How to Protect Your Business from Merchant Bank Credit Card Skimmers

Many people have had their credit cards compromised. Business owners or the persons whose information is used for the fraudulent operations often bear the resulting financial responsibilities despite being the victims. It is crucial for you to take the necessary precautionary steps to protect your business against credit card skimmers and free yourself from possible losses that may come from credit card theft. When applying for a merchant account, you agree to terms and conditions, one of them being to pay a certain fee for every credit card payment.

Such payment is not charged directly from your credit card machine but from your daily overall. This payment can either be done automatically or manually; the importance of this method of payment is to give you time to monitor and verify if the transactions you made all day are valid. Consider following these directions to protect your business from credit card skimming.

Ensuring to Check for Tampering

Make a habit of checking your merchant bank credit card processor for signs of interference at least three times a day. The reason is that a majority of skimmers tamper with credit card machines before making unauthorized payments. If you conduct such routine checks–for instance in the morning, afternoon, early evening, and during close time–to ensure your machines are working correctly and nothing has been inserted in them, it will be possible to avert fraudulent dealings.

Monitoring Transactions

You need to install cameras in your business premises that have a clear view of the entrance and the back to identify a fraudster from your CCTV videos, lest you become a victim of credit card skimming. Additionally, it will cost you nothing to double check a card that is used for a large purchase for validity. To do so, explain to the customer that there is a management policy that requires an extra identification card for purchases worth over a certain sum.

Asking Questions

Get your staff to learn how to ask the right questions to shoppers to protect your business from credit card skimming. Furthermore, your staff should decline certain payments, ask for IDs, or verify signatures from suspicious-looking persons. Additionally, if a shopper refuses to provide identification documents or does not change payment methods, ask them to leave your premises in a polite way.

Ensure that your merchant bank credit card processor device is placed in a selected check out area. Avoid placing the equipment in a dimly lit section or a secluded corner. Also, train your staff on how to handle suspicious individuals. If you happen to encounter a credit card skimmer, call the police immediately.

Sources:

Credit Card Fraud Law, hg.org

IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION AND VICTIM ASSISTANCE, revenue.pa.gov

Pennsylvania Credit Card Fraud Laws, findlaw.com