Merchant Support Centre

Obtain the three or four-digit card verification number from the cardholder (often referred to as CVV). The card verification number is a code printed on all Mastercard, Visa and American Express cards.

• From 1 April 2012, all eCommerce transactions must include the card verification number. An eCommerce transaction is defined as a payment accepted over the internet where the cardholder is entering the card details themselves.
• To maintain the security of the card, it’s important that this number is not stored in your system – therefore it’s optional for mail/telephone orders.
• The purpose of the card verification number is to attempt to verify that the person placing the order has the actual card in his or her possession.
• Requesting the card verification number can add a measure of security to the transaction.

Effectively leverage your own customer history data.

• If you have had a fraud event associated with a customer, the details of that transaction should be added to internal ‘negative lists’. Any subsequent order that shares the same characteristics should be considered suspicious.

Be alert for the following indicators and remember – any of these factors could pose a high risk.

• First-time shopper - criminals are always looking for new merchants to steal from.
• Larger-than-normal orders - because stolen cards or account numbers have a limited life span, criminals need to maximize the size of their purchase.
• Orders that include several varieties of the same item - having multiples of the same item increases a criminal’s profits.
• ‘Rush’ or ‘overnight’ shipping - criminals want their fraudulently obtained items as soon as possible for the quickest possible resale and aren’t concerned about extra delivery charges.
• Multiple transactions on one card over a very short period of time - this could be an attempt to ‘run a card’ until the account is closed.
• Inconsistencies - information in the order details such as a mismatch in the billing and shipping address, telephone area codes that aren’t aligned with postal area codes, email addresses that don’t look legitimate, and orders placed at unusual times of the day.
• Shipping to a single address, but transactions placed on multiple cards - this could involve account numbers generated using special software, or even a batch of stolen cards.
• Multiple transactions on one card or a similar card with a single billing address, but multiple shipping addresses - this could represent organised activity, rather than one individual at work.
• Especially for phone and internet orders - deliver goods to a person in a building and ask for ID.
• Multiple cards used from a single IP address - more than one or two cards could indicate a fraud scheme.
• Orders from internet addresses that make use of free e-mail services - as these e-mail services involve no billing relationships, there is often neither an audit trail nor any means to verify that a legitimate cardholder has opened the account

For internet (eCommerce) transactions, we recommend that you use 3-D Secure services to authenticate the cardholder’s identity, utilising Mastercard SecureCode and Verified by Visa.

By utilising 3-D Secure technology, a cardholder is presented with an authentication page provided by the card issuer as part of the purchase process.

• Verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode offer chargeback protection for enrolled merchants on consumer (but not business and pre-paid) card products.
• Transactions are not processed if the cardholder fails the authentication process.

In most instances, the use of 3-D Secure authentication will make the card issuer responsible for the chargeback liability on any fraudulent transactions. However, merchants will still remain liable for chargebacks related to the goods or services provided (e.g. not as specified, goods not received, etc.). It is important that you read through the terms and conditions around chargeback liability – particularly regarding which cards are covered by 3-D Secure (for instance, commercial and pre-paid cards  are generally not covered).

3-D Secure should not be considered a substitute for your own risk management practices – you should continue to monitor high risk or suspicious sales.  We recommend that you cancel and refund any order that seems suspicious.

Card data ranks amongst an individual’s most important personal information. For this reason, your customers must be certain that their personal card data is secure at all times.

In today’s environment, there are a number of ways that cardholder data is transmitted, processed and stored. On the flipside, there are an equal number of ways for fraudsters to gain access to this information.

Payment account data security is mandated globally by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS, or just “PCI”). This is governed by the PCI Security Standards Council.

It’s your responsibility as a merchant to keep cardholder data secure. Because a united front is the best way to minimise the chances of cardholder data getting into the wrong hands, the team at Bendigo Bank are more than happy to assist you with all matters relating to your PCI compliance.

The easiest way to reduce your responsibilities with PCI is not to transmit, process or store card data through your systems. Most payment gateways will be able to provide you with solutions that transmit card data directly from your customer’s computer to the payment gateway. These solutions may be hosted payment pages or integrated solutions that use an iFrame or a transparent redirect. If you offer recurring billing, your payment gateway can store card details with the gateway and use a token to replace the card numbers in your system.

If you are using an integrated API (Application Programming Interface) to submit transactions to your payment gateway, your systems are still within scope of the PCI standards. The reason for this is that an API connects with your web server, not the web page directly, so card data is decrypted and re-encrypted by your server as it is transmitted to the payment gateway. You will be required to validate that no residual card data is retained in your system’s memory or log files.

PCI DSS protects cardholders and minimises the risk to your business. Among the many benefits of adhering to the PCI DSS requirements are:

• Protect customer data.
• Provide a complete ‘health check’ for any business that stores or transmits customer information.
• Lower exposure to financial losses and remediation costs.
• Maintain customer trust and safeguard the reputation of their brand.

In addition , we have also put together some tips to help minimise the risk of fraud at point of sale. The best course of action is awareness and prevention.

• Check that the person presenting is the card holder.
• Confirm the card number matches the abbreviated number printed on an EFTPOS receipt.
• Keep the card until you check the signature.
• Be wary of unusual shopping behaviour and multiple declines.
• Be wary when splitting a transaction over multiple cards.
• When the card is present, insert or swipe the card – never hand-key the card number.
• Check the holograms and validity dates.
• Don’t process transactions on unsigned cards or cards with “See ID” in the signature panel.
• If the goods are paid for over the phone, when the goods are collected ask for the card and arrange for the customer to sign the sales receipt.
• Authorisation is not proof of identity or guarantee of payment. It simply confirms funds are available and the card hasn’t been reported lost or stolen.
• Never process transactions for someone else. You will be liable in a dispute situation.
• Never fulfill requests for goods that you don’t normally trade in or sell.
• Keep your terminal secure at all times and minimise the number of people who know your refund password.
• Protect your customer’s PIN – never point cameras at terminals.
• Securely store transaction receipts containing full card details.
• For terminal service or exchange, ask for bank identification.
• If you’re not comfortable accepting card payment and the customer won’t provide another form of payment, don’t proceed with the transaction.
• Your safety is paramount – never put yourself in danger.

In the event of a dispute, the onus is on you to prove the goods or services were provided to the rightful owner. Failure to prove this will result in the full value of the transaction being debited from your account, plus any dispute fee.

[!!!] The fraud prevention examples provided are not a complete list of measures to minimise fraudulent behaviour or risks associated with merchant facilities. Bendigo Bank is not liable for any loss or damage suffered by you in reliance on this list of examples.