Payments over the phone is now a method that is being practiced all over the world. If you have a business and you take card payments over the phone, this will give you the chance to close a sale on a single phone call. But what do you need for you to offer this option to your clients and customers? Don’t worry! Just let this article guide you through this very easy process.
Choosing A Terminal Provider
Before you can take your customers’ payments over the phone, you need to set up a virtual terminal. There are plenty of providers in the UK that offers ‘card not present’ payment transactions. This is what they call the Virtual Terminal. Providers offer different service fees as well as sign up procedures.
You Should Comply With PCI DSS
Once you already picked a virtual terminal, you have to ensure that these payments are processed securely. It is strongly encouraged to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards or PCI DSS. simply because you will be handling highly confidential data from your customers. Remember that over-the-phone payments are the most vulnerable to fraud.
It would be very useful if the provider can support you to meet the PCI compliance rules, which are fairly strict. This is not only to protect you and your business but most importantly, your customers. You need to fill up a PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire. You also have to follow the steps by the PCI to ensure the security of your phone payments.
Start Taking Phone Payments
Once the above steps are done, you can start taking payments over the phone. Here’s how to do your first over-the-phone payment:
- You have to log in to your account with your payment provider.
- Follow the on-screen instructions and fill up the required information including the card number, expiration date, as well as the cards’ security code.
- Provide additional security information in the absence of the cardholder to enter the PIN. The security information may include the cardholder’s name as it is written on the card, postcode, and the address.
- Submit the information. Make sure that you have the customer on the phone while processing the payment.
- Once the payment is successful, ask the customer how he or she would like to receive the receipt. Email is the most common method, but for product shipments, you can always include the receipt with the parcel.
Phone Payments – How Safe Is It?
One of the reasons why many people are afraid of taking payments over the phone is because of its risks. If you are going to ask if phone payments are safe, the answer is a bit complicated. However, it all comes down to how you handle the payments and how you take care of your customer’s information. If you want to prove to your customers that transacting over the phone is a safe option for them, make sure that you prove their assumptions wrong.
Over the phone, transactions are perfect, especially if the customer is not able to drive down to your store. This is also the best payment method for transactions where you need to ship the customers’ orders. So what are you waiting for? Follow the steps above and expand your business’s reach. Because now, you can start taking payments by phone.
