Payment security breaches are rampant these days. And event organizers are quite worried about this.
In the recent past, there have been a number of event companies that have clashed and announced security breaches as a result of which unauthorized charges have been made in various venues. This happened precisely because the systems were installed with malicious malware. The companies had to apologize and post information on the respective websites about the affected location and dates.
That is why an attempt is made here to take care of the situation so that event planners can deal with the situation before and after the breach.
- Have clauses in contracts that offer you legal protection – Legal protection is necessary. This is most vital in cases where the event planner is not involved in the transactions being dealt with by other event planners. That’s why as the customer shares their credit card details with you, you need to make sure there should be a contract on what their expectations should be. In such circumstances, creating a clear contract guideline about which event partner is responsible for which transaction is an excellent insurance policy that can eliminate any liability or confusion if there is a security breach.
- Alert customers right then and there – Even if a particular client did not do business in the respective period of occurrence of the security breach, the event planners must inform them about the incident and also in writing. Planners should also include information on how the provider is addressing the problem and remind clients who is responsible for it. There must be a clear understanding of what the potential breach of contract is.
- Have customers provide account information directly to event partners who handle specific tasks: If possible, event planners can choose to have a client provide payment information directly to vendors, such as venues or caterers. This actually provides relief to the event planner if account information is compromised.
- Discover the event policies of potential event partners – Before contracting with providers such as restaurants and hotels, planners should research and review their policy against security breaches involving account numbers and other sensitive customer information. Ask them questions like what kind of security protection and protocols do they use to secure the transaction and how are they preparing to resist any malware that infects their systems. You should also ask yourself what will happen if a security breach occurs. It is better to consider another place if the current one cannot give you a clear answer.
- Consider alternative payment options – There are a number of electronic payment services that are emerging these days. Experts say there is too much faith attached to a plastic magnetic stripe card. Electronic payments are more encrypted and therefore more difficult to copy and cheat than a piece of plastic.
The above are some of the ways that companies that provide event planning solutions can manage payment security breaches. If you approach it with the above in mind, you can allocate all your energy to organizing a great event instead of worrying about other things.
