Small Business Owners' Guide to Avoiding Credit Card Fraud

Accepting all forms of payments, including creditof your business by reducing its chances of
cards, is a crucial component in the quest tobecoming a credit card fraud victim.
running a successful business. It gives businessIf a customer would like a refund, do not allow
owners an opportunity to sell more products andthe refund as a credit to another account. Credit
services to a wider range of customers.card refunds must only be granted to the same
Accepting credit cards can allow you to expandcard that was used to make the initial purchase.
your company to include online sales and makeAlso, only allow refunds if the customer has the
you eligible to receive a merchant cash advance,receipt for the product they wish to return.
which can be essential in promoting the growth ofFrequently changing the password to your credit
your business.card system may help as well. You may also
Though the benefits are numerous, acceptingpurchase credit card fraud insurance for your
credit cards can also turn merchants into potentialbusiness. If your business is insured, and fraud
victims of credit card fraud, a type of fraud thatoccurs, the insurance company will go after the
occurs all too often in the United States.parties responsible for the fraud.
As a merchant, it is important to be on theAlthough it can be difficult if your business
lookout for consumer credit card fraud which isprocesses multiple transactions per day, it may be
committed by the use of fraudulent credit cardshelpful to print a daily transcript of all credit card
or by the purchase of products and/or servicestransactions.
using a valid credit card that does not belong toAs a restaurant owner, it is particularly easier for
the consumer (formally known as identity theft).an employee to commit identity theft due to the
But it is also important to keep an eye onamount of time that the employee spends with
employees, ensuring that they do not committhe customer's credit card out of the customer's
credit card fraud using a customer's credit card.sight. In this case, you may want to consider
For consumers, there are various laws andpurchasing a portable credit card terminal. A
guarantees to remedy the situation if credit cardwaiter/waitress can bring this portable terminal to
fraud does occur. Unfortunately, merchants arethe customer's table, allowing the customer to
not provided with that same protection.swipe their own card, so the card never has to
Therefore, as a merchant, preventing credit cardleave the customer's hand.
fraud altogether is vital.If you can not purchase a portable credit card
So how does one reap the benefits of acceptingterminal, make sure that your restaurant's credit
credit cards without encountering the problemssystem does not print credit card numbers and
that may arise as a result? There is no way toexpiration dates on receipts. This way, employees
completely safeguard your business against creditcan not copy these numbers while away from
card fraud, but there are certain precautions thatthe customer. If your system does not mask
you should take as a merchant to promotethese numbers, contact your POS system
non-fraudulent transactions and secure the stabilityprovider and inquire about credit card masking.