1. Know the risks and train the troops

Your exposure to e-commerce risk depends on your business policies, operational practices, fraud prevention and detection tools, security controls, and the type of goods or services you provide. Your entire organization should have a thorough understanding of the risks associated with any Internet transaction and should be well-versed in your unique risk management approach.

2. Select the right acquirer and service provider(s)

If you have not launched an electronic storefront, you need to partner with a Visa acquirer that can provide effective risk management support and demonstrate a thorough understanding of Internet fraud risk and liability. You also want to take a good, hard look at any service provider before you sign a contract. Bottom line? Does the service provider have what it takes to keep your cardholder data safe and minimize fraud losses?

3. Develop essential website content

When designing your website, keep operational needs and risk factors foremost in your mind. Key areas to consider are privacy, reliability, refund policies, and customer service access.

4. Focus on risk reduction

Your sales order function can help you efficiently and securely address a number of risk concerns. You can capture essential Visa card and cardholder details by highlighting required transaction data fields and verifying the Visa card and customer data that you receive through the internet.

5. Build internal fraud prevention

By understanding the purchasing habits of your website visitors, you can protect your business from high-risk transactions. The profitability of your virtual storefront depends on the internal strategies and controls you use to minimize fraud. To avoid losses, you need to build a risk management infrastructure, robust internal fraud avoidance files, and intelligent transaction controls.

6. Use Visa tools

To reduce your exposure to e-commerce risk, you need to select the use the right combination of fraud prevention tools. Today, there are a number of options available to help you differentiate between a good customer and an online thief.  Key Visa tools include Address Verification Service (AVS), Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2), and Verified by Visa.

7. Apply fraud screening

Fraud-screening methods can help you minimize fraud for large-purchase amounts and for high-risk transactions. By screening online Visa card transactions carefully, you can avoid fraud activity before it results in a loss for your business.

8. Implement Verified by Visa

The tool Verified by Visa can create the most significant reduction in merchant risk exposure by increasing transaction security through cardholder authentication and by providing chargeback protection against fraud. E-commerce merchants who work with their acquirers to implement Verified by Visa are protected from certain fraud-related chargebacks on all personal Visa cards with limited exceptions. If applicable, E-commerce merchants may receive a reduced interchange rate.

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