Your website is your online shop window to the world, visible to anyone anywhere browsing the net. If your e-commerce business is to prosper and grow, you must make a profound impact by designing a website that is:
There can be no show without adherence to the guidelines set forth by the card schemes. Our goal here is to help you deal with the various compliance issues by:
So a very BIG welcome to website compliance! Compliance is principally about Reducing Risks… To be precise, reducing the Risks of Chargebacks and allegations of fraud. Chargebacks hit your bottomline profits:
And in the worst-case scenario:
Chargeback management starts with managing the content of your website, which should comprise:
A Clear Product Description – This will reduce customer dissatisfaction with goods or services purchased. Product information and descriptions should:
A Comprehensive Shipping Policy – Detailing the shipping options available, expected delivery timeframes, and associated shipping costs. The shipping options section should:
* It is advisable not to share tracking numbers or allow the redirection of deliveries to avoid manipulation by fraudsters.
A Concise Refunds, Returns, Cancellation, and Credit Policy – Covering all criteria under which refunds, returns and cancellations are entertained, including timeframes, limitations and conditions. The Policy should clearly outline the procedure for affecting cancellations and returns, and should ensure user comprehension and acceptance of the Policy by providing ‘Accept’ or ‘I Agree’ buttons.
*Keep in mind that an unbalanced, excessively prohibitive returns and cancellation policy could lead to poor customer satisfaction and result in chargebacks.
A Customer Support Link – Online buyers should be provided with a support number, email address or web-form through which they can contact you in order to obtain clarifications or settle disputes which could otherwise result in chargebacks. It is advisable to:
*Prolonged responses could lead to customer irritability and subsequent reluctance to resolve disputes before triggering a chargeback.
Terms and Conditions – must be presented in order to fulfil legal disclosure obligations, establish the terms of use under which visitors may use website, and limit liabilities associated with website use. Terms & Conditions should include:
*Important customer information is often manifested in the small print of a website’s terms and conditions rather than shown clearly and separately for better visibility – safeguard against such a practice.
Required Data Input Fields on the Payment Page – The information collected on the payment page is used to identify the customer and assess a transaction’s fraud risk, and include inter alia the Shoppers’ Cardholder Name and Billing Address, Shipping Name and Address, Email Address, Telephone Numbers, Card Type used, Card Number, Expiry Date, and Verification Code. The payment page should be designed to:
Compliance is also about making e-Commerce an attractive, pleasant, and secure shopping experience. Website Content aimed at ensuring this includes:
Essential Merchant Data on Payment Page – Your payment page should contain:
A Privacy Policy on Home Page – this will ease customer concerns about providing personal data by defining the data to be collected and how it will be used. Your Privacy Policy should:
*Without a Privacy Policy, you run a very real risk of losing customer trust and confidence.
Card Scheme Logos – should be clearly presented in the footer of the homepage and on the payments page. The display of the card scheme logos provides confidence that you are duly authorized to accept payments using the world’s most trusted payment brands.
As always, we are always available for further discussion or clarifications in case required. Your feedback is more than welcome.
Sincerely,
The Enterpays Team Management