Organisations must ensure they adopt secure payment gateways during 2024 and beyond
Research from RPC has revealed that between June 2022 and June 2023, 640 cyber security breaches were reported to the Information Commissioners Officers (ICO), up from 187 the previous year across the financial sector. For many businesses in 2024, a secure payment gateway is a vital link within the payment infrastructure. Payment gateways offer seamless and efficient solution for e-commerce payments processing, providing a flexible, secure, and efficient platform for online transactions.
Secure payment gateways ensure payments are protected while delivering fast, easy and frictionless payment experiences for customers, protecting sensitive data and building brand credibility. Payment gateways host automated processes providing fast checkout capabilities and in turn, speeding up the sales cycle for merchants and customers.
CEO of Lanistar Jeremy Baber said, “As we enter 2024, businesses must ensure they choose a secure payment gateway and evaluate factors before selection, including protection for consumer data, compliance with industry regulations, reducing chargeback risks, seamless gateway integration and offering comprehensive reporting and analytics features. Improving the customer experience should not come at a cost to security. Which is why it is important for business leaders to ensure the payment gateway they offer is seamless and secure to ensure customer trust is upheld.
“Customers continue to entrust businesses with sensitive financial information on a regular basis, including bank account details when making transactions online. Secure payment gateways employ encryption technologies such as Shield Socket layers to protect data from attacks and breaches. Selecting a secure payment gateway allows for the highest level of payment security, ensuring customers’ personal information remains safe. Failing to adopt these security measures runs the risk of exposing customer data alongside their money as well. Cutting corners is not an option for providers as customers will want to use only the most robust solutions the market has to offer.”
As of 2024, businesses offering online payments must comply with industry regulations, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), to ensure businesses maintain secure online transaction environments for processing, storing, and transmitting cardholder data. Secure gateways which are regulation-compliant enable businesses to meet such requirements, avoid fines and safeguard their reputation. This is alongside other stringent regulation such as GDPR, which has overseen the tightening of data sharing across European organisations by handing out large fines to those who mishandle any form of data.
Baber concludes, “Secure payment gateways with built-in fraud detection and prevention mechanisms minimise the risk of unauthorised transactions and potential chargebacks, allowing organisations to maintain healthy relationships with customers. Most secure payment gateways offer in-depth reporting and analytics features allowing for monetisation of transitions and sales tracking.
“Secure payment gateways are a complex offering and continue to evolve to serve the needs of growing businesses and their customers. Their adoption is crucial for business success in 2024, enabling businesses to shield customer data, comply with industry regulations and allow for smooth and secure payment experience.”