Essential Security Features of Payment Gateway Services to Help You Sell, Manage and Grow Your Ecommerce Business

According to a study done by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in the year 2015, the number of online shoppers will grow to 1.623 billion in 2018. 

With a growing percentage of people using the internet, the demand for online businesses is also rising. This makes payment gateways absolutely essential for online transactions as it acts as the intermediate between the merchant and the bank. But with the rapid growth of online transactions, threats of security have also increased. Security is the top most concern for customers. So, a payment gateway should ensure they use various standards, protocols and encryption mechanisms to provide a secure and seamless shopping experience to the customers. 

Data Encryption

Whenever a customer enters his payment details like credit and debit card information, the payment gateway passes this sensitive information securely between the customer and the merchant using the method of data encryption. When the payment details are entered, the payment gateway will encrypt this information using the payment gateway’s public key. Data encryption protects the customer’s information from unauthorized parties. In short, some of the best payment gateway services use this method to prevent the customer’s information from being stolen or misused.  

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

SSL is used in payment gateways to securely transfer private data over public platforms using a certificate of authentication. SSL, which is a secure network protocol, makes use of two encrypting methods- asymmetric and symmetric encryption. In asymmetrical encryption, RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adelman) algorithm and DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm) are used while in symmetrical encryption, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), DES (Data Encryption Standard) and others are used. Most of the payment gateways make use of this protocol to securely transfer the data between the customers and the merchants. 

Secure Electronic Transaction (SET)

SET is another standard protocol which helps to communicate information between the customer, merchant and the payment gateway in a secure way using a digital signature. SET makes use of the customer’s digital signature and this prevents the merchant from seeing the customer’s payment information. When a payment gateway receives the payment information, it encrypts the data using its public key and verifies the primary account number. SET offers a high level of security and privacy to the customers and fulfils all the security requirements like data integrity, authentication and confidentiality by making use of public key certificates and digital signatures. 

Wrapping Up

Ecommerce payment security is very important, so if you own an ecommerce website, you need a secure payment gateway which can reduce the fraud and prevent the security breach of personal data. The best payment gateway services make use of the above mechanisms to protect the sensitive information of the customers from unauthorized parties. 

Ecommerce Security is At The Core of Payment Gateway Solutions

The success of any ecommerce business depends majorly on the customers and the ease of transaction experienced by them. In short, a payment gateway is the best way to ensure hassle-free payments.

Business when implementing an online payment gateway solution, should first consider the level of security offered by the payment gateway. Security in ecommerce is a high priority for the merchants and customers alike. Before entering the financial details, the customers should research how secure the site is. On the other hand, merchants should have multiple layers of security in place to protect sensitive data of their customers.

So, how can an online merchant ensure that the payment gateway is secure? Is there a way to strengthen the security of the website?

Even though most of the ecommerce platforms have built-in security features, but here are some ways by which an online merchant can bolster data security.

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Standards and SSL Certificate 

In order to be PCI compliant, the ecommerce platform must adhere to a strict set of policies and procedures that guarantee the security of payment via credit or debit card. Anti-malware software, encryption, extensive monitoring and risk analysis are some of the measures to ensure the security.

Apart from this, use SSL certificate to authenticate the identity of your business and to facilitate a secure connection at the time of checkout. Both of these are vital for protecting your company as well as your customers from any fraudulent activities.

Multi-layered Security

Ensure that the ecommerce platform you choose has multi-layered security to keep your business safe from any fraudulent activities.

CVV Requirement

Card Verification Value is a three- or four-digit code at the back of a credit card. Even though retailers can record customer’s names, addresses and credit card number for future transactions but they are not allowed to store CVV number under any circumstances. A CVV requirement makes it extremely tough for any fraudulent transaction to take place.

Address Verification System
Address verification system is another way to facilitate safer payment processing. This can be useful in verifying if the billing address entered by the customer is same as what the credit card issuer has on records. In short, AVS can be used to identify if the transaction is legitimate or fraudulent. 

Apart from these, it is important to monitor all the transactions and deploy PCI scans at regular intervals to check for any suspicious activities that may be targeting your online store. 

Wrapping Up

Make sure you choose the most suitable online payment gateway solution for your online store and build up the security of your store by following the security measures discussed above.

Are You Using The Right Payment Gateway For Your Ecommerce Business

In the recent times, Ecommerce has become the fastest growing market segments. The competition is all time high and a wrong choice can be catastrophic for your Ecommerce business.

The success of your online endeavour depends mainly on how well your products are being sold to your customers. Most of the entrepreneurs will review their product or service quality from time to time, but what about the types of payment options available to your clients?

If you are running an Ecommerce business, you should know how to choose the right payment gateway so that it will fulfil all the needs of you and your target audience.  Implementing the right payment gateway can ensure long-term success of your Ecommerce business.  Here are some of the options when it comes to Ecommerce payment gateways. Choose the one that is the best fit for your business.

Traditional Payment Gateways

Traditional model is the most commonly used option by merchants. In this model, the payment gateway partners with a merchant acquirer like an Independent Sales Organization (ISO). The gateway just provides the software for conducting transactions and does not interact much with the clients. Most of the interaction is done by the ISO but if anything goes wrong and if the clients wants to make some changes, then ISO has control over the platform that is being used.

White Label Payment Gateways

This is a technology solution that serves payment providers and enables them to use third party technologies. They even support payment acceptance for their customers. White label payment gateways allow merchants to set up multiple IDs and separate accounts for specific locations for their business without increasing the number of parent accounts and login profiles. In this, ISO has more control over the quality of service that is being offered to the clients.

Payment Facilitators

Payment facilitators use a multi-tiered system and merchants that sign up under them are given sub-merchant accounts with a separate account and merchant ID. The best part about payment facilitators is that their cost structure is of flat rate and highly transparent.

In order to get your Ecommerce business up and running, Ecommerce payment gateway is one thing that you cannot do without. There are many payment gateway providers in the market. Even though each of the payment systems may seem equal but the quality and features of its each of them vary. Choose a gateway that guarantees you seamless and easy transaction and secures sensitive data of your customers. Make sure you find out all the options as a wrong choice call be fatal for your business.