5 tips to pay safely during the summer holidays

The summer holidays are the perfect time of year to relax after tiresome weeks at work. Leaving our usual place of residence can help us to switch off from day-to-day life, however, there are some things that we should not forget, especially when visiting other cities and countries. On such trips, it is important to take security measures to avoid any scares from payments made abroad.

When at home, we tend to visit the same trusted shops and restaurants. Therefore, at Easy Payment Gateway we remember that it is important to be cautious when it comes to making payments while travelling, as well as considering some alternatives to avoid such difficult situations.

If you’re travelling soon, please take note of these five tips for paying safely during your summer vacation:

• Never let your credit/debit card out of sight. Generally, when paying in an establishment, it is the customer who inserts or presents the card to the reader. In this way, the card is controlled at all times, preventing misuse. However, using excuses such as a lack of signal or battery in the card reader, you may be asked to hand over the card, which will then be returned after the payment. It is often at this time that an opportunist can make a copy of your card. The victim does not realise this at the time and can only find out when they discover unknown payments later on. This usually happens when visiting other countries and by the time the victim finds out, they are back home. For this reason, we should never lose sight of our card at any time when paying.

 

• Pay with your smartphone. Taking a trip to the beach with your bank card often involves a fear that it may be stolen whilst you are enjoying a dip in the sea. Even just carrying a wallet can be annoying, at a time when everyone wants to be as light as possible due to the heat. But with just your mobile phone, you can pay for that drink at the beach without having to carry around any cash or cards. In this sense, it is important for shops to offer tourists a wide range of payment methods to avoid losing sales. The number of payment options is becoming larger and larger, and each person has their preferred method. For this reason, Easy Payment Gateway provides 240 enabled payment methods, of which 190 are considered alternative, allowing them to cater to the needs of each and every client.

 

• Watch out for the commissions. When travelling abroad, and especially in countries with different currencies, unwelcome surprises due to commissions are often found when checking our banking history. Foreign currency exchange when paying by card or withdrawing money from an ATM can lead to expenses that we do not expect. To avoid this, experts highlight the importance of looking up your bank’s commission policy in the country that you plan to visit. In addition, they advise tourists to be careful at ATMs and to read each step carefully when confirming that we are happy to be charged for the commission before the operation goes through.

 

• Make reservations through trusted websites. Normally, when looking for accommodation, tourists try to find the lowest possible price. Despite this, it is important to be cautious, especially with huge offers which seem too good to be true. Most of the time, when we see a price which is much lower than other websites, we become suspicious. And rightly so. This doesn’t mean that these offers are always fraudulent, but we should trust our instincts and try to seek a second opinion from other travellers when deciding whether we are dealing with a scam or not. On the other hand, it is important that hotel and airline businesses utilise all of the best security measures and certifications to avoid breaches of their client’s data. In this sense, tokenisation, which is always implemented by Easy Payment Gateway in the payment process for customers in the tourist sector, is a great option. Thanks to its security system, the cyber-criminals can only ever steal the token, but this information will be of no use to them.

 

• Act fast. If despite this advice, you ever become a victim of card theft or duplication, the first thing that you should do is notify your bank to try to stop any transactions that the criminal may attempt. Easy Payment Gateway advises that you report to the relevant authorities with a complaint.

 

Typically, when a fraudulent payment is made with your card, you will receive a full refund, but this process can be slow. Following these steps can mark the difference between avoiding this type of difficult situation and coming back from a holiday with a bad taste in your mouth.