Website Security
I recently had a discussion with a business owner who, no matter how I reasurred her, refused to give her clients the option of online payment. She said it wasn’t safe. This is a concern for not just the baby boomer generation, but is a worry that has seeped through to even some high school students who believe their unsecure cell phone texting is more secure than online transactions.
According to a recent study paying online is actually safer than by phone. Phone payment can be a concern because you rely on people instead of computers to take down your information and use it appropriately. Identity theft is also a hot button when talking about paying online. The truth is that there is more identity theft person to person when someone overhears you giving your social security number or scanning your driver’s license. Often times the reason people run into trouble with online payment is that they don’t follow a few simple internet rules. The following is a list of great guidelines to follow:
- Never respond to e-mail messages from third-party payment services asking you to confirm account details, such as passwords or other personal information.
- If you need to update your account information, visit the website and login.
- Check if the seller has been a verified member of the payment service for a few months or more.
- never use your account to transfer money for someone you don’t know. Always go through a website payment option. (This is a good tip when using Ebay or Amazon).
- Be careful when you purchase more expensive items such as jewelry (it doesn’t hurt to get a site recommendation for retail items from a friend or site ratings).
By being smart about your personal information, you can easily keep all of your private information private. Jaymunda is an official Authorize.net reseller. All of our clients have the option of adding this secure payment feature, many for less than the annual cost of a Paypal account. If you are not a client and are interested in learning more, you can contact us through our website at www.jaymunda.com