Tag: digital payments

Payment Authentication

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Payment authentication is critical for businesses and entities accepting payments from clients and end users. The right solution goes beyond mitigating fraud. It helps identify incorrect details to reduce payment errors and lessens waiting time due to identification failure, ensuring a swift, successful payment process.

Types of Payment Authentication

The two primary types of authentication are two-factor authentication and biometric authentication.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

When the end user transacts with you, your security system will prompt them to verify their identification through two distinct forms. Usually, the first step is entering their password and the second is validating their identity by entering a code they received via text. The second authentication method could also include fingerprint or face recognition.

Biometric Authentication

Biometric authentication uses facial recognition, retina identification or a fingerprint to authenticate the end user. Biometrics is a safer, more secure way to validate your client’s identity than other legacy methods.

Payment Authentication and Authorization

Both payment authentication and authorization serve as means to ensure that a transaction is successful. The two do, however, have distinct roles within the payment process.

During authentication, the client or end user must show that they’re the person authorized to use the credit or debit card. They have to share information to verify their identity. Authorization is essentially the second step, which ensures there are sufficient funds in the user’s account to complete the transaction.

With this layered approach to payment authentication, it’s vital that your business has the necessary tools to accept payments seamlessly.

The Importance of Payment Authentication

Payment authentication is critical in protecting your business and end users. CSG Forte helps you scale your business while protecting users’ data with a unified payment platform. You can accept debit, credit and ACH payments safely with our comprehensive approach to payment authentication.

Stay Nacha-compliant by validating payments with real-time, actionable data so you can keep business transactions going without delays caused by manual errors. Our payment authentication solution:

  • Protects you from unauthorized transactions: Unauthorized transactions can cost you money and downtime. Payment authentication helps ensure users are authorized and transactions are valid.
  • Mitigates fraud: A comprehensive, secure authentication system helps mitigate fraud and identity theft. Successful authentication gives you the confidence to transact with end users.
  • Reduces payment errors: Manual insertion of account numbers and other important details can result in errors. Payment authentication can help identify them before authorization.
  • Builds client trust: Your customers will appreciate your protecting their data with high-level security solutions. Security builds trust and confidence, ensuring you foster good client relationships.
  • Engages end users: The right payment authentication method can engage users when you utilize industry metrics to your advantage. Evaluate and quantify user experience from different methods to maximize client satisfaction.
  • Increases your bottom line: Reliable authenticating and validating payment systems that decrease transaction delays can reduce returned checks and speed up the payment process.

Future Trends in Payment Authentication

Payment authentication systems are becoming more secure and decentralized. Here’s a look at what’s ahead.

Technological Evolutions in Payments

Payment ecosystems are becoming more future-ready. The industry is introducing new ways of securing systems and standardizing operations, including:

  • Artificial intelligence (AI): AI can process large batches of information faster and more securely than humans. It’s paving the way for innovative, dynamic security solutions in the fintech industry.
  • Blockchain: Blockchain cuts out intermediaries and decentralizes the payment process. It offers transparency and robust protection against fraud and hackers.
  • Payment as a Platform (PaaP): PaaP revolutionizes the payment experience. Third parties can offer their services on payment platforms and create new revenue streams.

Continuous Authentication Methods

Continuous authentication methods validate users throughout online sessions, not just at the beginning. Validating users throughout an online transaction helps prevent fraudsters from hijacking the session. When the user pauses, ends or is away from their screen for an extended period, the software prompts them to enter their security credentials again.

Best Practices for Implementing Payment Authentication

Implementing a secure payment authentication process is just the start. It’s best to complement it with other security measures, including:

  • Require strong passwords: A strong password policy for your end users secures your platform and their payment information.
  • Upgrade your communication channels: Whether you use an online chat service or automated cross-application communication, secure your communication channels with a robust system.
  • Regularly update your security patches: When you update your system regularly, you strengthen your security. Close patches that could threaten your sensitive information with regular checks.
  • Train staff and keep your end users informed: Maintaining cybersecurity is a team effort. Keep all parties updated about the latest threats and adequate security measures.

Implementing Payment Authentication in Your Business

Integrating secure authentication processes is paramount to protecting your clients’ data. There are several factors to keep in mind, such as:

  • Authentication and validation: Authenticating and verifying identity can reduce returned checks and costly fraud.
  • Accepting payments: An agnostic payment system can accept payments cross-border and from any channel.
  • Integration: Add-ons and third-party integration should be flexible. Seamless integration and effective resale of separate software components bring new streams of revenue.

Payment authentication should be implemented in any business that accepts payments locally or globally. It can benefit small and medium companies and entities in healthcare, property management, insurance and government.

Payment integration scales your business, which is especially valuable for independent software vendors (ISVs). Integrating the right payment software with your existing offer allows you to deliver more in one streamlined solution.

CSG Forte Is Your Trusted Partner in Payment Authentication

A comprehensive payment authentication system protects you and your end users from fraud and reduces payment errors before authorization, ensuring seamless transactions. With the rise of AI and forward-thinking technology, payment solutions will continue to evolve. Adopting an all-in-one solution from CSG Forte can help you scale your business, ensuring you accept payments seamlessly and safely.

We at CSG Forte work hard to simplify your payment processes. Create an account today if you’re ready to get started. You can also call us at 866-290-5400 or reach out online for more information.

PCI Compliance: Definition, Overview and Benefits

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Payment card industry (PCI) compliance is the global security standard for organizations that accept consumer credit card payments. PCI compliance entails a variety of best practices, security measures and benchmarks to help you manage how you collect and store information while processing transactions. Let’s break down what you need to know about PCI compliance, its primary benefits, and how your organization can streamline the process of achieving PCI compliance.

What Is PCI Compliance?

Credit card companies require payment card industry compliance to help improve the security of transactions.

PCI compliance is the technical and operational requirements your business needs to follow to protect consumer credit card data. It’s a comprehensive set of policies ranging from regular system upkeep to clearly delineated user permissions.

The PCI Security Standards Council develops and manages compliance standards to help organizations fortify their security systems and prioritize consumer data protection.

PCI compliance requirements include:

  • Security against malicious software
  • Routine network maintenance
  • Cardholder data encryption
  • Restricted internal access to sensitive data

PCI Credit Card Compliance Overview

PCI compliance may seem challenging if you are unfamiliar with the terminology or the latest cybersecurity best practices. But you don’t have to do it alone. You can achieve compliance and minimize risk by partnering with a trusted, experienced payment service provider. (List of approved QSA) Still, it is valuable for your business to grasp the fundamentals of PCI compliance. Here is an overview to get a better understanding:

  • It’s a continuous exercise: PCI compliance is an ongoing process that your organization should review yearly.
  • Your payment methods have an impact: The type of payment services you offer can affect the amount of work you need to do to remain compliant.
  • There’s variation in requirements: Your compliance requirements depend on the size of your organization and the number of card payments you process annually.
  • Your transaction count matters: PCI compliance rules sort businesses into four groups. Level one merchants have the most requirements to meet because they process over six million annual transactions across channels. Smaller organizations will have fewer transactions and fewer rules to follow.
  • Merchant account providers may add requirements: To accept credit card payments, you need a merchant account and service provider. If you have a merchant account, your payment service provider should have PCI compliance-related requirements included in the terms and conditions of your agreement.

6 Primary Goals of PCI Compliance

The principles that guide the 12 PCI requirements can be summarized in six main goals:

  • Build and maintain a secure network and systems: Use strong passwords, firewalls, and/or software security technology to protect your network from hackers.
  • Protect account data: Keep your customers’ data safer with encryption, tokenization, and other ways to disguise sensitive information.
  • Maintain a vulnerability management program: Establish a vulnerability management program that helps protect your organization from malware.
  • Implement strong access control measures: Restrict which employees can access cardholder information. ensure limited users have access in-person and online.
  • Regularly monitor and test networks: Test your networks regularly and track who is accessing cardholder data.
  • Maintain an information security policy: Your staff must be familiar with internal procedures and regulations in dealing with cardholder data.

12 Requirements for PCI Compliance

The PCI Security Standards Council provides 12 requirements for businesses to be compliant. Here is an overview of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) requirements:

Goal: Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems

  • Install and maintain network security controls: Install and update a network security device or software defined technologies that check traffic entering and exiting your network, identifying, and blocking potential cyber threats. Test your networks and control connections to untrusted networks.
  • Apply secure configurations to all system components: You must define and implement processes and mechanisms that ensure the configuration and management of system components are secured. For instance you may do this by changing vendor-supplied, generic passwords and settings, removing or restricting functionality where necessary, encrypting access or enabling only essential services.

Goal: Protect Account Data

  • Safeguard stored account data: Protect payment data. Implement policies for disposing of cardholder data, avoid storing sensitive data and limit what you keep, which should be strictly what is necessary for the needs of the business.
  • Protect cardholder data with strong cryptography during transmission over open, public networks: Do not send unprotected account numbers (PAN) and sensitive personal information by any end user communication technology. Instead, use strong cryptography.

Goal: Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

  • Protect all systems and networks from malicious software: Put mechanisms and processes in place to protect your networks and systems from malicious software and malware. Equip your staff with mechanisms to protect them from phishing attacks.
  • Develop and maintain secure systems and software: Spend time reviewing vulnerabilities and risks, then implement processes and systems to provide protection, including following secure development and coding practices.

Goal: Implement Strong Access Control Measures

  • Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know: Restrict cardholder data to only users who need to use the information to complete transactions. Define access roles, privileges and controls so only authorized users can access data.
  • Identify users and authenticate access to system components: Authenticate users and document policies, and see that each user has unique, identifying credentials. For a production environment where you have account data stored Multi Factor Authentication must be implemented.
  •  Restrict physical access to cardholder data: Mechanisms to restrict access to cardholder data must be in place. For instance point-of-sale devices must be protected from tampering or non-authorized substitution.

Goal: Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

  • Log and monitor all access to system components and cardholder data: Ensure your system has an audit trail, and leverage time-stamped tracking tools. These tools can show you when employees access data and help you review logs and identify suspicious activity.
  • Test security of systems and networks regularly: Test and catalog wireless access points. Schedule frequent security vulnerability assessments and proactively monitor traffic.

Goal: Maintain an Information Security Policy

  • Support information security with organizational policies and programs: Establish, publish, and share your company’s information security policy. Explicitly state rules for technologies, key responsibilities, and best practices. Give new employees the policy once signed on. Consider that education on security awareness must be an ongoing activity.

Payment service providers help you manage PCI compliance, making the 12 requirements and six goals simple for you to oversee. Robust platforms will have many of the rules built-in, automating the process. The bottom line is that you do not have to go at it alone.

Note on PCI DSS V4.0

March 2024 marks the beginning of PCI DSS version 4.0 application. Full implementation of PCI 4.0 requirements is effective March 2025.   The latest version of the standard includes many changes that you can check here. A summary of some of the reasons for the changes comprise:

  • Evolution of security needs: As threats evolve, security practices must evolve as well. That is why PCI DSS V4.0 includes requirements for multi factor authentication, password updates and e-commerce and anti-phishing.
  • Security promotion as a continuous process: To face ever changing malicious conducts you need to keep a recurring, well defined and strong policy and processes.
  • Increase flexibility to achieve security objectives: Your organization may adopt an innovative or different approach to achieve some objectives, while maintaining strict controls and processes and keeping the security objectives at the core of your planning and execution.

Enhance procedures and validation methods: Achieve transparency and granularity by designing for clear validation and aligned reports.

PCI 4.0 TIMELINE

How to Achieve PCI Compliance

To become PCI compliant, you need to meet the requirements, do an assessment and complete a security scan:

  • Meet the requirements: Your organization must comply with the PCI Security Council’s rules and any amendments to provisions and sub-requirements.
  • Complete an evaluation: Your organization should complete an assessment showing your security systems and measures to safeguard consumer information. Smaller organizations may complete a self-assessment. Larger enterprises must use third-party auditors to assist.
  • Perform a security scan: Your organization must scan the network you use to process payments. The scan is highly specialized and technical, and it benefits from expert assistance from an independent firm.

Becoming PCI Compliant

For PCI compliance, your organization must undergo a rigorous annual assessment. Although the requirements are universal, your business may need to adhere to additional rules and undergo more stringent checks. Depending on the size of your organization and the amount of transactions you process annually, you will fall into four main categories:

  • Level one organizations: If you process more than six million Visa payments annually across various channels, you fall into level one. You will have the most robust assessments and rules you must adhere to.
  • Level two organizations: Level two organizations complete between one and six million Visa transactions yearly.
  • Level three organizations: If you process between 20 thousand and one million Visa payments every year, you fall into level three.
  • Level four organizations: Level four organizations process under 20 thousand Visa transactions each year.

PCI Security Standards Council may move organizations that have received a cyber attack resulting in data loss into a higher validation level—regardless of the yearly transaction amounts.

What Are the Benefits of Credit Card PCI Compliance?

Your organization benefits from continuously evaluating and maintaining your security systems and addressing gaps. Other benefits of being PCI compliant include:

  • Minimizing the risk of data breaches
  • Protecting cardholder data
  • Reducing the risk of consumer identity theft
  • Identifying, monitoring and addressing security vulnerabilities
  • Decreasing the risk of paying fines associated with data breaches
  • Safeguarding your organization’s reputation
  • Keeping customers happy and confident when transacting with you

Frequently Asked Credit Card Compliance Questions

Have more questions? Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) answered.

1. Who Must Be PCI Compliant?

If your organization accepts, transmits or stores cardholders’ personal data, you must be PCI compliant.

2. What Does PCI Compliance Mean?

PCI compliance means that your organization meets the various security requirements that the PCI Security Standards Council provides. Meeting this compliance means the way your organization accepts, transmits and stores data is safe, private and secure according to the PCI mandate.

3. Is PCI Compliance Required by Law?

PCI Security Standard Council monitors the implementation of standards. PCI SSC standard is at the discretion of organizations that manage compliance programs, such as a payment brand, acquirer, or other entities.

4. How Do I Become PCI Compliant?

PCI compliance is achieved by completing a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) or hiring an approved vendor third-party auditor to complete the assessment, CSG Partners with Aperia, a QSA Approved Vendor. Upon completing the self- assessment questionnaire, and vulnerability scan (if applicable), submit all documentation and evidence to your payment processor (CSG Forte).

5. What Are Examples of PCI Compliance and Data Breaches?

When there are large PCI violations and data breaches it is often newsworthy. The sheer volume of the data and the high profile of the companies involved make these events prominent in the public eye, harming brands’ reputations and exposing millions of consumers to theft and identity fraud. However, it’s key to remember that cybercriminals target companies of all sizes and industries and no business is immune.

6. What Can My Business Do to Simplify Becoming PCI Compliant?

Although the technical aspects of completing the PCI assessment may be beyond the scope of what you can do yourself, your organization can take steps to make the process easier. Focusing on data hygiene is a good example. Here is a PCI compliance checklist:

  • Ensure your organization uses strong passwords and has strict protocols to enforce this.
  • Keep your software updated.
  • Only store the data you need.
  • Be wary of links—encourage employees to think twice before clicking on suspicious links.
  • Explain to employees the importance of protecting consumer data and the implications of not doing so.

Meet PCI Requirements With CSG Forte

Boost your payment security and protect customers’ sensitive data with CSG Forte’s secure payment solutions. Leverage the industry’s highest security standards with a platform with built-in PCI compliance mandates. CSG Forte provides:

  • Secure payments: Keep your consumer data safe with every transaction with CSG Forte’s advanced technology standards and protocols.
  • Tokenization: Leverage randomly generated tokens with no intrinsic value to replace cards, automated clearing house (ACH) networks and other sensitive data. Tokenization helps your organization safeguard against digital security breaches.
  • End-to-end encryption: Using PCI-validated end-to-end encryption, you can disguise credit card data during transmission. The encryption ensures card data is valueless if intercepted.
  • Hosted payment pages: Make sure your organization never stores data in your system using hosted payment pages (HPPs) or external checkout pages. CSG’s platform enables you to provide secure checkouts that won’t require you to manage and collect sensitive data during transactions. Third-party checkout is the easiest, most popular and safest way to accept online payments.
  • Adherence to compliance standards: Benefit from adhering to the most robust, reliable and up-to-date compliance programs. CSG’s security and compliance experts focus on delivering solutions in compliance with various mandates. We hold ISO 27001:2013 certification and maintain PCI DSS v3.2.1 compliance and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. We deliver SSAE 18 / ISAE 3402 SOC 1 Type II reports to ensure your organization’s credibility, accuracy and system security in safeguarding consumer data.

Streamline Your PCI Compliance Requirements

Protect your consumer’s data and prioritize security by leveraging CSG Forte’s award-winning payment platform. Our easy-to-integrate and navigate solution streamlines your payments, helping you process your transactions in one place.

Meet PCI compliance requirements with our built-in functionalities and tools, simplifying secure transactions. Build consumer trust and have peace of mind knowing your payment systems are robust and leveraging the latest security technology.

For over two decades and counting, CSG Forte has been helping thousands of government, insurance, telecom and other industry merchants optimize security, scale their business and process omnichannel payments efficiently.

For help achieving PCI compliance and get the support you need to make processing payments frictionless you can contact our team: whether if you are  a new merchant or an existing merchant.

Frequently Asked Questions About Payment Processing

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The digital payments market is projected to reach $16.62 trillion by 2028. All businesses should be familiar with the basics of payment processing to remain agile in a competitive industry and ever-expanding landscape. We’ve answered some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about payments and their processing to help you get started.

Payment Methods

Understanding the terms and systems that go into payment processing gives you the edge to offer your customers frictionless, secure and simple ways to pay. Here are answers to some common questions about payment methods.

1. What Goes Into a Transaction Flow?

The transaction flow consists of various participants and components, including:

  • Customer: The customer is the individual or organization paying for services or products.
  • Merchant: The merchant is the service provider or business receiving payment from the customer.
  • Payment method: The payment method is how the customer pays—via check, credit or debit card, cryptocurrency, or electronic wallet.
  • POS system: The point-of-sale (POS) system is a digital platform or physical device used for the transaction. The POS system can be on an e-commerce website, app or terminal point at a store.
  • Payment gateway: The payment gateway safely captures and sends information from the POS system to the acquiring bank or payment processor. This gateway encrypts and secures the data during the transaction.
  • Payment processors: The payment processor is a third-party company managing the technicalities of the transaction. These technicalities include validating information, receiving authorization, and facilitating communication between the acquirer and issuer.
  • Acquirer: The acquiring bank, or the acquirer, is the financial institution where the merchant’s account is. The acquirer receives payments on behalf of the merchant, processes transactions for the merchant and settles the funds in the account.
  • Issuer: The issuer or issuing bank is the financial institution that authorizes or declines the transaction on behalf of the customer. Issuers consider customer account status, the validity of the transaction and available funds.
  • Card network: The card network includes organizations like Mastercard, Visa and American Express. These organizations provide the infrastructure, rules and standards for processing transactions.
  • ACH network: The Automated Clearing House (ACH) network is used to move money between bank accounts in the United States electronically. Nacha, previously called the National Automated Clearinghouse Association, runs the ACH network and ensures the payment system is safe and efficient. Transaction types include business-to-business, consumer and government transactions.
  • Payment security: Payment security consists of a range of technologies and standards to ensure transactions are secure from breaches and unauthorized access. Security involves encryption, tokenization and compliance with the regulations set by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Council or the ACH network for bank-based payments.
  • Settlement: Settlement and reconciliation are the processes of transferring funds from the issuer to the acquirer and updating the transaction records to reflect the funds transferred.

2. What Is Payment Authorization?

Payment authorization is when the issuer verifies that the customer has the available funds and confirms that money can be released from the customer’s account. The issuing bank conducts thorough checks before authorizing transactions.

3. What Are Payment Settlement and Operations?

Payment settlement starts with customer payment initiation and ends once the funds are deducted from the customer’s account and paid to the merchant.

During settlement, the issuing bank verifies the transaction details and authorizes money to be debited from the customer’s account and credited to the merchant’s account. This settlement communication operates through the payment network.

4. What Are the Needs and Considerations of E-Check and Credit Card Payments?

E-checks and credit card payments have a few key differences:

  • E-check payments: The Automated Clearing House (ACH) merchant network processes e-check payments between participating financial institutions. E-checks are categorized as electronic funds transfers (EFTs). They work like ACH transfers with routing and account numbers, facilitating funds transfer between accounts. Electronic checks can save your business on payment processing costs—they’re typically more affordable than card transactions.
  • Credit card payments: Card authorization occurs when the merchant accepts a card payment and the payment processor reaches the card issuer. The issuing bank ensures the credit card is valid, verifies the transaction amount and available funds, and does security checks. The issuer will deliver a two-digit code approving or declining the transaction. Credit card transactions are convenient for customers, especially those who prefer to have a range of payment options.

5. What Are the Top Digital Wallets and How Do They Work?

The top digital wallets in North America include:

  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • PayPal
  • Venmo

Digital payment wallets use software that links your payment details from your bank account to the vendor you’re paying. Some apps offer open wallets that allow contactless online and in-store payments.

Electronic wallets make payments easy for customers—there’s no need to keep card details on hand to pay, and the information is stored in one central, protected location.

6. What Does Accepting On-Site Payments With Devices and POS Entail?

If you want to accept on-site payment with POS systems and devices, you need the associated hardware and software. You’ll also need a payment solutions provider.

The necessary hardware includes a card acceptance machine, like a POS terminal. The hardware connects to software that processes transactions via the provider’s solution. POS terminals can accept several types of payments, including contactless payments, credit and debit cards. Customers can tap, swipe and insert cards depending on their preferences.

Processing Models

Processing models allow transactions to happen between the issuer and the acquirer. Here are the related questions answered.

1. What Is a Payment Gateway?

A payment gateway links all entities involved in a transaction and helps systems communicate with each other. Payment gateways establish secure connections to transmit data and process the transfer of funds from the customer’s account to the merchant’s to complete payment.

2. What Is an Enhanced Payment Gateway?

An enhanced payment gateway is a robust version of a standard payment gateway. This solution goes beyond processing payments, leveraging advanced fraud detection capabilities. Enhanced payment gateways may also feature subscription billing and customizable checkout options.

3. What Is an Acquired Payment Gateway?

An acquired payment gateway is a payment processing solution offered by a payment service provider. This solution lets you securely receive customer payments using online wallets, debit cards and credit cards. The gateway handles authorization, transaction processes and the transfer of secure funds into your account.

4. What Is a Payment Facilitator?

A payment facilitator (PayFac) simplifies the setup of payment processing for your business, allowing you to accept in-person and online payments. The PayFac has a master merchant account. Your business becomes a sub-merchant under the PayFac, eliminating the lengthy underwriting process. The PayFac enters a contract with the acquiring bank and manages the approval process on your behalf.

5. What Does It Mean to Be a Third-Party Sender?

A third-party sender (TPS) facilitates ACH transactions by having funds flow through its account. Third-party senders act as intermediaries, making payments on behalf of customers. This approach provides little protection in terms of risk management and adherence to safety standards. A TPS typically comes with higher transaction fees because of the higher involvement in the flow of funds.

6. What Is the Difference Between a Third-Party Sender and a Third-Party Service Provider?

A third-party sender directly receives and transmits funds through its bank account on behalf of a company. A third-party service provider does not hold funds and transfers funds to ACH network users.

When third-party senders pay on behalf of a client, the risk involved tends to raise the price. A TPS solution can also cause customer onboarding friction.

Leveraging a third-party service provider (TPSP) offers greater security, as these entities strictly adhere to regulations and don’t automatically move money. You’ll also benefit from faster processing times, better customer onboarding, flexible transaction limits and lower transaction fees.

Pricing

Payment processing pricing is also an essential consideration for your business.

1. What Is an Interchange Fee?

Interchange fees make up the majority of payment processing fees. You pay interchange fees to financial institutions that manage the customer’s card payments. These are standard charges that come with the convenience of using a specific payment method.

2. What Is Pass-Through Pricing?

Pass-through pricing includes interchange, assessment and payment processor fees. These fees are typically itemized or combined monthly on a statement for a merchant to pay. Pricing structures differ, so it’s important that your business partners with a competitively priced payment solutions provider.

3. What Is a Flat- or Fixed-Rate Model?

A flat- or fixed-rate model charges your business the same processing fee percentage regardless of the card used. The flat-rate percentage is typically based on the cards with the highest interchange rates.

4. What Is a Convenience Fee?

A convenience fee is an additional credit card or online payment charge. It’s sometimes charged by a payment processor when a customer does not pay by cash, check or ACH. It can be applied as a split charge or split fund.

5. What Is a Split Charge?

With a split charge, the payer sees two entries on their statement—one for principal and another for convenience.

6. What Is a Split Fund?

Merchants can set up predefined splits to go to different bank accounts. Split funds come in handy when your business charges convenience fees that need to go to a separate account from the transaction amount. Debit and credit funding bank accounts are usually set up this way for merchants.

CSG Forte offers split funds and handles the setup to ensure hassle-free allocation.

Integrations

Integrated payments connect your POS system to a payment processor, offering streamlined transactions.

How Does Integration Impact the Payment Experience?

Integrated solutions enable you to offer a better payment experience. Customers can pay using various methods without the need for different payment terminals or manual processes, making transactions frictionless.

With CSG Forte, integrated payments are an all-in-one solution that benefits your business and customers.

 Payment Security

No payment processing FAQ would be complete without info about payment security.

1. What Is Tokenization?

Payment tokenization is a security measure that uses unique tokens instead of transmitting sensitive payment data during transactions. These tokens protect information like banking details, primary account numbers (PANs) and credit card numbers.

2. What Is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard?

PCI DSS is a set of standards requiring all businesses that handle credit card or payment information to maintain a secure environment. These compliance standards apply to all organizations, no matter the size of your business or the amount of transactions it handles.

3. What Are the Top Considerations for Nacha Compliance?

Nacha offers rules and requirements for any organization leveraging ACH payments. Here’s a brief overview of what Nacha expects your business to do:

  • Secure payment transmission and storage of sensitive information.
  • Store hard copies of documents with customer information safely.
  • Validate customer routing numbers.
  • Guard against possible fraud.
  • Verify customer identities.
  • Outline and enforce an official security policy.

4. What Is End-to-End Encryption?

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a way to safeguard your customers’ data during transactions. This encryption prevents data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information like credit card or bank account details. Sensitive information is encrypted and securely transmitted from one point to the next, allowing your customers to pay you safely.

The payment gateway performs the encryption when the customer initiates the payment, and it decrypts the information when it reaches the acquirer.

5. What Is Point-to-Point Encryption?

Point-to-point encryption (P2PE) is an encryption method established by the PCI DSS Council. It offers excellent protection, using an algorithm to encrypt card information when the customer initiates payment. The unreadable code is transmitted to the payment processor with a decryption key. The decryption happens virtually, so your business never comes in contact with customer payment information.

While P2PE and E2EE are similar, the PCI DSS Council only accepts point-to-point encryption.

Ready to Streamline Your Payment Solutions?

CSG Forte will help you scale your business rapidly and make payments frictionless for you and your customers. Each year, we help process over $84 billion of payment transactions.

Contact us online to simplify and secure your payments.

ACH Fraud

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The Automated Clearing House (ACH) is a network that clears funds moving from one bank account to another. When a payer transfers money via debit, credit card or EFT, the funds await authorization. Once clear, the ACH system moves the funds into the payee’s account.

The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (Nacha) oversees this network in the United States. Nacha employs rigorous security measures to guard users’ accounts. Outside its security nexus, bad actors who gain access to pertinent information can commit ACH fraud. This type of fraud is relatively common—a criminal only needs access to a few details to open the door to several opportunities for theft. Preventing access at the start is better than remedying a security breach.

What Is ACH Fraud?

ACH fraud occurs when criminals use account and routing numbers to impersonate victims and manipulate the movement of funds. Criminals can obtain routing numbers at the bottom of their targets’ checks. They might use this information to impersonate someone and steal funds through various methods:

  • Internal fraud: When an employee of a company uses legitimate credentials to make unauthorized ACH withdrawals and payments, the fraud is considered internal.
  • ACH kiting: Kiting occurs when fraudsters move funds from one company account or financial institution to another.
  • Fraudulent authorized push payments (APPs): When a customer attempts to pay you, criminals trick them into making ACH transactions prompted by scams, and the funds never reach your account.
  • Unauthorized access to personal accounts: ACH transactions render you and your clients vulnerable to unauthorized persons having access to sensitive accounts.
  • Unauthorized ACH withdrawals: Merchants and clients risk having funds withdrawn from bank accounts without authorization.

Within the ACH network, there are several steps between a payer sending funds to an account and the payee receiving the funds. This process is not impenetrable to criminals, who are using more sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting users. Traditional ACH systems lack proper security mechanisms, leaving you and your end users vulnerable.

ACH Fraud and Concerns

Concern is mounting over the rate at which ACH fraud is increasing, highlighting the need for more vigorous security methods. Criminals only need two data sets to successfully steal money through the ACH network—a bank account number and a bank routing number. Businesses and enterprises accepting payments need to address increasing ACH fraud to protect themselves and end users.

ACH fraud can occur from external means or inside a company. Employees don’t need to know complicated data sets or complex codes to hack a business or another person. Staff are also at risk of social engineering and phishing attacks.

How ACH Fraud Can Effect Your Business

A U.S. District Court recently found a credit union liable for not acting on several suspicious ACH transactions. If you’re a business accepting payments or overseeing financial transactions, it’s critical to be proactive in preventing ACH fraud. Nacha and the Federal Reserve Regulation E have policies that state the consumer is not responsible for ACH fraud unless they fail to report an incident within 60 days.

Financial institutions can be held liable, with the bank returning the funds to the consumer and claiming them back from the original enterprise. Successful fraud protection can keep your end users safe and protect you from the costs of fraudulent ACH activity.

CSG Forte’s Approach to ACH Fraud Prevention

CSG Forte has extensive experience in ACH fraud prevention and detection, and our robust payment platform provides reliable, secure solutions. For your convenience and safety, we adapt to the evolving digital economy to provide a unified payment solution with built-in fraud-prevention protocols using the latest technology.

Furthering your peace of mind that your funds are handled safely, we’ve partnered with Nacha, the body overseeing all ACH transactions. You’ll also benefit from:

  • Advanced security protocols: Your data stays protected with our advanced security solutions, such as Forte.js and compliance with major card brands.
  • Real-time alerts: You can remain in control of your funds by monitoring transactions in real time and receiving alerts for every activity connected to your funds.
  • Comprehensive evaluation: We thoroughly evaluate merchant accounts to prevent delays down the line and help you accept payments seamlessly. Evaluation helps ensure your payment system will have adequate ACH fraud protection, mitigating loss in the long run.

We bring you reliable, safe payment processing solutions. Our approach to fraud prevention is comprehensive, as we’ve partnered with several leading software providers to prevent money laundering and several types of sophisticated financial crimes.

Key Features of Our ACH Fraud Prevention

To secure every payment and keep your data safe, CSG Forte develops every software platform and application tool with security as the cornerstone. The key features of our ACH fraud prevention include:

  • Multifactor authentication: For your safety and privacy, we protect your data with layers of security.
  • Software to detect behavioral anomalies: You can have peace of mind knowing our behavioral analytics software detects discrepancies from your usual activity and alerts you in case of an anomaly.
  • End-to-end encryption: We use end-to-end encryption technology to safeguard all data and prevent your information from leaking to a third party.
  • Tokenization: We limit the exposure of your sensitive information through tokenization, ensuring your data remains hidden in the system throughout the payment process.

We are committed to providing you with rigorous, up-to-date security systems for your enterprise, as evidenced by our compliance with several security programs. You can rest assured your funds are protected during every transaction.

Protect Against ACH Fraud With CSG Forte

ACH is a vital payment method to offer your customers. However, its attainability makes it vulnerable to breaches. Protecting your funds and your customers takes a proactive stance. Take action by integrating an advanced, robust platform from CSG Forte.

To take the next steps with our secure platform, fill out the online form and a payment expert will be in touch. You can also contact our team if you have any questions before you get started.

A Guide to Avoiding Payment Reversals

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Payment reversals challenge organizations of all sizes. Many companies even allocate a monthly budget to payment reversals. They may be a frustrating part of your own business—and depending on your organization’s services or products, you may have a higher likelihood of experiencing payment reversals.

The good news is that avoiding payment reversals is possible. This guide explores all aspects of payment reversal and solutions your organization can implement to minimize your risk.

What Is a Payment Reversal and Why Does It Happen?

While a payment reversal can happen for a few reasons, the direct cause is the initiation of a request by a cardholder, issuing bank, acquiring bank, merchant or card network. A payment reversal on a credit card is not uncommon. Some reasons why payment reversal happens include:

  • Unmet expectations: If consumers feel your product or service doesn’t match what they paid for or expected based on the description, they can submit a payment reversal.
  • Customer-initiated issues: Consumers may change their minds after purchase and no longer want to leverage your products or services.
  • Fraudulent reasons: A consumer may reverse a payment in an attempt to make a fraudulent transaction.
  • Incorrect charges: A payment reversal may occur as a response to the wrong amount of money being taken from the cardholder’s account.
  • Missing information or duplicate transactions: Many fields are involved in payments. If information is missing or incorrect, you may need to reverse charges. Reversals may also be necessary in the event of duplicate transactions.
  • Stock issues: If you are in e-commerce, items may sell out before they are delivered—so the consumer may need a refund for the unavailable products.

All payment reversals should be a concern for your organization and an opportunity to explore ways to optimize your processes. Payment reversals may indicate:

  • Operational failings
  • Product or service issues
  • Inadequate safeguarding against fraud

Payment reversals go beyond the financial implications of your organization needing to return funds and pay associated fees. Depending on the reasons for reversal, your business could face reputational harm and lose customer loyalty.

Types of Payment Reversals

Three main payment reversals exist—authorization reversal, refund reversal and chargeback reversal.

1. Authorization Reversal

Authorization reversal is reversing a payment before it has been fully completed. The automated clearing house (ACH) network is often limited and slow, so pre-authorized transactions are conventional. Pre-authorized funds may take days or weeks to transfer from the customer’s account to your bank account. This delay occurs because the customer’s bank needs to authorize the transaction and specify the funds for the payment. The wait provides a window of opportunity to stop a transaction before money leaves the bank account.

Authorization reversals can happen in various scenarios, including a merchant spotting a mistake in the amount keyed in or the consumer wanting to change cards or payment methods. Depending on the payment software you use, there is usually a way to stop the transaction from happening. The stop communicates to the issuing bank to reverse the authorized transaction.

In other instances, you may require the customer to pay a pre-authorized amount before they use or consume a product or service. For example, a hotel may ask for a deposit on a room before accepting a reservation. This pre-authorized payment is also known as a security payment. If the consumer does not spend the authorized amount, you must fully or partially refund them.

Remember that the longer the authorization takes, the more complex the reversal becomes. As the transaction clears through the payment process from the issuing bank to the card network and the acquiring bank, reversal fees become more expensive and complicated. Ideally, you want the funds to stay in the customer’s account when processing reversals so you can avoid interchange fees.

Rapid authorization reversals are cost-effective and fast. Reversals can happen before consumers even know, making this approach the most convenient and customer-centric way to cancel payments. Quick reversals also mean you won’t have to account for the arrival of a payment and return of funds on your balance sheet—something that’s particularly helpful when you process high volumes of transactions for your business.

2. Refund Reversal

Refund reversals are for payments where transactions have already been completed. Refunds often occur because consumers are unsatisfied with a product or service. If the opportunity has passed for an authorization reversal, a refund reversal is your next best option as an organization.

Instead of canceling a transaction, you pay the transaction in reverse. The acquiring bank is now paying the consumer or cardholder in a separate transaction. That means a refund is not a neutral agreement. You will have to pay transaction fees and lose the sale for services rendered or products sold. Still, a refund is preferable over a customer contacting their bank to get their money back.

3. Chargeback Reversal

Chargeback reversals are the worst-case scenario for your business. These reversals involve a customer contacting their bank to file a dispute against the transaction. A consumer may file a dispute if they believe fraud has occurred or if they never received an item or service they paid for.

Chargebacks are more than an inconvenience for your business. These reversals can incur additional chargeback fees and penalties from card networks.

You can dispute chargeback requests if you provide evidence that the consumer is wrong. A dispute can take weeks or months and cause a substantial administrative burden for your team. Even if you win the dispute, your organization may be flagged by card networks if you receive high rates of chargebacks, leading to stricter security thresholds.

When a chargeback reversal occurs, your organization can face a range of challenges:

  • Paying for shipping fees if you’re selling products or goods
  • Recovering or forfeiting items sold or services rendered
  • Submitting a claim and disputing the chargeback reversal

Chargeback reversal can also leave you with revenue loss and transaction fees associated with fraudulent payments. Excessive chargeback reversals may lead to reputational damage and card networks suspending your ability to transact.

The best way to combat chargeback reversals is to identify fraudulent transactions proactively. Internal system checks will help you reduce the number of chargebacks and help you easily distinguish between legitimate and unauthorized transactions.

How to Minimize Payment Reversals

Your organization will face payment reversals from time to time. You can and should take steps to minimize refunds and optimize your processes to mitigate the risks when they do happen. Some ways you can prevent payment reversals include:

  • Making payments secure: Use additional payment security measures like two-step authentication and tokenization to reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions.
  • Being vigilant: Authorization reversals are often due to human error, like a staff member typing in the incorrect amount. Encourage your employees to be attentive while processing payments, explaining the cost and implications of reversals, refunds and disputes.
  • Leveraging automation and technology: Implement an innovative payment processing platform that manages all your payments in one easy, user-friendly interface. CSG Forte verifies transactions, helps you make payments secure, and streamlines recurring and ad hoc payments. The cloud-based platform will support your employees, minimize admin and help you provide first-rate payment experiences for customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to a few common questions to help you gain a deeper understanding of payment reversals.

What Are the Differences Between a Reversal and a Refund?

An essential difference between reversals and refunds is what happens to the funds. During the former, payment reverses, meaning the bank or payment processor cancels the transaction—the funds aren’t transferred from the customer’s account into your account. A refund means that after a transaction is completed, you need to refund the amount and pay it back to the consumer, incurring transaction interchange fees.

What Is an Example of a Reversal Transaction?

In the context of e-commerce, one example of a reversal transaction is a consumer wanting to purchase running shoes online. The consumer attempts to buy running shoes and, during the transaction, receives notice that the shoes are no longer available in the correct size. While the payment is pending, the consumer cancels the transaction. No funds are transferred from the cardholder’s account to yours, meaning no fees are incurred during reversal.

What Happens After a Purchase Refund?

After a purchase refund, the business returns funds to the consumer’s bank account. It is an entirely separate transaction from the original payment. The amount is the same, but the business must pay transactional and processing fees, and standard settlement time applies.

Why Would a Company Reverse a Payment?

A company might reverse payment if:

  • A customer is trying to commit a fraudulent transaction
  • An item or product is sold out before delivery can occur
  • A consumer changes their mind after ordering a product

Verify Payments With CSG Forte

Scale your business and provide frictionless customer payment experiences with CSG Forte’s award-winning payment solutions.

One of the add-on services that organizations leverage to verify payments is Validate. With Validate or Validate+, your organization can process ACH payments with confidence. Both solutions use an innovative ACH database with millions of records, ensuring funds are in good standing. Validate provides:

  • Updated data sources
  • Instant, actionable responses on each transaction
  • Extensive routing and bank account (DDA) validation over multiple data sources
  • 100% real-time reporting for invalid checksums and transaction routing numbers

With Validate, your organization can proactively minimize and simplify payment reversals to save money and provide customers with seamless payment experiences.

Streamline and Verify Your Payments With CSG Forte

CSG Forte has over two decades of experience delivering innovative end-to-end payment solutions for over 81,000 merchants. We will help you optimize revenue and streamline payment processes with quick, easy integrations.

Contact us to learn more.

‘Tis the Season for Secure Payments: Protecting Your Business from Holiday Fraud

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The holiday season is here, bringing with it the hustle and bustle of surging online transactions. Consumer spend is expected to rebound above pre-pandemic levels for the first time, even as 72% of shoppers anticipate higher prices.

Inflation dread isn’t enough to deter cash-strapped consumers. Credit options, such as Buy Now Pay Later short-term financing, will cover an estimated 13% of holiday purchases this year.

With the uptick of consumers embracing the holiday splurge, it’s essential to ensure that your store is safeguarded from the Grinches of the online world—fraudsters. Here are three tips to keep your e-commerce business merry and bright:

 

1. Hosted Payment Pages: A Trusted Haven for Transactions

Picture a secure fortress for your customers’ payment data—one that’s not on your servers. This is where securely hosted payment pages with a reliable payments provider come into play. By directing your online payments through these secure pages, you’re ensuring that sensitive payment data doesn’t linger in your system like a misplaced ornament.

The beauty of securely hosted payment pages lies in their ability to provide a seamless and secure transaction experience. Customers enter their payment details on a page hosted by the payments provider, keeping the crucial data away from your servers and reducing your PCI (Payment Card Industry) Data Security Standard scope. This ensures a worry-free experience for both you and your customers that leaves fraudsters out in the cold.

 

2. Digital Wallets: Security Wrapped in Convenience

‘Tis the season for giving, and what better gift to offer your customers than secure and convenient digital payment methods? Enter digital wallets. With enhanced security features, they provide a hassle-free and speedy checkout experience.

By offering popular digital wallets at your checkout, you’re not just embracing the holiday spirit—you’re also aligning with what consumers trust. Digital wallets safely store payment credentials and employ advanced encryption techniques to keep them protected. It’s a win-win—customers get a seamless payment experience, and you get the peace of mind that their data is protected.

 

3. Tokenization: Turning the Tables on Fraudsters

If you want to take your holiday defenses up a notch, consider the power of tokenization.

Tokenization involves replacing actual card and ACH payment data with generated tokens. These tokens have no intrinsic value and provide no value to fraudsters. It’s the equivalent of leaving fake presents under the tree for anyone attempting to snatch them. A reputable payments provider can assist you in implementing this robust layer of security, ensuring that even if a Grinch manages to sneak into your system, they leave empty-handed.

In the midst of the holiday season excitement, don’t let the fear of fraud steal your joy. By following these three tips—utilizing hosted payment pages, offering secure digital payment methods, and embracing tokenization—you can ensure your online business stays secure while shoppers stuff their carts.

 

CSG Forte is here to protect your payments this holiday season. Contact us to get started today.

Beat The Numbers Game: Guard Against Card Testing Fraud

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Card not present (CNP) fraud has been on the rise: it’s projected to account for nearly 75% of all payments fraud by 2024, which is up from 57% in 2019. As merchants shift their focus to protect against this growing share of CNP fraud, they find themselves tackling a specific type: card testing attacks.

Payment solutions can play a major role in protecting businesses from card testing-related losses. But does yours have the right capabilities? Read on as we explain card testing and some fundamental ways to reduce its impact on your customers and your bottom line.

What Is Card Testing?

Card testing is a payment fraud technique where cybercriminals use automation or bots to guess valid credit card numbers. It’s literally a numbers game. Fraudsters submit a barrage of small transactions of just a few cents each, testing to see if a card number is valid. Once they’ve identified a set of card information that works, they then use it either to make larger unauthorized purchases or sell the card info on the dark web.

For merchants, falling victim to card testing can disrupt operations and generate costly chargebacks. But it means more than revenue loss: there’s also reputational damage to consider. According to a PYMNTS survey, 21% of consumers said that losing money due to fraud would be the most important factor that would erode their trust in a merchant.

4 Layers of Protection Against Card Testing Attacks

In the battle against card testing fraud, your strongest line of defense is a modern payment solution. It can safeguard your transactions and customer data in multiple ways. Here’s how:

1. ADVANCED FRAUD DETECTION

As we all know, the earlier fraud is spotted, the better. Payment solutions may employ machine learning algorithms that identify suspicious transaction patterns in real time. These fraud detection features can flag and report suspicious activity before bad actors “crack the code” and make a successful unauthorized charge, or before they can go on to do significant damage with the stolen card information.

2. TOKENIZATION TECHNOLOGY

Modern payment solutions typically replace sensitive card data with unique tokens—randomly generated values that are unrelated to the original card data. This adds an extra layer of security. Even if bad actors intercept the merchant’s card data, the tokens render that data useless for making unauthorized transactions.

3. 3D SECURE AUTHENTICATION

Modern payments solutions often integrate 3D Secure protocols, or “3DS,” which stands for 3 Domain Secure. This is an authentication method for online transactions that relies on three domains:

  • Issuer Domain — The bank or financial institution that issued the card
  • Acquirer Domain — The bank or financial institution processing the payment on the merchant’s behalf
  • Interoperability Domain (Card Scheme) — The payment card network (e.g., Visa, MasterCard) that connects the issuer and acquirer domains

If you’re using 3DS, a cardholder making an online purchase undergoes an additional authentication step. This typically involves redirecting them to a page hosted by their card issuer or having them provide a one-time authentication code that is sent to their phone. And it’s this extra step that adds another strong barrier against card testing attempts.

4. REGULAR UPDATES & MONITORING

Payment fraud techniques evolve, and so should your payments solution. Your SaaS provider should provide regular updates and enable round-the-clock monitoring, making sure your payment system is always equipped with the latest security features.

Take Action Today

Safeguarding your organization against card testing is a must. Do you know if your payment system has all these protections in place for you and your customers? Talk to us at CSG Forte, and we can help you ensure your payments security is up to task—even as fraudsters put it to the test.

Tips to Reduce Late Payments by Engaging Payers

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Suman Chaudhuri

Suman Chaudhuri, VP, Sales & Revenue, CSG Forte

 

Late payments are on the rise, and they can weigh down your organization’s growth if they go unaddressed.

Auto loan and credit card delinquencies have bounced back to their pre-COVID rates, and late payments on consumer loans aren’t far behind. With these indicators, merchants in other industries might be right to wonder if they’ll see more missed or late payments—assuming they haven’t already.

Organizations are well aware how late payments can disrupt cash flow. As they add up, they can limit the ability to make the investments needed for growth, from purchasing new equipment, to hiring talent, to ordering inventory. Then there’s the cost of collecting late payments: sending out notices, attempting to call customers, engaging collection agencies, and so on.

Consumers often miss payments due to a lack of funds, but a large chunk of late payments are highly preventable. Among consumers who missed a payment in the previous six months, nearly half said either forgetting about the bill or mixing up the due date were factors, according to a recent survey.

So what can organizations do to help customers pay on time? By keeping them engaged with these approaches.

Make the payment experience as easy as possible

Many late payments result from transaction abandonment, which is a usually fixable problem in the customer’s payment journey. Sometimes the abandonment is accidental: think of how easy it is to get distracted in the process of paying a bill online or over the phone if it requires multiple steps. Other transaction abandonment is deliberate: perhaps the customer became frustrated to learn that they can’t make their payment online, and they put off the task for later.

To reduce transaction abandonment—accidental or otherwise—it’s important to make the payment experience as simple as possible.

Accept multiple payment methods.

You want to ensure most of your customers can use the payment method they most prefer, whether that’s credit/debit card, ACH, digital wallets, and yes, paper checks (55% of U.S. consumers wrote checks in 2022).

Offer auto-pay.

Automating regular payments is a win-win for you and your customers. Customers get to put the recurring payment out of mind, and your organization sees fewer late or declined payments. Offering and encouraging auto-pay makes a huge difference. Between April and July 2020, renters failed to make timely rent payments approximately 22% of the time. However, renters who used Rentec’s recurring payment system, powered by CSG Forte, only made late payments 1% of the time.

Allow payments in installments.

Making the payment experience easier can also involve offering a payment plan if your organization can provide that flexibility. Accepting partial or installment payments can be preferable to delinquent payments, and offering installments keeps the customer engaged. The key here is to use a payment solution that enables customers to set up their own alternative payment arrangements easily, without having to call into your call center. The payment terms, installment amounts and due dates also need to be clearly communicated to the customer through the user interface.

Send payment reminders on the customer’s preferred communication channels

The modern consumer has plenty of notifications and due dates competing for their attention. It’s easy for even your most organized customers to forget a payment unless they receive regular reminders. But reminders only matter if customers receive them on communication channels they use. Make sure you can send these automated messages by multiple methods, including email, text and outbound interactive voice response (IVR).

Also consider payment reminders that can integrate with customers’ calendar applications, increasing their visibility as part of your customer’s recurring to-dos. If you can enable seamless payments through your reminder communications, such as offering text to pay, then you’ve not only made it easier for customers to remember their bill, but also pay it in seconds.

CSG Forte Engage, a payer engagement platform, can help simplify your customers’ payment journey in these ways and more, enabling you to minimize late payments and protect your bottom line. Learn more about CSG Forte Engage and start increasing on-time payments today.

4 Best Practices for a Better Payment Experience

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Providing a smooth experience is key if you want to make on-time payments easy for your customers. But meeting their expectations can be easier said than done.

The payment experience is often reported as a source of friction for customers. According to a survey of 400 billing and collections executives, 91% of customers cited the inconvenience of bill pay as a pain point. And 34% received customer feedback that there isn’t enough choice in payment methods.

Fortunately, there are simple solutions to facilitate a better payment experience. Follow these four best practices to deliver a secure and convenient digital payment experience that cuts down friction and meets customer expectations.

4 best practices to improve the customer payment experience

1. Seek seamless integration of payment methods

Simply making a multitude of payment options available to your customers won’t create a convenient experience. You need to integrate those channels if you want to encourage prompt payment.

When the payment process is comprised of disparate solutions, it creates friction for customers who are forced to leapfrog from one to another. A customer receiving an email payment reminder doesn’t want to get on the phone with a call center agent just to provide their credit card information. Imagine instead the convenience of being directed to an online payment platform directly within the reminder email.

By integrating your payment methods and eliminating cumbersome payment journeys, you’ll encourage prompt and repeatable payments.

2. Prioritize CX to limit late payments

Providing a positive customer experience doesn’t stop at the point of purchase. The payment portal is a brand touchpoint that deserves equal consideration.

For customers, the hassle of navigating a poorly designed platform can deter on-time payments. According to a 2022 survey of more than 1,500 bill payers, 14% of respondents prioritize convenience. Millennials go even further, with 23% citing payment ease as a reason to pay some bills before others.

A business that offers a user-friendly payment experience may encourage customers to first pay their bills before tackling—or even disregarding—those that involve more convoluted processes.

3. Gain trust with a secure payment platform

Many consumers are concerned about security, for good reason. Credit card fraud is widespread, and card-not-present fraud is expected to account for 74% of all credit card fraud losses by 2024. Up to 52% of U.S. bill payers rank security as a top feature in the digital payment process.

Here’s the takeaway: if customers don’t trust your payment system, they won’t use it.

It’s critical to demonstrate that cardholder data is protected on your payment platform. Follow these strategies to keep your customers secure:

  • Use payment IVR systems to securely take payments
    Asking customers to read out their credit card information to a call center agent increases the risk of fraud. Leverage Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology to add a level of security.

    • Inbound IVR allows customers to call in and manually enter their credit card information via keypad, reducing the risk that someone will overhear the details and jot them down.
    • Outbound IVR lets customers receive a scheduled payment call at their convenience and then enter their credit card details during the call.
  • Keep call center payments secure
    Use a payment platform that makes it simple for call center agents to quickly create custom invoices and send customers a link to securely complete transactions. Customers can pay directly without sharing their account data with anyone, all while removing the organization’s exposure to sensitive payment data.
  • Choose a payment platform that offers Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant processing
    PCI regulations change frequently, making it challenging to keep up with complex security requirements. You can spare your business the risk of inadvertent regulatory discrepancies by using a payment platform with built-in PCI compliance. Trusting your payment platform to securely store sensitive customer data lets you stay focused on growing your business.

4. Make it easy for customers to read your reminders

A quick way to increase the odds of late payment is sending a customer reminders on a communication channel they rarely use. Leverage multi-channel communications for reminders to make sure you’re reaching them where they are most likely to respond.

Relying on email won’t always get your message across. Short Message Service (SMS) is gaining popularity. A Statista survey found that U.S. Internet users opened and read 42% of commercial text messages, as opposed to 32% sent by email.

The CSG Forte Payer Engagement Platform allows customers to pay when and how they want

CSG Forte’s Payer Engagement Platform is a revolutionary payments solution that meets your customers where they are. It enables any-time, any-way payment completion on the channel of their choice. Our low-code solution manages invoice creation, payment processing, and payment notifications—all on one secure platform.

Contact us to learn how the CSG Payer Engagement Platform can simplify your customer’s bill payments, improve their experience, reduce fraud exposure and encourage on-time payments.

Invite customers to receive payment reminders, confirmations and late notices on their preferred channels. Then implement a platform with calendar integrations to easily send personalized links to a custom invoice where you know they’ll see it.

React Native SDK from CSG Forte

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The World Advertising Research Center predicted that by 2025, 72% of all internet users will solely use smartphones to access the web.

Continue reading “React Native SDK from CSG Forte”