According to McKinsey, 75% of consumers have tried new shopping behaviors. New online shoppers have come to the fore, and many companies quickly moved online to accommodate demand. Criminals, too, are aware of this and use the situation to their advantage.
Secure payment systems are important for all of us – as customers, freelancers, business owners, or eCommerce sellers. For B2B eCommerce businesses, where clients are partners, buying cycles are longer, and order volumes are larger, payment security is crucial. Customers expect transparency, convenience, and peace of mind, and if they don’t get it – they will go elsewhere.
The importance of security in payment gateways
Payment gateways are software systems that securely process payments, protect sensitive data, and streamline the checkout process. Yet, they do more than protect customer information. Digital commerce payment gateways must enable trust, be intuitive to use, and improve the customer experience.
But how do payment gateways approach security? According to the Oro Commerce b2b eCommerce platform when selecting your payment gateway vendor, keep these five security considerations in mind.
What are their connectivity options?
Depending on your business or your growth plans, a single payment gateway may not meet all your requirements. In this case, you’ll need to securely stack payment gateways together. Let’s say you sell to consumers in Europe and Asia. German consumers overwhelmingly use Paydirekt or SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) direct debit. In China, WeChat Pay or Alipay are a must. Your payment gateway must support all the ways your customers want to purchase.
Aside from stackability, what about integration options? You may need to integrate your payment gateway to your B2B eCommerce, accounting, tax software, and other systems.
Are they PCI compliant?
The world of online payment is synonymous with credit cards, and any payment processor that accepts credit cards must be PCI compliant. PCI DSS, or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, is a system to protect credit card data on the internet. PCI compliance means adhering to the most up-to-date security standards consisting of 6 objectives and 12 requirements for credit card processors to follow. It requires merchants, including payment gateways, to take measures to reduce the likelihood of exposing cardholders’ sensitive information.
Is the SSL certificate valid?
You can’t trust just any website with your credit card data. An SSL certificate validates a website’s security and assures the end-user that the merchant hosting the payment gateway is secure. As such, it’s a must for online sellers to use SSL to authenticate customers and to assure them that their data is kept private. Besides exposing themselves to the risk of attack, eCommerce brands also risk losing customers to competitors who updated SSL certificates.
Do they support 3D Secure?
3D secure (which stands for three domain secure) is an additional security layer performed by the customer’s bank when the customer performs payment. The system requests additional information to authenticate cardholder information, usually through a phone call, SMS, or email. This shifts additional responsibility to the issuing bank to ensure the security of the transaction.
What are the tokenization options?
Tokenization is a method of replacing sensitive credit card information by randomly generated characters called a token. For example, virtually all payment forms will obstruct credit card numbers and CVV numbers found on the back of cards. Payment gateways must offer tokenization services to comply with PCI requirements and prove that they do not store credit card information in unsecured form.
Selecting the right payment gateway system
Now that you’re familiar with a few data encryption measures taken by payment gateways, let’s take a look at some other non-security considerations in your decision-making process. Before you select your payment gateway provider, here are some additional questions to consider.
What are their pricing options?
Payment processing is complex, and vendors charge various fees for the service. These will depend on the amount transacted, the number of transactions, the customer’s location, and even the type of product. Fees can range from setup fees, monthly fees, transaction fees, and more. You could also incur further charges for stacking payment gateways together, integrating them with business systems, or changing payment providers.
What is in their merchant agreement?
Payment processors offer merchant accounts and sometimes payment gateways as part of their services. Merchant accounts exist between a merchant and a bank, where the bank holds pending transactions for the merchant. It’s important to read the fine print of the payment processor’s merchant agreement to avoid surprises down the road.
What countries do they cover?
While popular payment service providers such as Paypal or Stripe have great geographical coverage, they do not work in many Eastern European, Middle Eastern or African countries. The same applies to China, which has a list of its own homegrown payment systems.
What payment methods are supported?
Credit cards remain the most popular payment methods, but they’re not for everyone. The market is full of payment methods and wallets like Paypal, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, Alipay, and various cryptocurrencies. Many businesses still prefer paying by e-checks, ACH transfers, wire transfers, and so on.
What is their update cycle like?
With the number of vulnerabilities merchants face constantly on the rise, it’s mission-critical that your system complies with all the rules, regulations, and standards in the country you operate in. Letting payment security slide heightens the risk of malign activities, which can damage your company’s reputation – something that can’t necessarily be fixed with money.
Conclusion
As the pandemic continues and online shopping isn’t showing any sign of letting up, businesses are contending with additional risks of fraud and breaches.
If you’re engaging in B2B eCommerce, offering the highest levels of security for your customers should be your first priority. Whether you decide to utilize an off-the-shelf payment gateway or integrate with a payment processor, look for a reputable payment partner with a solid track record and maximum fraud protection measures in place.
