On November 28, 2016, Cyber Monday, consumers spent a total of $3.5 billion in online purchases, with a third of that expended through mobile shopping apps. Most consumer products companies of any size today maintain an e-commerce option for their customers, but how many of these businesses understand how to protect themselves from becoming the victim of online fraud? Experts estimate that fully 20 percent of American small businesses become the targets of fraud every year.
According to Forbes magazine, for every dollar a business incurs in fraudulent online purchases, the business spends more than twice that much in associated costs. For mobile purchases, that figure rises to more than three times as much. In one recent year alone, online merchants spent in excess of $30 billion to prevent hacks, and to fix them after they occurred.
To guard against online fraud, companies can plan ahead by putting customer identity verification systems in place and by using trusted payment gateway providers such as Allied Wallet.