From Retail Customer Experience.
There are plenty of cost-efficient mobile payment processors designed to fit the budget needs of small businesses, but ensuring sensitive data customers that your business is secure is just as important as the convenience factor mobile payments offer. Here’s a quick checklist to help determine if your mobile payment transactions are truly secure:
Confirm that your mobile payment provider guarantees PCI compliance. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (often referred to as PCI Compliance) govern the level of security companies who accept sensitive customer payment data should follow when accepting, transmitting, processing and storing such information. Though PCI compliance standards aren’t technically “law,” any merchant who accepts customer credit card payments in a manner that isn’t PCI compliant, both directly and by way of the third-party merchants, could be found liable and subject to significant fines and potential lawsuits — should a data breach occur. Though mobile devices have become as common in business as a desktop computer (and often, more cost-effective), remember that they are not inherently designed to securely process and store customer data. Ensure that your mobile payment processor guarantees PCI compliance, including data encryption throughout the transaction, — and that anyone in your company who processes mobile payments utilizes the secure tools the provider supplies, including “dongles” (that plug into the jack of a smartphone or tablet) for “swipe” card transactions. If your business processes include manually entering customer’s card information into a payment processors mobile app, ensure the app is downloaded specifically from the providers secure site, versus an “app store,” where identity thieves may post convincing imposters.
Be aware of how you manage receipts. PCI standards mandate that any business keeping paper records of receipts follow certain storage and security standards. Most mobile payment providers equip a business to provide the customer with an electronic receipt delivered from the secure mobile payment processor by way of text message with a link, or email. Delivering receipts via these methods can ensure that your business isn’t tasked with handling hard copies of sensitive customer data that could increase risk of a breach.
Read the other 3 tips here.