Give Your Customers the Safest Transactions

Though the numbers may vary from study to study, consumers are acutely aware of credit card fraud and identity theft. They read the same stories that you do, and they know that some people can struggle for months to clear a bogus charge.

But here is the key – those concerns have not slowed their passion for using their credit cards when they shop online. They know there might be a risk, but the upside to online shopping with a credit card outweighs their concerns.

Now that’s good news for you online business people, but that should also give you additional motivation to make sure that your credit card online processing is as safe and secure as possible.

So how do you accomplish that since you’re not in the credit card processing business? Simple. You make sure the company you hire to provide your merchant services has an unblemished record for providing safe, secure transactions.

And to do that is going to require some effort on your part because there is not a credit card processing company out there that is going to admit that their security protocols are suspect, so you can’t go by the claims you will find on their sites. You have to dig a little deeper.

If you’re lucky you have peers who also have online businesses that you can network with and get references from. Because they will be happy to recommend any company that has given them great service – and they will be more than happy to warn you away from any company that has been a problem.

However, what do you do if you don’t have a network you can tap into? Another great way to drill down on a company’s reputation is to ask for references. This should not be confused with testimonials, because you’re going to need some specific feedback.

So ask for the names of people who you can contact and have a real conversation with. And when you get them on the line ask very specific questions. How secure is your credit card provider? Have you ever had a problem? If so, how did they handle it? Did they back you up every step of the way?

And here is a great question that will spark a good conversation – if you knew then what you know now about your provider, would you sign with them again?

This may seem like a lot of work, but keep this in mind. If there is ever a security problem encountered by your customers will they blame you or the credit card services vendor? The odds are you will shoulder the heat because you are the face of your company.

So you owe it to your customers to make sure you have the most secure and safest credit card processing services. And you owe it to yourself as well, because aligning your business with a merchant account provider that offers superior service will help build your business.

Jim Osterman is an Internet content writer with Charge.com, a credit card processing company that provides superior merchant services.