What Is a Secure Payment System? (2024)

4 Min. Read

July 23, 2024

Data breaches and online payment scams are the great dangers of running a business online. Your customers want to trust that your payment gateway is secure. You’ll need a good secure payment system to process payments safely. In this guide. We’ll break down exactly what that is and some key terms in data security.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is a Secure Payment System (SPS)?

Key Definitions in Payment Security

What Is the Most Secure Method of Payment?

FreshBooks Is a Secure Payment System

What Is a Secure Payment System (SPS)?

As the world becomes more digital, e-commerce is more common. More and more consumers are entering highly sensitive financial information online. Hackers try to get the personal information of consumers by attacking fragile processing systems.

A secure payment system (SPS) is a system that protects the payment information of users. Unauthorized access and fraud are commonplace. An SPS uses data encryption and other data security tools to safeguard against this.

You can find out if any payment page online is secure very easily. All you have to do is right-click on the payment page. There will be a dropdown menu. On the dropdown menu select “properties”. Then select “details”. You’ll be able to see the secure payment system certificate there. Typically it’ll say TLS or SSL which we’ll explain shortly.

Key Definitions in Payment Security

SSL – SSL means Secure Sockets Layer. It was developed as a method of encrypting vulnerable information between payment networks. It’s the standard technology that secures the sharing of information online.

TLS – TLS stands for Transport Layer Security. It’s the most recent update to the SSL system. Most secure payment systems use TLS encryption protocols as standard now. Even if an SPS certificate on a payment page says SSL, it will likely still be the updated TLS. They are used interchangeably.

Secure Payment System Certificate – SSL/TLS are examples of a secure payment certificate. It means that the payment system in question meets the criteria for securely safeguarding the transfer of highly sensitive information. Having an SSL certificate is a signal to your customers that your payment system can be trusted. It assures them that you’re data security is solid. Without one, you may lose business as customers are dubious about buying from you.

Payment Gateway – A payment gateway is a type of financial service that facilitate online transactions. It’s an e-commerce application that authorizes payments between a buyer and seller. It’s a third party service between the bank, payment processor, customer and merchant.

Payment Processor – A payment processor manages card transactions between a bank and a merchant. They authorize and manage the card transaction process.

PCI – PCI stands for Payment Card Industry. The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council creates guidelines for secure payment processing. A processor or gateways that complies with these industry standards is likely to be highly secure and trustworthy. Service providers will indicate this as “PCI compliance” on their privacy policy.

What Is the Most Secure Method of Payment?

In the physical world, credit cards have long been the most secure way to pay. Credit card companies have robust fraud detection and data security in place to protect their customers. Online payment processors like Stripe, or gateways like PayPal, are also competing as secure payment methods.

These secure online payment services have a high level of data encryption capabilities. There are plenty of payment processing solutions in Canada. Stripe, PayPal and Square are three of the most well-known.

FreshBooks Is a Secure Payment System

Our system is not just for sending and recording invoices. You can also accept payments online. When you send an invoice through FreshBooks, you have the option to let your customers pay through our three gateways. We have PayPal, Stripe and our own secure FreshBooks payment system.

We follow the guidelines set by the PCI to ensure you get the industry-best online payment security available.

Once your customer pays, our system will record the payment on your accounting ledger automatically. It’s a seamless, fast experience saving you time and making you money!

Did you enjoy this guide? Head to our resource hub to learn more about how payment processing works.

RELATED ARTICLES