This past week saw several advances in the payment space and Ecommerce in general. MasterCard made internal history by releasing its first debit cards in Zimbabwe, we gave 4 quick tips to being PCI compliant, cybercriminals have found a new loophole with White Label Shipping, and Google released a new update to its SEO rankings.
MasterCard to Roll out 3 Million Debit Cards in Zimbabwe, Partners with EcoCash
International payment card firm MasterCard has partnered with African mobile money service and subsidiary of Econet, EcoCash, to enhance cashless Payments in Zimbabwe.
The collaboration will result in over 3 million MasterCard debit cards being issued throughout Zimbabwe. The cards will be linked directly to customers’ EcoCash account. This marks the first time MasterCard debit cards will be made available in the region and is also the largest roll out of EMV pin & chip equipped cards in Zimbabwe, ever.
Currently, an estimated 40% of Zimbabweans are not linked to any financial institution and another 22% rely primarily on informal financial services, such as the M-Pesa money transfer service.
You can read the full article HERE.
Four Quick PCI Compliance Tips
One of the primary obstacles anyone dealing in payments online needs to overcome is PCI-DSS compliance.
The importance of compliance, while not forced upon as with those interested in receiving or maintaining PCI certification, helps with maintaining a safe and secure environment for collected sensitive data, and in the long-run should help save money, as well as protect your company.
The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) provides industry standard regulations and guidelines to encourage best practices and prevent data theft and misuse. The PCI-Security Standards Council (SSC) updated the requirements for compliance this past January with the release of PCI-DSS 3.0. While not straying far from the importance of data security, the new addition to the standard primary includes data security compliance from an employee aspect rather than a technical one.
We have put together 4 important PCI DSS solutions you should be practicing in order to remain compliant.
You can view the full list of tips HERE.
Cybercrime's New Trick. White Label Shipping Companies
Cybercrime and fraud is a constantly growing segment of Ecommerce and retail. Wherever card data is being used and stored, cybercriminals and fraudsters are sure to be lurking, trying to find a way in.
One of the more popular fraud related scams is the purchase of “cardable” items and having them shipped abroad. To those not familiar with the term, a cardable item is one that can be purchased with a certain credit card and billing address, yet have it shipped to another address.
Cardable items consist primarily of high ticket items such as consumer electronics, computers and related accessories. Once purchased the items are sent abroad, mainly to countries with high electronic related taxes, and are sold for more than when purchased, but priced lower than the local prices, that is where the flip comes in.
You can read the full article HERE.
SEO: Google Adds HTTPS as Search Signal
Every Ecommerce outlet knows the importance of SEO, especially on Google’s search engine, so knowing the advances and changes to Google’s ranking is key to having good search engine placement.
The latest update to Google’s search algorithm takes into consideration what the firm has been recently advocating, security. According to a recent blog post on Google’s Webmaster Blog, search rankings will now take into consideration security measures, primarily HTTPS encryption.
The drive behind the new criteria is something Google calls HTTPS everywhere, an initiative to boost online security, especially for users experiencing the web through Google’s services.
You can read the full article HERE.
