Businesses lost an estimated $50 billion last year because of fraudulent card activity. If you hold a credit card for personal or business use and it is used fraudulently, as a cardholder, you know that by calling your credit card company and the authorities you are protected.
The liability for the fraud is determined by the details of the transaction. If you, the merchant, retrieved all the necessary pieces of information and followed all of the rules and regulations the financial institution would bear the liability for the fraud. If you did not get all of the necessary information you may be required to return the funds to the financial institution.
You can decrease your losses and increase your profits by applying a few simple protocols when accepting credit cards, and even decrease your rates for the added security. Contact us and follow these simple procedures and you’re rates will go down, your profits will go up.
- Get the complete name, address, ZIP code and phone number for the cardholder.
- Require customers to enter the CVS code – 3-digit card code number from the back of their credit card or 4-digit on the front of American Express.
- Verify that the billing address of the card holder is correct and that it matches the shipping the address if shipping goods. If you are suspicious call the merchant bank.
- For shipped items, call the cardholder and verify details over the phone. If you don’t feel safe and can’t get a hold of the cardholder don’t ship the item.
- Implement your fraud protection through Merchant National’s secure gateway to detect suspicious activity.
- Use address an address verification service (AVS) to block sales when the billing address entered online doesn’t exactly match the billing information on record for the cardholder.
- Look up the address and phone number of any local orders in the phone book.
- Send a reminder letter to people when you ship an item telling them the item has been shipped and when they can expect it to appear on their bill. This type of letter can reduce complaints and chargebacks from people who simply forget what they ordered or from whom.
- Always check ID if the transaction is in person. There are times when someone may have a different first or last name than the card reads.
- Ask a Merchant National representative which is the best option for you.
