There are security concerns when it comes to making financial transactions, whether you are using a mobile device or making an offline or online payment. These concerns exist when using cash, debit cards, credit cards, or other payment methods. It is a common misconception that making an offline payment is much safer than that of online. Many people are not aware that there have been massive breaches in security in the past few years.
Secure payment transactions
Security measures have leveled up during the past few years. However, before that, there were several incidents before wherein hackers steal sensitive information. Over 70 million of the customer accounts of Target got hacked. In a five-month attack on Home Depot’s payment terminals, more than 55 million cards got compromised. In a 3-month attack on Neiman Marcus, the hackers were able to obtain the payment details of more than a million credit cards. Retailers lose billions in eCommerce sales yearly because of such incidents that lead to credit card fraud.
There have been several major breaches in security in offline payment. When you give credit card details in a retail store, the data is stored on a computer. If the computer is still using the old POS, the information is stored in an environment that lacks security. When the credit card payment is processed, the application needs to send a payment transaction message to the terminal, payment processor, and POS, making the payment transaction details vulnerable.
Advantages of new technologies
If the technology used by a retail store is from the 70s’, it has to be replaced entirely as it is decades old. Those kinds of POS still are being used, but it has to be phased out. There are security measures that are implemented to prevent credit card fraud, such as no longer having credit cards with the magnetic stripes, as the chips are a lot safer. There are guidelines to make sure that sensitive credit card information is encrypted to make it more difficult for the transaction to be hacked.
There is a reputable payment provider that has a secure payment system because it uses email transfers. As a general rule, online retailers are providing more security when it comes to payment transactions than most offline stores. To overhaul an old point-of-sale system might be costly for offline stores, yet it is necessary to prevent a hacker attack. Online retailers have security measures in place from ground-up, fully aware that it is essential to prevent cybercriminals from stealing the payment transaction information.
Cybersecurity tools
Online retailers have a massive array of cybersecurity tools that are updated regularly. There are second authentications, SSL certificates, system scans, firewalls, and much more. However, credit card fraud still happens online and offline, no matter what the security measures are because bad elements can obtain the details from the individuals stealing their physical cards or by using their mobile device. For those who prefer not to place their details online, it is much safer to use the email transfer method of a reputable payment provider.