Credit Card Fraud is on the rise and forever adapting in the payment processing environment, leaving merchants at risk of taking unnecessary loss. Luckily for you, Talus has a team of protectors that ensure that risk of loss is always minimized - The Risk Team. Over the years we have helped protect our merchants and minimize their risk by staying “in the know” on all current fraud trends and schemes. Unfortunately, there is no way to completely dissolve risk when it comes to processing, however, you are the first line of defense. We would like to share some of our knowledge with you to help you better protect yourself and your business. Here are some of our “Best Practices” to ensure you are maximizing your profits and minimizing your risk.

• Swiping or Chip Entering a transaction is the most secure and cheapest way to process a payment so this should be a top priority in a “Cash and Carry/Retail” environment. Now, there will be times that you will come across a damaged card that will force you to manually key in your sale but by doing so you will be at a higher risk of loss should the cardholder dispute said transaction.
• When manually entering transactions, it is required to obtain a positive AVS (Address Verification). You will need to enter the numeric portion of the Billing Address along with the Zip Code tied to the card being processed.
• If you ship product, it is required that you are shipping to the actual Billing Address on file at the customer’s bank for that card. It is extremely important that you do not skip this step when operating in a Card Not Present environment to better protect yourself against unnecessary loss.
• If something sounds “too good to be true” then it most likely is. Always trust your gut instinct and if something feels odd when communicating with a customer then please reach out to our Risk Team for guidance.
• Avoid taking larger payments than what is typical for your business on credit card without careful guidance from our Risk Team.
• Do not split a transaction across multiple cards as this decreases your ability to protect yourself ten-fold.
• Always maintain Proof of Sale documentation for a minimum of 6 months because it will be requested by the cardholder’s bank should they choose to dispute a transaction. This would include Invoices, Proof of Shipping/Delivery, Signed Credit Card Receipts, etc.

Understanding these Best Practices can help you protect your business. There are countless regulations set in place to protect cardholders, and Talus is here to protect you and your business. Please never hesitate to contact our Risk Team with any questions. “When in doubt, please reach out!”