Best Practices for Storing Credit Card Information in Your Database

Best Practices for Storing Credit Card Information in Your Database

Every time a customer makes a purchase using a credit card, their sensitive information is transmitted and stored on the merchant’s database. As a business owner, ensuring that this information is stored securely is paramount to maintain your customers’ trust and safeguard against legal consequences of data breaches. In this article, we’ll explore the best practices for storing credit card information securely in your database.

Limit Data Collection and Retention

The less data you collect and store, the less vulnerable your database is to hacking attempts. Collect only the data that’s necessary to complete the transaction such as the card number, expiration date, and cardholder name. Avoid storing sensitive information such as CVV codes, which are unnecessary for processing payments.

Additionally, review your database regularly to remove expired or unnecessary data. This reduces the chances of data breaches, as hackers have nothing to gain from infiltrating a database with outdated data.

Use Encryption and Tokenization

Encryption converts sensitive data into code during transmission and storage, making it difficult for hackers to extract readable information. When stored in a database, it is recommended to encrypt credit card data with unique keys for each transaction, which reduces the impact of data breaches.

Tokenization involves replacing sensitive information with unique identifiers to protect the actual data from attacks. In this case, credit card numbers are replaced with tokens that have no value or meaning outside of the payment ecosystem, providing an extra layer of security.

Segregate and Isolate Your Database

It’s important to segregate and isolate your credit card database from the rest of your network to minimize the risk of unauthorized access. This is achieved by creating a separate environment that has different access controls and restrictions, reducing the chances of malicious actors obtaining valuable information.

Implement Strong Password Policies

One of the most common ways that hackers gain access to data is through weak passwords. Ensure that your employees follow strong password policies that include long, complex passwords and multi-factor authentication. This reduces the chances of hackers guessing passwords and gaining access to your database.

Choose a Reliable Payment Processor

Choosing a reliable payment processor is essential to secure credit card information in your database. Choose a payment processor with a strong track record, high-security standards and complies with relevant data protection legislation. With a good payment processor, your customer data is processed securely without compromising their personal information.

Conclusion

Storing credit card information is a sensitive matter that requires utmost care. Protecting customer data should be a major priority for businesses that handle and store credit card information. The implementation of strong security practices such as encryption, tokenization, segregation, reliable payment processors and strong password policies can all greatly reduce the risk of data breaches and protect against any legal consequences. As a business owner, it’s important to ensure that security measures are in place to protect your customer’s financial information and maintain their trust in your business.