As data breaches may have a negative impact on both the client and the firm that was hacked, proper credit card storage can be difficult. It might seem like a personal assault when someone steals your credit cards or other sensitive information. Customers lose faith in firms as a result, and it may even need legal action. Online scams are growing in popularity. Credit card transactions are a need in today’s increasingly contactless environment. Because of the epidemic’s rise in credit card use, the e-commerce business in the United States has skyrocketed (just look at Amazon’s stock over the last three years).
As a consumer, you must hold companies to a high standard with it comes to protecting your credit card information. Businesses committed to abiding by industry data security standards when they signed a credit card processor’s contract. The technology and practices of a reputable payment provider should be in place to satisfy those needs. In the same way, it is also your responsibility as a consumer to make sure that a company is effectively securing your information. It includes things like how they keep credit card information, the technology they utilize, and the service providers they work with. You want to know what they’re doing with this valuable data. It’s your personal data by the way. You need to care. If you don’t think about this every time you make an online purchase, you need to.
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The Equifax data leak serves as a reminder of how critical it is for businesses to securely handle credit card information and other personal data. To manage a subscription-based company, companies need to keep track of customers’ credit card information on a regular basis. Data security guidelines and services for storing your customers’ credit card information should be available on every company’s website.
Best Practices For Using A Credit Card For Online Shopping
The best place to find this information is in a company’s privacy policy and/or its Terms of Conditions. Here’s what you should look for. For keeping customer data, the following are some useful best practices and things you need to keep an eye on.
How They Store Credit Card Info in Compromising Places
Credit card numbers should never be written down or stored in paper form. No matter what happens, this is an all-around awful decision. Other online storage services like Dropbox, Gmail, and Google Drive are not safe places to store credit card information.
They should have some policy in place in writing where they mention they don’t save customers’ credit card information in CRM profiles. Having all of your information in one place may be easy for a company, but it’s also a very unsafe alternative. A system with a secure vault or the option to connect it through separate software should be outlined and discussed in their policy.
Verify Data Encryption
For things like recurring purchases, make sure the company ensures that your credit card information is encrypted at all times. To ensure the security of the data, the encryption process should make use of a strong algorithm. Even in the event of a lost or stolen computer or other unwanted access, a solid algorithm will assist keep the data safe. And if your information is stolen or lost, they should have a policy or guideline in place to notify you immediately.
In certain cases, payment processors provide a safe place to keep customer data. Tokenization is a typical method for doing this. In a database, businesses are given a “token” for each credit card number. Tokens don’t need to be stored in a secure file since they may be any number. Sending a token to a service provider is all that is required to complete payment. When looking at the policy or ToCs, look for the keyword “encryption”.
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Make Sure The Site Is Secure
Without even needing to mention it, the most obvious best practice is to NEVER buy from a company that doesn’t have a secure site. How do you know it’s secure or not? There are two really simple and easy ways. The first is just to look at the URL. When you’re on the site, just click the URL address bar and make sure the beginning starts with “HTTPS:”. Or…just look for a little lock signal in the address bar at the beginning of the URL. Companies cannot process credit card information without having an SSL certificate. This little check described above authenticates that they’ve done so. Now…that doesn’t mean a company can’t collect credit card information. What it means is they can’t process credit card information. Hackers and scammers are getting smarter every day. They can create a site in minutes, make it look legit, and add in some plugin forms to make it look like they’re processing a purchase when you punch in your credit card info. That’s why it is essential that you check to make sure the site is secure.
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Should I Store Credit Card Information On My Browser?
When it comes to credit card information, it’s important to be proactive about security. With so many data breaches in the news, it’s understandable to be worried about storing credit card info in your browser. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help put your mind at ease. First of all, most browsers now have built-in security features that help protect your information. Secondly, you can also take measures such as using a secure password and only storing credit card info on trusted websites. By following these simple tips, you can help keep your credit card info safe and secure.
What about your smartphone? When my smartphone asks to save my credit card info…should I? In the age of online shopping, it’s more important than ever to keep your credit card information safe and secure (same principle with saving it on your browser). Believe it or not, one way to do this is by saving your credit card info on your smartphone. While this may seem like a risky move, there are actually a number of benefits of doing so. First, it’s super convenient. You won’t have to fumble around for your credit card every time you want to make a purchase or hunt down your wallet. You can buy something right now. Secondly, it’s secure. Just like browsers, many smartphones have security features that make it difficult for someone to hack into your credit card information. Can it be done? Sure. But if you follow the guidelines above when it comes to making purchases online and what to look for, you significantly reduce the odds of getting your credit card info hacked. Finally, it’s easy to keep track of your spending. When all your credit card transactions are in one place, it’s easy to see where your money is going.
Personally, I like to use LastPass password manager. With most data breaches occurring because of weak or reused passwords, this cool little password manager tool does all the work for me: creating hyper-secure passwords, remembering them, and filling them in automatically when making purchases online (through my smartphone and my browser!). Aside from just password management, LastPass can also securely store your credit card information and I utilize this feature often. It’s all about convenience along with safety. But again…it’s a matter of personal preference.
