It is undeniable that eCommerce in Latin America is here to stay with the worldwide shift to digital. The pandemic has accelerated this tendency, with a regional growth of 230% in eCommerce sales observed in April.
Entrepreneurs that are selling their products or services online are seeing their sales grow on a monthly basis, while many others are starting to embrace the digital transformation in their businesses. At the same time, security concerns remain a barrier to growth in online payments.
However, payment processors have security as their top priority and possess tools to combat fraudulent activity in eCommerce transactions. Online transactions are more secure than ever before, thanks to advances in digital payments technology and the evolving cyber-security landscape.
Tools for combating online fraud
Payment processors were built with strict security in mind and have many tools at their disposal to help retailers reduce fraud in their businesses.
A firewall is a cybersecurity tool that can be used to filter harmful traffic on a network while allowing legitimate traffic through. It can be software, hardware, or cloud-based and with the right settings can make retail websites almost invisible to potential threats.
Protecting sensitive data
Tokenization is another process that adds an extra level of security to protect sensitive data by replacing it with an algorithmically generated number called a token. With credit cards, the customer’s primary account number (PAN) can be replaced with a token. This allows users to make credit card and eCommerce transactions without having to save or expose original card information on merchant servers.
Tokenization can also enable other identification features, such as biometric verifications like fingerprint scans or facial recognition, replacing the traditional password or pin number. These identifiers can also include behavioral aspects such as voice, signature, or the way a user strikes the keys on a keyboard.
Authenticating ownership
Enabling address verification systems (AVS) is another tool provided by credit card processors and issuing banks to merchants in order to detect suspicious credit card transactions and prevent credit card fraud. It verifies the billing address against the cardholder’s data from the issuing bank to confirm the person making the purchase it the actual cardholder, or an authorized user.
Meeting industry standards
Another form of maintaining a secure environment for eCommerce transactions is for merchants to achieve compliance with industry standards. Partnerships with payment processors that understand online payments can facilitate this process. For example, Openpay is a payment processor for online stores and banks and is certified by PROSA and PCI DSS1, the industry standard for card handling and safeguarding information.
Openpay also has a sophisticated anti-fraud system based on intelligent risk optimization (risk control without losing conversion) that protects its clients from potential fraud by analyzing transactions in real-time. The system has the capability to analyze over 260 variables per transaction, using multi-layer device fingerprinting, geolocation, custom scoring of each transaction, and smart input of external data (global and domestic markets).
Cybersecurity in evolution
The recent growth in eCommerce is in large part due to the technological advances that have allowed for more secure transitions. In this fast-changing ecosystem, it’s important to stay up to date with the best industry practices for cybersecurity, and partnering with payment processors that specialize in these types of transactions is an excellent way to keep up with the standards and protect clients and consumers against fraud.
Openpay is a company that specializes in the development and marketing of digital platforms and tools for creating accessible, secure, and innovative commercial transactions, part of the BBVA financial group.
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)