Reducing risk when accepting credit cards at your business

If you plan on making credit card transactions over the phone, Internet or by mail (any method where a signature is not available), you are increasing your risks. By taking certain precautions though you can mitigate these risks substantially.
So please read on...

Here are a few tips to reduce your business risks for transactions over the phone, Internet or by mail (when a signature is not
captured):

1) Always require the following information on every mail/phone/Internet sales draft:

- Credit card number and expiration date
- Name that appears on the front of the card
- Cardholder's billing address and phone number
- Description of merchandise and/or services rendered

2) Use Address Verification Services (AVS) which verifies the cardholder's billing address with a cardholder's credit card company. If you do not get an exact match, do not proceed with the transaction.

3) When you ship the merchandise, ship only to the cardholder's billing address, NEVER ship to any other address that the customer may request. Be careful with international orders.