- When presented with a credit card, sales staff should examine the card to make sure that it looks valid. It should have a magnetic stripe and raised letters and the customer should have signed it on the back. If you have card swipers that allow customers to swipe the card themselves, you should still require staff to inspect the card.
As an added precaution, you can require customers to show a photo ID in addition to presenting their credit card. Staff should check that the name and picture are correct and that the signature on the back of the card matches with the signature on the ID. - Credit cards are also printed with an identification code on the back. This is usually a 3-digit code, though it's a 4-digit code on American Express cards. The advantage to this code is that you'll never find it on a receipt or credit card statement, making it more difficult for thieves to fabricate.
If you accept credit card payments online or over the phone, it's essential to request this information from customers. - Most credit card processors also offer address verification service, or AVS; this is a service to quickly check that the address provided by the customer matches the address on file. The system actually checks only the numerical portion of the address, not the full address. This can prevent you from accepting a lost or stolen card, because the thief may have the CVC2 number, but may not know the customer's billing address.
When accepting online payments, be sure to include a section for customers to input a billing address, even if they ask for shipping it to an alternate location.
previous post
next post