims.
