People nowadays especially the Millennials prefer online shopping because it provides ease and convenience. Even criminals enjoy the same benefits when abusing e-Commerce sites. You get it right! Online fraud is very easy to commit now. Let me get it right. If you are not a thief in the beginning, you can become one just by glancing at another person’s credit card (maybe your mom’s or dad’s) and you can get three most important information that you crave for:
- Card number
- Expiration date
- Owner’s name on the card
CVV Filter
Although the prospect of online fraud can be alarming for businesses of all sizes, the good news is there are features you can use to protect your e-Commerce site against different forms of fraud. One of those steps is using a CVV filter. It can dramatically reduce the frequency and severity of credit card abuse within your online business. This acronym stands for card verification value (CVV) and CVV is the three or four digit number located on the back of virtually all credit cards.
Providing your CVV number to an online merchant proves that you actually have the physical credit or debit card and helps to keep you safe while reducing fraud. CVV numbers are NOT your card’s secret PIN (Personal Identification Number). You should never enter your PIN number when asked to provide your CVV. CVV numbers are also known as CSC numbers (“Card Security Code”), as well as CVV2 numbers, which are the same as CVV numbers, except that they have been generated by a second generation process that makes them harder to “guess”.
Now CVV has been used as a fraud management tool.
The role of a CVV filter is to make it mandatory for customers to enter this piece of information and then decline a transaction if the CVV entered doesn’t match what a bank has on file. While this single line of defense isn’t going to deter every fraudulent transaction, it’s definitely a useful feature that will help strengthen your site’s anti-fraud capabilities.
In terms of using this filter, most e-Commerce platforms and processors have CVV feature available. Most e-Commerce store makes the CVV field mandatory at the checkout page. But since it may not be turned on by default, you’ll want to check for yourself. Some card providers also offer a dynamic CVV that expire periodically, which is an even more secure way to authenticate online transactions. Most platforms and processors can now support this advanced feature as well.
TRUE! CVV is easy to be stolen as they are printed on the user’s card along with the expiration date, number and name. But do not worry because mostly e-Commerce store makes the CVV field mandatory at the checkout page. During the checkout process, customers receive one-time codes sent to their registered telephones or email addresses. That unique code expires after the purchase is complete — or within the next few hours. Unless a criminal has access to these as well, it’s impossible to complete the transaction successfully.
CVV is a powerful tool. However, CVV offers limited protection when used as a standalone security option. The truth is there are several fraud management filters like 3-D Secure (3Ds) that have greater flexibility and control. Combining these tools together is the best way to reduce unethical activity from harming your business.
To cardholders, a gentle reminder for all of you is not to simply expose your cards especially to unknowns and strangers.
Article by Azma Farhana Baharin
