Drea Knufken
Image: The Truth About Credit Cards/Flickr
This is a guest post by Fee Fighters’ Stella Fayman.
The holiday season is the best time of the year for opportunistic retailers. Unfortunately, it is also the most wonderful time of the year for people specializing in fraud. Luckily, there are some easy ways to protect your business, whether brick and mortar, from credit card fraud:
Nip the fraudsters in the bud– Take preventative measures such as having customers sign receipt and checking signatures on the back of each and every card. Ecommerce merchants should always use an Address Verification Service (AVS) and have customers enter the 3 digit security code on the back of each card (called the CVV). More helpful tips can be found in this comprehensive article.
Be patient– As the holidays near, tensions run high as popular items are high in demand and low in supply. Maintaining a level of excellence in customer service will make sure customers don’t get belligerent and make your life more difficult (think chargebacks).
Be prepared– Make sure to know the policies and procedures around chargebacks—when a customer disputes a charge on his/her credit card. Reach out to your merchant account provider before one occurs, and then use that information to develop a stand policy in your business about who handles and how to handle chargebacks.
FeeFighters.com is the comparison shopping site for credit card processors. FeeFighters lets business owners compare top quality processors on an apples-to-apples basis, similar to using Priceline for travel. If you have any questions, feel free to email Stella at stella (AT) feefighters (DOT) com.
