- Guest post by Kyle Meissner, Sachs Marketing Group -  

Payment processing has come a long way in the past few years. Customers have more options than ever before to house their money. Businesses have to make sure that their system reaches out to all its customers to successfully complete transactions. As new technologies emerge, businesses need to stay on top of the experience. It can be challenging to add the technology to your site to accept e-wallet payments, contactless credit cards and mobile payments, but when you meet the customer, you increase loyalty.

Here are some of the obstacles you will need to meet in order to facilitate transactions in the age of a cashless society:

Data Security

When you accept debit and credit cards, you are required to meet certain criteria. One of the biggest threats to any business is keeping credit card data secure. It is not just about finances, but about reputation. You should be proactive when it comes to cardholder data, having strong access control measures across your system, both online and in-person transactions. It should be one of your top priorities.

Fraud and Chargebacks

As online transactions increase, the opportunity to misuse credit card payments expands. The threat of theft also rises. Fraud is a huge risk for medium to large businesses. You do not want to wait for customers to make a complaint, but instead be watching for fraud before it occurs. Your credit card payment processing system should have a risk management plan to be on watch for fraud.

Chargebacks have the potential to kill your business, because when your business has a large number of chargebacks, you might lose your account. You need to implement best practices into your purchasing process to avoid these chargebacks while protecting your reputation. It is important to work with a company who can assist your business in setting up customer services practices that match your business objectives and values.

Integration Across Multiple Platforms

In the early days of the internet, everyone used a desktop computer to access your website, but today, there are multiple devices and software being used to shop online. There are even different payment types, Apple pay, PayPal, credit cards and debit cards. Integrating your system with each payment method can be expensive and difficult, but it does not have to be. Your payment processor should be an automated clearinghouse which operates with different systems to let your business gain more customers, no matter how they pay.

Expanding Internationally

As your business grows, you may even need to accept payments from international customers. Global trade is another developing aspect in technologies. Cross-border payments are not usually available in traditional payment processing infrastructures, but there is a growing demand. To be more effective in the market, your payment processing company should be moving towards adding this technology to your system.

Consumers and merchants are demanding an easy and secure payment processing system. Your company should be on the forefront of the industry in every aspect of your customer service process. Overcome the challenges and get the payment processing that meets your needs.