A recent report of Statista predicts that India’s ecommerce industry is going to grow at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 23% between 2016 and 2021. With an increasing number of users opting to shop online, India’s retail ecommerce revenue is likely to grow to $62.3 billion by 2023 up from 20.5 billion in 2017.
With India’s ecommerce industry becoming larger, they are more susceptible to online frauds. Further, a report by Financial Express indicates the number of online frauds has seen a huge leap of 475% between August 2016 and 2019. Consequently, the use of shopping credit cards for online purchases is susceptible to various online risks as well.
Skimming for information, phishing, carding, etc. are a few types of credit card fraud that can be avoided with smart utilisation of credit cards. Nonetheless, users can make use of the tips mentioned below to make sure they experience a safe and awesome shopping experience with a credit card.
5 Tips to make online shopping safe with a credit card
1. Don’t provide credit card details over a call or email
It may sound absurd as a tip but individuals often tend to be careless with their shopping credit card information. Sharing it over a phone call or email can lead to fraudulent transactions. Therefore, make sure to be careful with credit cards and the associated information.
2. Create distinct and strong passwords
Using the same password/PIN for several accounts or one which is too obvious to guess can lead to fraudulent activities. Consequently, users should make sure to take necessary safety measures and create strong unique passwords to protect their credit card from being hacked.
3. Report immediately in case of fraudulent transactions
One should make sure to report any fraudulent transactions made using their credit card instantly so that they don’t have to pay for that. This way, shoppers will be more equipped for a safe online shopping experience.
4. Use authorised sites that use a secure connection
Customers should make sure to shop from reputed and authorised sites that use technologies like SSL (Secure socket layer) which uses data encryption for security purposes. Further, shoppers should use a secure internet connection while making transactions to avoid easy accessibility to sensitive information.
If the shopper wishes to know which type of SSL certificate is on the browser, they can click on a padlock, and click on View certificate in chrome. It will open a box where a shopper can find certificate details. The certificate could be a single domain, multi-domain, wildcard SSL (We recommend comodo wildcard SSL certificate) or code signing certificate, etc.
5. Choose a card that provides robust security features
Users should apply for a credit card that provides them with robust security features and help them make payments safely online. Credit cards like the Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank SuperCard offer customers with features like ‘in-hand security’ and ‘zero liability cover’ that helps reduce the risks of online transactions.
Making sure to adhere to these pointers will make customers ready for a safe online shopping experience. Further, they can obtain improved shopping experience with these tips.
Tips for an improved shopping experience
- Utilise the earned reward points in eligible purchases in the form of cashbacks or qualify for a voucher.
- Acquire a welcome bonus when you apply for credit card afresh and make use of the points while shopping.
- Plan big purchases towards the beginning of the billing cycle to have maximum days for making bill payments.
- Shoppers can convert big purchases into easy EMIs (Estimated monthly instalments) and pay bills on time.
- Customers can avail a loan from the available credit limit of their shopping credit card and use it in emergencies.
Since credit cards offer users with the flexibility in terms of available credit and in making bill payments, they are widely used as a payment method. However, the threats of cybercrime and other such perils are inevitable that can be avoided by following these tips strictly. It is vital to stay safe from such incidents and to avail secure credit cards.
