Payment security breaches are rampant these days. And event organizers are quite concerned about this.

In the recent past, there are a number of event companies that clashed and announced security breaches as a result of which unauthorized charges were made at various venues. This happened precisely because the systems were installed with a malicious malware. The companies had to apologize and post information on the respective websites about the location and dates affected.

That’s why we try to take care of the situation here 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 scheduler is not involved in the transactions that are dealt with by other event schedulers. This is why as the customer shares their credit card details with you, you need to make sure that there should be a contract on what your expectations should be. In such circumstances, creating a clear contract guideline as to 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 then and there – Even if a particular customer 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 about how the provider is addressing the issue and remind customers 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 may choose to have a customer provide payment information directly to vendors, such as venues or caterers. This actually provides relief to the event planner if account information is compromised.
• Find out the event policies of potential event partners – Before contracting with vendors 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 offer you a clear answer.
• Consider alternative payment options – There are a number of electronic payment services springing up these days. Experts say there’s too much faith attached to a plastic card with a magnetic stripe. Electronic payments are more encrypted and therefore harder to copy and fool than a piece of plastic.

The above are some of the ways companies that provide event planning solutions can manage payment security breaches. If you approach it with the above in mind, you will be able to dedicate all your energy to organizing a great event instead of worrying about other things.