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AVS: A Necessity in Online Business |
Written by Jen Loganthan
Thursday, 27 March 2008
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Online sales are becoming a greater part of retail business in the United States and abroad. For merchants to continue to be competitive in the local and global marketplace, a new focus is being taken on websites and online retail sales applications. In order for businesses to protect themselves against fraud by unseen purchasers, they must take advantage of AVS, the Address Verification System. AVS helps merchants protect themselves against becoming prey to credit card and identity thieves by helping to ensure secure, valid payments through a rigorous verification process. AVS cross-references all the information given the merchant by the purchaser, making sure that billing and postal addresses match. This protects against millions of attempted fraudulent purchases levied against online and phone retailers every minute of every day. If information given does not match the information on file for a given credit card, the purchase is not validated or declined and AVS has successfully thwarted criminal efforts. Unfortunately, AVS is not a see all, and any hacker worth his or her salt will most likely have appropriated all necessary information belonging to their victim (i.e. credit card billing address, postal address, social security number, etc.). Merchants must be diligent and especially wary of foreign orders. There are other safeguards to consider that deal with the threat posed by illegitimate, out-of-country orders. Many merchants have elected to only honor foreign purchases made from more established email providers, refusing those made from free accounts such as yahoo. Many merchants require foreign purchasers provide a legitimate phone number, allowing a purchase only after a voice-authorized, often recorded conversation is complete. Multiple orders from the same foreign account can be a red flag indicating improper activity and should be carefully observed and noted; voice confirmation is a must in this event for merchant self-protection. Most credit card companies in today's market place their own Card Verification Value Code, or CVV, on consumer credit cards. This three or four digit code helps provide an opportunity for a cryptographic check to be run against the information embossed on the card's front, allowing for yet another step towards ensuring that all purchases are legitimate. As a new web-based merchant entering the global marketplace, it is part of your due diligence in self-protection to associate yourself with a firm which protects your financial interests, allowing you to focus on making the best product and fulfilling your potential (legitimate) customers' needs without having to worry about fraud. Electronic payment processing companies like Stradafee offer many options to choose from that are extremely beneficial and necessary to all online businesses. Merchants owe it to themselves to be successfully monitored in order to continue in financial success. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in credit card processing solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.
Jennifer Loganathan is the President and CEO of Stradafee Limited. Stradafee is a leading international payments company based in New York. Stradafee is a retail and merchant account provider specializing in credit card processing solutions. Please visit www.stradafee.com for more information.
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