Best Ways to Make a Secure Payment

Online sales have witnessed tremendous growth, with 8.3% increase year on year. Customers can now purchase goods and services from anywhere worldwide thanks to the internet and various payment methods available. 

But online transaction comes with certain risks, including data breach, impersonation, defrauding, and lots more. As a result, customers have become more conscious about payment security and will only trust businesses with secure payment.

 In this article, we discuss the best ways to make a secure payment.

Secure Payment: Definition

A secure payment protects customers’ data and ensures clarity and transparency throughout the transaction process especially regarding how and what it uses customer bank details for and the payment methods used.

One easy way to know if an e-commerce business offers secure payment is the official seal on its website and checkout point. The trust seal indicates that the business ensures the protection of customers’ sensitive data.

Importance of Guaranteeing a Secure Payment

Large companies don’t need to convince their customers to gain their trust; they already have it. But for smaller e-commerce stores, the story is different. This is because the stores are new and relatively unknown; thus, small e-commerce businesses will need to provide extra guarantees on their site to demonstrate the legitimacy and safety of their business.

Besides, given the prevalence of online fraud and cyberattacks, an online business needs to appear trustworthy; this way, you will gain the trust of your customers and make them feel safe enough to make purchases.

For this reason, having the trust of seals of various payment methods on the e-commerce site will certify that the business is real and duly registered.

Best Secure Payment Methods

While many payment methods are available, some provide a higher level of security than others. Here are some of the most secure payment methods:

Credit Cards

Credit cards are easy to use and secure; besides, the payment process is the same for all websites. Credit cards have water-tight fraud protection features, and it’s to make reserve payments easy even when transactions fail or are wrong. 

During the transaction, money is not directly withdrawn from the customer’s account but rather from the card issuer (bank), after which the customer pays later. This enables users to report suspicious activities to the card issuer to prevent fraud.

Debit Cards

A debit card is another efficient, simple, and cost-effective way to secure payments. Here, funds are withdrawn directly from your card; this prevents you from piling up debts. Also, debit cards have ‘zero liability’ protection.

Debit card issuers provide 24/7 fraud monitoring services, thereby mitigating suspicious activities before they happen. There are also one-time passwords available only to customers for every transaction. These passwords are typically sent to the user’s mobile device via text or email and have a time frame within which it’s to be used.

E-Wallets

Also known as digital wallets, they allow users to transfer money from other sources, store the funds, and then use them to make payments. E-wallets also enable users to collect money from others and transfer these funds to other accounts.

E-wallets are generally safe and secure. In the UK, for instance, the Financial Conduct Authority has a Financial Services Register with a list of all companies authorized to offer payment services. Hence, e-wallets found on this list are secure.

However, note that popular e-wallets are often targeted for spoofing. This describes the activities of criminals impersonating a legitimate company. To avoid being a victim, confirm that emails from e-wallets are genuine before acting on them. Also, always check your spam folder for genuine emails that have been false-flagged by spam filters.

Unified Payment Interface (UPI)

UPI is a payment system that enables users to transfer money from one account number to another. These accounts don’t belong to the same bank; users only have to use the UPI app to make transactions.

It is a secure payment system because you wouldn’t have to share your credit or debit card details with your bank or any other person. Besides, the funds can only be transferred to another account with authorization.

One other quick and easy way is by using the payment link. A payment link connects to a secure payment gateway operated by a third-party processor. With the click of the link, the client is taken to a secure site where the transaction is completed. It is safe and secure. 

Cash On Delivery

With this payment method, payment is only made when a purchase is received. This is very secure as you are protected if a purchase or delivery goes wrong. It is a well-known and adopted payment method.

Determining Secure Payment

Online businesses are here to stay; therefore, e-commerce businesses must offer secure payment methods to customers to prevent fraud and to gain the trust of customers. Using insecure payment methods will ultimately lead to exploitation by cyber criminals who are always lurking around. But opting for any or all the payment methods above will guarantee the safety and security of your customers’ data and money, gain their trust and keep them coming back to you.