Never fear! The Internet is the perfect solution for shopping emergencies. And with the holiday shopping season nearly upon us, it’s a great time for a refresher course in online shopping safety. Shopping online is no more dangerous than shopping at the local mall, if you know what you’re doing – and it’s a lot easier to find a parking space!

The biggest worry about shopping online is fear that your credit card information will be lost or stolen. According to a June 2007 survey by J.C. Williams Group for MODASolutions, 80 percent of respondents indicated that the availability of “a safe and secure online payment option” was the most important factor when shopping online.

1.Learn to identify a secure website transaction.

Reputable online merchants use payment processing systems that automatically encrypt confidential data such as credit card numbers, making such information virtually impossible to steal. Fortunately, when you’re shopping online, it’s easy to tell whether or not your particular transaction is being processed securely

Here’s how.

Once you get ready to check out, two things should happen. The first is that the beginning of the website’s Internet address (URL) should change from http:// to https://. That “s” indicates that this section of the website is secure. (Don’t worry if you don’t see the “s” while you’re still shopping and adding items to your online shopping cart. The transaction doesn’t need to be secured until you’re getting ready to check out and enter payment and personal information.)

You should also see a padlock image on the right side of the Internet Address bar if you’re using Internet Explorer.

2.Shop from reputable merchants.

Knowing that a transaction is secure is one thing; knowing that the site’s owners can be trusted is something else entirely. Choosing when to trust a website depends in part on who publishes the website, what information they want, and what you want from the site.

Look for well-known and respected online retailers such as Amazon.com or online versions of companies you already know and trust, such as JCPenney.com or OfficeDepot.com. Websites that are certified by Internet trust organizations such as TRUSTe, BBB Online and WebTrust are preferable, as well, since they promise to protect your privacy and not to use information in certain ways without your permission.

Be wary of sites that ask for personal information such as credit card numbers or bank information before they logically need it, and of sites that do not reveal phone numbers, email addresses or other ways to reach them for customer support.

3.Use a credit card for online shopping.

A credit card is much safer than a debit card when shopping online, since you’re protected by provisions of the Fair Credit Billing Act (if you’re a U.S. consumer) and since you can also dispute charges with the credit card company if you suspect a fraudulent transaction. For extra peace of mind, consider using a separate credit card for online shopping and monitor it carefully.

4.Don’t save credit card numbers or personal information in any online store account.
Many online vendors ask you to create accounts so that it’s easier for them to notify you of special offers. That’s fine, if you’re interested, but resist the lure of “convenience” by having them save your credit card information as well. The fewer people who have access to such confidential information, the better.

5.Use a separate email address.

Guard your privacy by using a separate, free email account for your online activity. If you’re inundated with email or spammers get a hold of your email address, it’s easy to discard the “freebie” email address and get a new one.

6.Keep all receipts.

When you shop online, you’ll receive order confirmation messages and receipts via email. Double-check them for accuracy, and keep them – in a separate folder in your Inbox, perhaps – until you’re certain that the order was processed correctly and that you will not need to return anything.

7.Trust your instincts.

If you’re not sure of a website – if something strikes you as too good to be true, if the site seems unprofessional or downright pushy – just don’t order from that merchant. With the millions of retailers available online, there’s sure to be someone more reputable who has what you’d like to order – and they’re only a click away!

No one can guarantee that every Internet shopping transaction will be problem-free, but adopting the previous commonsense strategies will make it highly unlikely that you’ll be the victim of cyber fraud.

A discount merchant account lets you provide credit payment options at one low price. For example, after paying a possible application and setup fee of perhaps $100, you may be charged just $19.95 per month for the options of accepting credit card and debit payments as well as e-check processing and related services.

You have to be careful when shopping for a merchant account, as there may be all kinds of hidden fees that are not listed on the home page. Instead, these may be buried in fine print or posted on a distant link from the home page. You need to find out in advance what the costs will be and how you will be expected to pay them. For example, ask about an online application fee, a membership fee, and a setup fee, among others, if you dont see these posted.

Some services will tell you that what you see is what you get. In other words, if you dont see a certain fee in the price list, it doesnt exist and cannot be added later. Even if you accept a merchant account under certain conditions the first year, during the second year your fees could change, so ask about the long view as well.

Applying for a discount merchant account must be undertaken with caution. Something that sounds too good to be true probably is just that. Look for a lenders name you can trust along with a reputation built on values like integrity and respect. Avoid companies that you are unfamiliar with, as there are many fly-by-night entities looking to make a fast buck. Get the contract in writing, and make sure you read it all before signing up. Ask for clarification of any terms or conditions you do not understand. All too often, an unwary entrepreneur may end up in dire straits when a seemingly lucrative merchant account becomes a sinkhole.

Dont rush out and buy all types of credit processing equipment when your merchant account is approved. First, make a business budget that includes a category for growth and marketing. Then look for the right kind of equipment that will best serve your customers needs. For example, you dont have to buy every type of credit processing system available when a simple plug-in terminal will do. Keep your expenditures low while you get used to this new way of collecting payments. If all works out well, you can add more options later with your discount merchant account.

Your domestic merchant account may be beneficial in other ways, as well. When selecting a lender, you can choose one that you know something about. Perhaps you have had other dealing with this bank or institution, or you may know other business owners who maintain accounts there. It is likely, if you follow business news, that you have read something about the corporation and are aware of its standing in the professional community or the overall industry. Working with a company that you know and trust can help to build solid relationships that can blossom into additional promising directions. You may be able to secure other types of accounts or lending in the future if your merchant account turns out to be a rewarding experience for both parties.

Applying for a domestic merchant account may be easier than doing business with an offshore company. You might be able to visit a local bank or one of its branches, or you might even know someone who works there. With a foreign bank, however, you probably wont know any of the employees, and you are not likely to get the chance of visiting in person. However, you can possibly apply online for both domestic and offshore merchant accounts, and communication with company representatives should not be a problem due to the latest technological innovations that put people in touch instantly with those around the globe.

Fees for a domestic merchant account may be easier to understand when they are posted in the currency of your native land. Conversely, it may take some figuring to calculate profits and fees from currencies in other regions. However, many merchant account lenders do a good job of making this part easy, and will promptly process payments from other countries so that they enter your account in your homeland currency. Yet following the financial news in your own dollar, peso, or euro can be easier than trying to determine the value of currency you understand. If you do opt for an offshore merchant account provider, follow the financial news in that country via media like radio, television, print, or Internet to get a sense of how things are going and any impact your account might experience as a result.

Obtaining a merchant services account is a terrific way to expand the way you do business. Accepting credit payments from customers in countries around the world can be a great way to increase profits while lowering costs. When weighing your options of partnering with a local or an international lender, check into the advantages of a domestic merchant account.

Whereas a $20 product such as a physical book sold in a store may only make the author a dollar or even less in profit, selling the same prodyct online in a digital format will give you $18 or more of profit. It’s pretty simple math why so many people are choosing to market their ebooks online, isn’t it?!

The question of course from aspiring ebook authors is how to accept credit cards on their website so they can process orders smoothly and then allow their customers to effortlessly download the book they have just purchased.

In this artiel then we’re going to look at 3 popular merchant account providers used by ebook sellers so we can compare the various options and so, I hope, enable you to make an informed decision about the best provider for you.

Clickbank

Clickbank is currently the most popular processor used by ebook publishers. This is for a number of reasons though us helped by the fact that Clickbank focuses purely on sellers of digital products so understands the market and the needs of ebook sellers well.

One of the most popular features of Clickbank is that they run your affiliate program for you. Clickbank’s software records who sends each sale to you, then credits the respective affiliate with their commission, depositing the remainder into your account. Every two weeks, so long as you reach Clickbank’s payment threshold, Clickbank sends everyone out a check for the balance of their account without you having to lift a finger. This is incredibly powerful and helps you to recruit an army of affiliates to promote your ebook for you in exhcange for a commission.

Finally, Clickbank also has a massive marketplace where you can list your ebook for sale thus increasing the number of potential affiliates and direct customers who visit your site.

Paypal

Paypal is another popular option with ebook sellers. Unfortunately in contrast to Clickbank, Paypal won’t run your affiliate program for you, though this can be got around using a variety of third-party software designed specially for the task.

However Paypal does have two benefits over Clickbank that are enough for some people to use them instead.

Firstly the transaction fees that Paypal charges you to accept credit cards are considerably lower meaning more profit for you.

Seciondly, whilst Clickbank pays you your earnings every two weeks, you can request payment from Paypal straight into your bank account at any time allowing you to access your money faster.

Your Own Merchant Account

The final option I’d like to investigate here is that of having your own merchant account.

Arguably the least popular of the 3 options for ebook sellers there are a few things you need to be aware of.

Paypal and Clickbank are both third party processors which means essentially that you’re using someone else’s merchant account. The result of this is that you hve less control over your business. As an example, stories are rife on the Internet about Paypal “locking” people’s accounts for no obvious reason meaning that they are then unable to access the funds that are legitimately theirs. To me, if someone prevented me from accessing hundreds, even thousands of dollars that are rightfully mine, I’d be pretty angry.

As well as giving your business more control, your own proper merchant account may well work out more cost effective over the long term. They may charge a small monthly fee, but the per-transaction fees can be so much cheaper that you can actually make a considerable saving in lot of cases.

In the end, the decision really is yours. Clickbank for simplicity, Paypal for speed of payment or your own merchant account for flexibility and cost effectiveness.

If you’re setting up a website that will benefit from credit card processing, you might need a shopping cart if your website offers such products and services. Most companies who offer merchant accounts don’t have the necessary software to place a shopping cart on your site, but the better services will set you in the right direction by having links to websites with such the necessary products to get you up and running. Other than that, you’ll just need to know a few things about a merchant account.

First, just about every merchant account service grants you the ability to accept both Visa and MasterCard, with the option to take Discover and/or American Express. All monies accepted will be deposited into your personal or business checking or savings account, usually by days end. Fees do apply to all services including a low percentage rate and nominal fee per credit card accepted by your business. Discover and American Express fees are higher than Visa and MasterCard.

If you’re an online retailer as well as a brick and mortar one, you’ll need a different type of account for each. Ecommerce accounts are used for Internet website processing and Card Swipe for the physical store. The primary difference lies in the 3 or 4 digit code on the card that is needed when the physical card isn’t present to check the signature. This security feature is for the benefit of your customers as well as the protection of you and your business.

After choosing the right service for you and your business, you’ll need to submit an online application. When received, your service will send you a Cardholder Electronic Data Storage compliance form that you will need to initial/sign before faxing or sending in and a page with your schedule of fees, Merchant ID Number and the directions for proceeding. You will also need to send in a voided check or deposit slip to the account you wish to have your funds deposited into. If you process transactions before your service receives your voided check/deposit slip, any accumulated funds will be held until the necessary paperwork has been received.

The second part of the process is a little tricky. Which company or brand’s credit card machine should you purchase? To make this decision easier you can log onto the website Advanced Merchant Accounts. AMS is the one of the oldest and most reputed Merchant Service providers currently operating in the online environment. AMS is moreover an ongoing member of the Better Business Bureau, which is testament to its commitment to quality and superior commercial practices. AMS offers a number of excellent credit card machines. In fact by applying for a merchant account you immediately become eligible for a free credit card machine.

AMS offers the Verifone Tranz 330, with every new merchant account. The Tranz 330, is very reliable easy to use terminal that will make processing easier for you and your clients. However, if you desire something a little more advanced, you should go for the Lipman Nurit Wireless Credit Card Machine. The Nurit 8000 operates on the circular GPRS network, which gives a huge coverage range. Even if your client lives in the suburbs, outside the city you will never face any inconvenience. The value of being recognised by people is to look for flawless real time credit card processing.

There are several other credit card processing machines offered by AMS. But with these you should also contemplate purchasing the PC Charge Pro. PC charge Pro, is an advanced software package designed for businessmen who need fast and convenient transaction procession, with infallible security features like AVS and CVV, which minimise frauds and chargebacks. The software works perfectly on all windows system. To find out more, about the various credit card machines offered by AMS do visit us at www.merchant-accounts.com.

In addition to above mentioned considerations, you also need to understand the three tier structure of merchant services. First there is the payment gateway which is the secret code that transmits a customer’s order to internet merchant account provider. Then comes the merchant accounts, which is an account with a financial institution that basically enables you capture funds from the credit cards of your customers. The funds captured are transferred to your personal account within two to three business days. Then there’s your website, which you would need to integrate with your service providers. Most Internet merchant accounts service providers have detailed web integration instructions.

Then third part of your quest to the perfect Internet merchant service provider involves discovering the cost factor. There are a number of fees that are charged by merchant service providers. Some of them have no valid justification and are a part of the service providers money making scheme. Fee charges like termination fees and miscellaneous fees should be negotiated with the service provider. However, you can save yourself all this trouble by simply logging to Advanced Merchant Services.

Advanced Merchant Services (AMS), is one of the premier merchant service providers operating in the United States. We are a 360 degree service provider and are backed by the most powerful conglomeration of banks in the United States. More importantly, the unique advantages we offer can’t be aped any other site. Our position of absolute superiority in the field is reflected by the Price Bust option. Moreover, we are also providing a free credit card terminal with every new merchant account. To find out more about our services, do visit us at www.merchant-accounts.com.

The statistics regarding credit card fraud and chargeback fees to merchants is frightening. According to research the estimated online fraud in 2007 in the US alone is projected ar 3.2 billion USD. Online fraud has been on the rise, in 2003 it was 2.3 billion USD; 2005 it was 2.7 billion USD and in 2006 it reached 3.0 billion USD.

It is important for cyber business to stay one step ahead of criminals to secure their online payment systems optimally:

1. It is important to ensure that you ask the gateway provider about screening features and the functions of each. Screening features must precede credit card payment processing. Many payment gateways have in place an address verification system, AVS. This checks the address given on the billing details with the address in the credit card issuer’s records. Use the AVS system as an indicator of internet fraud.

2. Always use the CVV2 as an indicator the CVV2 is the three digit identifying number located on the back of a credit card. Although this check helps minimize fraud some thieves even use the correct CVV2 number while thieving.

3. Use a quick verification process that goes a little beyond asking for the customer’s name, credit card number, and CCV2. Devise simple questions that will help you check the identity of the customer. Check e-mail account details to verify whether the customer is genuine. Frauds hardly ever use their own email addresses.

4. Check whether the shipping address and billing address are the same. And request for a contact number if a customer hesitates then refuse to process the order. Fraudsters hardly ever give their own phone numbers and more often than not request for goods to be shipped to addresses other than the credit card billing addresses.

5. Install traffic tracking software on your website. This creates demographic data that will pinpoint origins of orders. For this method to be effective use a “time stamp” on each submitted order. If a order originates from Siberia with a billing address in London then make all efforts to verify he order stringently.

When in doubt always make enquires with the bank or credit card company and do not ship the order unless you confirm it is genuine. Suspect large orders that request express delivery. Trust is important in any business so it is important for you to also rely on your instincts, if any order seems “odd” take the time to make thorough checks. Many e-commerce merchants have a system in place that verifies customers by calling the telephone number of the person placing the order.

Be a savvy e-commerce merchant and keep up-to-date with e-commerce security developments and innovations. Read articles and reviews on the World Wide Web with regularity. Sites like http://www.merchant911.org/fraud-trends.html are devoted to helping online merchants conduct their business safely.