What security measures should be taken when dealing with payment options and account verification in PHP?

When dealing with payment options and account verification in PHP, it is crucial to implement proper security measures to protect sensitive information. This includes using secure connections (HTTPS), encrypting data, validating user inputs, and implementing measures to prevent SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks.

// Example of using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();
```

```php
// Example of validating user input to prevent cross-site scripting attacks
$username = htmlspecialchars($_POST['username']);
$password = htmlspecialchars($_POST['password']);
```

```php
// Example of encrypting sensitive data
$encrypted_data = openssl_encrypt($data, 'AES-256-CBC', $key, 0, $iv);