How to protect your business from fraud

As you plan to start or grow your small business, protecting your customers’ personal data from fraud is just as important as the product or service you sell. Even with today’s elevated cyber security efforts, criminals are becoming savvier every day and targeting small businesses who are less likely to have the appropriate reinforcements in place.

With so many different aspects of running a business to juggle, researching an effective security prevention plan can fall to the wayside, leaving the business in a vulnerable state.

To help you save time, and the headaches that come with a data breach, we surveyed 1,000 consumers and businesses to get their opinion on the many factors impacting the payments industry, including fraud and security. Here’s everything you need to know about fraud protection in less than 300 words, based on our exclusive research.

1. Security is the number one issue for consumers, above cost and convenience.
2. Over half of our survey respondents think that payment security has increased significantly, but 78 percent say they have security concerns when paying online.
3. Perceptions of different payment options are clearly linked to perceptions of security. The most preferred payment methods are debit/credit cards and PayPal, which are thought to be the most secure according to our research.
4. Social media platforms have not taken off due to distrust in online payments security. Sixty-four percent of our consumer respondents would not trust any social media platform, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest. This is somewhat surprising given the popularity of social media among all age groups.
5. About 13 percent of consumer respondents said they have experienced online fraud in the last 12 months. On average, respondents lost $1,819 per fraudulent occurrence. Millennials, those between 16 and 29 years old, and respondents between 30 and 44 years old stand to lose the most money per fraudulent occurrence. The latter group loses more than $3,000 per year on average due to fraudulent activities.
6. Forty percent of businesses think EMV technology will make payments more secure.
7. Businesses on average spend $20,000 on fraud protection.
8. A fifth of surveyed businesses doesn’t invest in fraud protection tools.
9. CVV2, the three-digit code printed on the back of credit and debit cards, is the most-used fraud deterrent in 2016.
10. Thirty-four percent of businesses are concerned that EMV will decrease their volume of sales due to slower customer service.