What  Merchants  Need  To  Know  About  Security  For  Mobile  Payments  

Mobile  payments  have  become  an  increasingly  popular  method  for  consumers  to  buy  products  both  in-­‐store  and  online.    

WITH  THE  GROWTH  OF  THIS  RECENT  TECHNOLOGY  COMES  THE  WORRY  FOR  SECURITY  BREACHES.  HOWEVER,  THERE  ARE  WAYS  MERCHANTS  CAN  PROTECT  THEMSELVES  AS  WELL  AS  THEIR  CONSUMERS  AGAINST  MOBILE  PAYMENT  FRAUD.    

According  to  the  “Consumers  and  Mobile  Financial  Services  2015”  report,  39  percent  of  all  U.S.  mobile  payment  users  made  payments  using  their  smartphones  in  2014.    

PCI  Compliant    Merchants  who  chose  to  accept  mobile  payments  must  observe  the  guidelines  in  the  Payment  Card  Industry  Security  Standards  Council’s  data  security  standards,  just  as  they  do  with  payment  cards.  The  standards  set  within  PCI  are  set  to  help  protect  cardholder  data  and  sensiQve  transacQon  informaQon  in  addiQon  to  eliminaQng  security  exposures.      

PCI  Compliant  

The  PCI  SSC  procedures  have  3  main  purposes  that  cover  the  leading  risks  that  are  linked  with  m-­‐payment  transacQons:  • Prevent  account  data  from  being  intercepted  when

entered  into  a  mobile  device• Prevent  account  data  from  compromise  while  being

processed  or  stored  within  the  mobile  device• Prevent  account  data  from  intercepQon  while  being

transmiUed  from  the  mobile  deviceSource  

If  a  merchant  does  not  choose  to  be  PCI  compliant  and  suffers  a  data  breach,  they  can  face  liability  costs  in  addiQon  to  heWy  fines.  As  a  result,  all  merchants  should  make  sure  they  are  PCI  Compliant  to  not  only  safeguard  their  business,  but  to  addiQonally  ensure  the  security  of  their  consumers.    

 

Wi-­‐Fi    Another  way  merchants  can  protect  themselves  from  mobile  payment  fraud  is  by  establishing  their  Wi-­‐Fi  connecQon  on  a  secure  network  that  is  discrete  from  a  public  Wi-­‐Fi  network.  By  implemenQng  P2PE  within  their  in-­‐store  Wi-­‐Fi  network,  the  risk  of  fraud  occurring  is  decreased.    

Source  

This  is  achieved  as  the  data  transmiUed  is  encrypted  within  the  network,  so  that  if  it  were  somehow  intercepted,  it  would  be  valueless  to  hackers.    

TokenizaEon    TokenizaQon  is  yet  another  form  of  security  technology  designed  to  help  prevent  fraud  from  occurring.  With  tokenizaQon,  a  one-­‐Qme  number  is  used  to  represent  a  debit/credit  card  during  a  payment  transacQon.  Since  this  token  can  only  be  “de-­‐tokenized”  by  the  tokenizaQon  service  provider,  it  is  useless  to  a  hacker  trying  to  obtain  card  informaQon.      

Rodrigo  Meirelles  from  Visa  concluded,  “In  addiQon,  tokens  eliminate  the  need  for  merchants  to  store  payment  card  account  numbers.  This  increases  transacQon  security,  reduces  the  risk  of  fraud  in  digital  channels  such  as  e-­‐commerce  and  further  enhances  issuers’  ability  to  manage  risk  and  provide  customer  support.”  

 

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NFC    Using  a  NFC  terminal  will  allow  merchants  to  stay  efficient  and  up-­‐to-­‐date  with  the  latest  technology.  Due  to  the  close  proximity  it  takes  to  make  the  transacQon,  it  would  be  very  hard  for  a  hacker  to  acquire  a  consumers  informaQon.    

That  said,  if  merchants  make  the  upfront  investment  to  upgrade  their  payment  processing  technology  that  supports  both  EMV  and  NFC,  they  can  be  sure  their  customers'  payment  informaQon  is  safer  than  it  would  be  using  a  non-­‐upgraded  POS  soluQon.    

Mobile  Payment  fraud  is  an  issue  that  is  on  the  rise  due  to  the  popularity  of  mobile  devices.  By  becoming  PCI  compliant,  selecQng  a  P2PE  soluQon,  establishing  your  Wi-­‐FI  on  a  secure  encrypted  network,  ,  using  tokenizaQon,  and  upgrading  to  NFC-­‐enabled  equipment,  merchants  can  adapt  and  grow  their  business  into  a  safe  and  secure  place  to  do  accept  payments  via  mobile  devices.      

Contact  First  American  Payment  Systems  today  to  learn  more  about  mobile  payment  security  and  how  your  business  can  

protect  itself  against  mobile  payment  fraud  

First  American  Payment  Systems