Just like physical stores, online shops in the Philippines must also implement robust security measures to detect and deter threats that can impact their operations and their customers. This is true even for small businesses, which are not immune to the increasingly sophisticated strategies that cybercriminals are using to access sensitive information and exploit financial resources. While small online sellers typically lack the resources that are available to larger enterprises, you can still implement these essential safety tips and measures to secure your business and protect your customers:
Secure Your Store’s Payment Systems
The first line of defense that you have against cyber threats is securing your payment systems. This means making every effort to minimize human error in your payment processes and ensuring that all your transactions can be recorded and verified in real time.
One way of doing this is by using Maya Invoice Payments, a solution that allows you to create and send online invoices to your customers. Maya Invoice Payments sends out invoices by email and messaging apps, and ensures that your business has a record of all online transactions. The buyer only needs to click on the unique payment link that will be sent to them and then they can settle their bill on a Maya-hosted checkout page.
You’ll receive a notice once the transaction has been completed, a feature that eliminates any guesswork in deciding when to start processing the customer’s order. This also allows you to immediately verify if the payment has been credited to your account. This helps you avoid falling victim to bogus buyers and other online scammers.
While Maya Invoice Payments is primarily designed for businesses that do not have their own websites, it can also be utilized by stores with their own digital storefronts. Doing so allows you to benefit from the world-class security features that Maya Business uses to protect its partner business. Complement these measures by securing your website. For instance, you must
Conversely, businesses that already have their own website can use a secure payment gateway solution like Maya Checkout. By using Maya Checkout, you can be certain that customer transactions are protected by world-class security protocols. Furthermore, you should make sure to utilize HTTPS encryption to protect the data transferred between your website and users from being intercepted by malicious actors. Additionally, installing SSL certificates provides an extra layer of encryption by ensuring that all transactions are conducted over a secure connection.
Use Strong Authentication and Access Controls
Implementing strong authentication and access controls is essential for protecting online business systems. Business banking institutions that use multi-factor authentication (MFA), such as Maya Business, add an extra layer of security to the process by requiring users to provide two or more verification factors before accessing accounts. You can take this a step further by enforcing strong password policies and requiring your users to come up with complex passwords.
Limiting access to sensitive information through strict access controls ensures that critical data is handled with the utmost level of privacy and security.
Implement Fraud Prevention Measures
Fraud prevention measures are crucial for safeguarding online transactions. These play a key role in monitoring suspicious activities as well as identifying and preventing fraudulent transactions. Implementing verification processes adds an extra layer of security to your processes.
You can do this by sending an email or SMS verification to new accounts. The same can be done when processing large transactions or before sending out bills using your enterprise’s invoice payment solutions. Likewise, establishing a clear process for handling chargebacks and disputes minimizes financial losses and ensures that the business can respond swiftly to any issues.
Secure Customer Data
Aside from monetary gain, tech-savvy criminals can also come after sensitive financial and customer information. Knowing this, you can consider minimizing the amount of sensitive data that your business collects to also reduce the risk of data breaches. Collect only the information necessary for transactions. Also, after using the customer’s information to send out an invoice payment online, anonymize data where possible to protect everyone’s privacy. To avoid data loss due to cyberattacks or technical issues, regularly backup data to secure servers and locations. This will also ensure that your business can recover quickly and continue operations without major disruptions should the said events happen.
Conduct Employee Training and Awareness
Your employees play a key role in ensuring that your online business is safe from cyber threats. Providing regular cybersecurity training helps employees recognize and respond to potential threats. It’s a good idea to start by making them aware of what phishing attacks are and how they’re a common method used by attackers to gain access to sensitive information. This way, they are more likely to recognize these attempts and alert everyone on the team. Developing and maintaining an incident response plan is another measure that can help the business quickly and effectively address security breaches and minimize damage and recovery time.
Ensure Compliance with Legal Requirements
Ensuring legal compliance is critical for protecting your online business and maintaining customer trust. Make every effort to stay informed about local and international laws and regulations regarding online transactions and data protection. It’s also important to involve customers in the implementation of this safety measure. Do this by clearly outlining terms and conditions, return policies, and privacy policies on your website. These steps establish transparency and build trust with customers.
By prioritizing safety when transacting online, businesses protect not only themselves but also their customers. Implementing robust security measures builds trust and confidence among customers, encouraging them to continue doing business with the company. Protecting sensitive data and ensuring secure transactions prevent financial losses and reputational damage. Ultimately, investing in cybersecurity is an investment in the business's longevity and success, creating a secure and trustworthy online environment for all stakeholders.
Maya Business Uses Top-Notch Security Measures to Protect Your Small Enterprise
Safeguard transactions that occur on your platforms by partnering with Maya Business. On top of offering a suite of business banking solutions that meet the needs of modern enterprises, we also implement robust safety and security measures that can protect you and your customers. Begin by signing up for Maya Business and setting up a Maya Business account. This lets you open a Maya Business Deposit account and use it as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. Furthermore, you’ll be able to send money to your partners and suppliers for free via InstaPay and PESONet, which can cut down your overhead costs.
Signing up also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, allowing you to have another funding source to further develop your business and improve your security measures. Just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments. The more you use our solutions, the better the loan offer will be.
Sign up for Maya Business today to enjoy the benefits and added protection offered by Maya Business solutions.
