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If you are doing business online in any form -- meaning, if you have a website! -- then you have, no doubt, wrestled with whether or not to accept credit cards and how to process them.
When you finish reading this you are going to feel confident about accepting credit cards in your biz, but first, a quick technical lesson. Now stop that crying! I promise it will be painless and you’ll feel really empowered afterwards.
A brief lesson on the difference between http:// and https://
The last thing you want as a business owner is to have someone tell you their account was hacked into as a result of doing business with you! It is actually safer for your customers to give you their credit card online than it is for them to hand it to a waiter in a restaurant!…as long as you are using a secure server to gather their information.
What is a secure server?
Good question, I'm so glad you asked. A secure server is one that uses elaborate encryption coding that turns information into a multi-layered goulash of gobbeldy-gook that is the cyber equivalent of Humpty Dumpty-esque smithereens - minus the eggshell.
It’s easy to know when you are on a website that is secure. Just look at the address bar (that's where you type in "www.blah blah blah.com") There is always an http:// or https:// in front of the www (Often the www disappears after the page has loaded, so don’t panic if you can’t see it.)
- You are on a secure site if it says https://
- You are not on a secure site if it only says http://
You only want to enter - or have your customers enter - credit card, bank account or other personal information like date of birth or social security number on sites that start with an https:// Otherwise it is possible for someone to eavesdrop on their computer's conversation when filling out a forms or simply typing information.
- If you are using Paypal or some other well known online vendor, such as some version of 1ShoppingCart (like this one), you are covered.
- If you take people’s information over the phone you are covered -- it is possible, yet not common, for cell signals to be eavesdropped upon. Using a land line is the most secure way to do this.
- Do not ask people to email you credit card information! In fact, you should never exchange private information via email – like passwords, log in, date of birth, social security, bank account info etc. Email is a great tool but not a secure means of transferring private info.
So ends your first lesson on accepting credit cards online. Feeling powerful? Stay tuned for the sequel - Merchant Account Madness: Venturing Beyond Paypal coming to your inbox soon, if you are subscribed to my ezine, Going Soul-o.
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