Articles » Card Acceptance Security Tips

The following items will help you but are not a guarantee to prevent card fraud. Always be vigilant and if you are suspicious of any transaction use caution before you hand over or ship goods. 

 

• We recommend for any card transaction that a refund is processed to the original card only and remember: 
  • The last four digits of the card number will always be on the customers card payment receipt to check. 
  • If the original card has expired you can still refund back to the original and the consumer must contact their card issuer to receive their funds. 
  • If the cardholder has received a replacement card check that the new start date is after the original sale date and ask for ID. 
  • Never give cash or cheque for a card transaction. 
• When taking card payments over the phone, it is very important to: 
  • Get the full card number, expiry date and Card Security Code (3 digit code on back of card). 
  • Never allow a customer pickup the goods in person after paying over the phone. If the cardholder arrives in person refund the original card transaction and process it by Chip and PIN only. 
  • For unusually large transactions, hold shipment until you have satisfied yourself the cardholder is genuine. Check address, social media, etc. It can also be a good idea to call the person back the next morning and see do they remember what they ordered. Fraudsters usually make many orders so don’t always remember what they ordered. 
• Taking card payments online: 
  • Make sure your fraud tools are up to date and contact your gateway provider to ensure all available fraud filters are in place. 
  • We recommend using 3D Secure to validate cardholders. 3D Secure protects online retailers from fraud. 
• For non Chip and PIN cards we always recommend asking for ID. Non Chip and PIN cards are still common in many parts of the world but any European card will be Chip and PIN enabled so be very suspicious of any Domestic or EU card that falls back to signature. All cards have security features such as holograms which should be checked. 
• Ensure staff read the terminal screen prompts when processing any transaction and ensure all transactions are APPROVED before handing over goods. This is particularly important for contactless transactions as every 3-5 transactions require the cardholder to enter their PIN for security and sometimes staff do not read the screen prompts and presume the transaction was approved. 
• Remember you can always contact our authorisation line for help should you be suspicious of any card transaction - 1800 656 644 option 4.