Would you feel comfortable reading your credit card numbers out loud to a cashier at the local grocery store while multiple people are standing around you? Of course you wouldn’t, and for good reason. A recent article by Art Coombs reminds us, “As consumers, we never know where or when a fraudster might try and use our data.” Advancements in technology, such as EMV chip credit cards, have helped make it extremely difficult to steal credit card information from within brick-and-mortar stores. However, it’s a lot easier to steal credit card information from a contact center, where credit card numbers are often read aloud over the phone. Plain and simple, it’s not always easy to tell who’s listening when you’re on a call with somebody you don’t know. For this reason, customers are often hesitant to give their credit card, and other personal information, out loud over a phone call.
Coombs explains how a recent study from The Summit Group found that 70 percent of people who took the survey were uncomfortable giving out their private financial information, especially if the call center they’re talking to is from a location foreign to the United States. While this fear won’t stop most people from purchasing and sharing information over the phone, they will still maintain a level of concern about their information security. Unfortunately, this fear of security being breached is justifiable.
It turns out that one of the biggest threats to security companies can be their own employee. Coombs cites a survey and reports that companies have experienced security breaches due to negligent or malicious employees, while 60 percent of companies say that their employees don’t understand how they effect the company security and a very low percentage of management put it as a top priority.
Hopefully you’re not running for the hills in panic at this point, because there is technology available that many companies currently use and are easy to implement if they’re not already using it. These solutions allow the user to send their private information to the call center with the keypad, which is processed directly and the call center agent only receives the confirmation of the approved charge. To put it into a day-to-day example, it’s the same as putting your chip card into the machine at the grocery store where the cashier never sees your information, only the transaction approval. Ultimately, this technology should eliminate (or at least greatly reduce) the chances of fraudulent activity or information theft.
In the end, your company will not be successful if your customers don’t feel like they’re safe and secure when they call you. It’s very easy to implement technological solutions into your existing call center system that can ensure the safety of your customers and your call center, so there’s no excuse for avoiding it. If you implement security software, it will lead to a greater return on investment for your company. The more comfortable customers feel with you, the more likely they’ll be to use your company for their needs, which will bring greater customer satisfaction and higher revenue.
This blog post was based on an article that originally appeared on ICMI. To read the original article, please click here.
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