The internet has quickly transformed the world into a global village. Businesses have not been left behind in making the most out of the internet.
Customers can now purchase their favourite brands from anywhere in the world, thanks to the internet and advanced online methods of payment. Besides the positive and bright side of the internet and online payments methods, there exists a dark side—security breach.
Each time you make an online payment, there is a small element of risk that hackers or thieves might secretly steal your bank or payment information. This can be risky, if it happens, as they can use your account to make fraudulent payments to their accounts, purchase items, or even get your cash. Combating unauthorised payments can, however, be achieved by using the most secure modes of online payments.
Check out the five online payment methods we think are the most secure.
Credit Cards
A credit card may be the best choice for your online transactions, including your shopping. Credit cards provide a convenient way of making payments, not to mention their secure nature. What’s more, the process of making payments using credit cards is typically similar for all websites. They have a strong fraud protection feature. Further, it is pretty simple to reverse funds when a wrong transaction is made.
Whenever you transact online using your credit card, the money is not deducted from your bank account immediately. Rather, the card issuer pays for the goods or services, and you pay later. So, whenever you notice suspicious activity, you can notify your card issuer to prevent any further fraud.
To pay securely using your credit card, ensure that the website you conducting the transaction from is secure. You can visit many VPN review sites to find out the best VPNs to use while browsing on such sites. Check out for security features of the site such as the letters “https:” at the beginning of the URL and a small padlock image at the top left-hand corner.
Debit Cards
Another inexpensive and secure way to make online payments is by using debit cards. By using a debit card to complete online payments, funds are deducted directly from your account. With a debit card, you don’t have to worry about racking up debts as it is with credit cards. An extra feature of debit cards that ousts credit cards is the “zero liability” protection.
Here’s a tip to help you insulate your account and protect your debit card details: use a prepaid card to make payments. Funds are loaded onto the card, preventing any direct withdrawal from your checking account. It also reduces the time you use your details to complete transactions online.
Debit cards are also secure for online transactions since their issuers provide 24-hour fraud monitoring services. This helps detect any suspicious activities, if any, and mitigate them beforehand. One-time passwords are also used when transacting with debit cards such that only the real owners of the cards can use them. These passwords are sent to the mobile devices of the cardholders through SMS or Email.
Alternative Payment Services
These are third-party payment services that have increasingly graced the field of online transactions. PayPal is probably the most popular one, both for its reliability and security. Other payment services include Google Wallet, Payoneer, Skrill, among others. What makes these methods secure for online payment is that users don’t share any private information. All they share with the other parties is their address, say their PayPal email address.
Once payment is made by one party, the other party receives it through their equivalent address within a short time. Further, these payment services are regarded as secure because they have a “buyer protection” feature. This makes them almost as safe as credit cards whenever payment or goods don’t arrive so that you don’t get swindled.
Wire Transfers
Some merchants also prefer wired transfers for online transactions. Sellers provide an account number into which funds are to be transferred. After transferring funds, you can share the transaction ID with them for confirmation and to complete transactions.
Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
UPI is a digital payment system that allows users to send money from one bank account to the other. They don’t have to be similar banks and all users do is use the UPI application to transact. What makes it secure for online payment is that there is no need for sharing your debit or credit card details with your bank or anyone else. What’s more, money cannot be transferred from your account to another account without authenticity.
Conclusion
Online trade has been with us for some time now. It is, therefore, important that we use only secure methods when making payments to avoid sharing our card details. Using insecure methods may, in the end, lead to loss of cash through fraudsters, who are always lurking on the internet. Settling on any of the payment methods outlined above will guarantee you security whenever you are transacting.
