The holiday season brought a reminder of last year’s issues with data breaches. While it was thought that the big-box retailers were always safe, 2013 showed us that they were just as vulnerable as everyone else. These breaches affected Target, Neiman Marcus, Panda Express, and later, Home Depot, among others. While consumers tend to trust the big-box retailers more than smaller retailers for security, the breaches showed us that anything is possible.
The biggest issue may be the cost that come with massive hacking’s. According to Target, net breach-related costs have been $158 million thanks to a $90 million insurance receivable. It is still a massive amount, and Home Depot’s damages are not yet finalized. Home Depot expects $27 million in gross breach expenses and net costs of $6 million after insurance reimbursements. Home Depot, luckily, has a $100 million dollar breach insurance policy (yes, that actually exists). So, if you are a small merchant, or an online merchant, or an aspiring merchant, you may be concerned. You should be. Data breaches are not to be taken lightly, and they can happen even with the most reliable security systems. One thing that you need to focus on is your merchant account provider.
You need to make sure that your merchant account provider is equipped to handle fraudulent issues. Not all are equipped, and many will drop your company is you have one too many fraudulent charge allegations. One of the best merchant account providers in the USA is eMerchantBroker.com, because they offer a chargeback suite. This helps you combat fraudulent charge allegations, but helping you determine if the charge is actually fraudulent. eMerchantBroker.com’s chargeback suite can also help you keep the fraudulent charge fees low. If you have ever suffered from a chargeback, you know that the fees can costs as much as 270% of the original item price. It is better to be safe than sorry, and your best bet is to employ the services of eMerchantBroker.com.