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Payment providers

Your Online Payment Provider is the most important part of your business, and that’s the payment solution.  Being one of our areas of expertise, there are many things to consider when choosing your payment provider, and of course, we recommend using our solution because it provides you with the major currencies and payment methods, and it is customized for each merchant. This can make the difference in your online sales.

Today’s PSP should be chosen on behalf of several distinguishing factors.  The first is reliability.  Let’s face it – profits are the main concern of all merchants, and he who handles those profits should have extensive experience, as well as a reputable history of financial expertise and punctual payments.

Along with the solutions needed to start an online business, more work is needed to keep the online store open. There are financial concerns, merchandise, staffing and of course all the paperwork and the reporting that is left to do.

Some of the services that you should look for:

• Superior Security practices – You’ll want to make sure that the payment provider is PCI certified and practices all available security methods.
• Chargeback guarantee – You should have a guarantee against fraudulent chargebacks.
• Merchant account required or Vendor account – Depending on your business you should know if you need to have a merchant account or if the provider will take care of this and give you a vendor account.
• Multiple payment options – The more payment options that the provider offers, give you a wider and sounder customer base.
• Rapid account processing – This shows you that the provider is serious and has the resources to get your payment processing up and running.
• Superior Risk Management – These practices protect you against fraud and reduce the time you spend worrying about your business.
• Multiple Partnership packages – This is a good practice to look for because of increased traffic and increased sales possibilities. A company with these types of solutions is more likely to take an invested interest on how your business is doing.
• Rebilling Options – The opportunity to perform automatic rebilling for recurring payments.

Most of the stand alone payment providers will not or do not provide platforms with all these features so you have to  either find the right provider or continue your multi-vendor usage.

The invasion of the Social Networks

With today’s population another means of social contact, or meeting people has became extremely popular. The social networks that are so prevalent on the internet are making it easier and easier for people from all walks of life to meet and form relationships across the globe. And as these relationships blossom, so does the carefree attitude about sharing personal experiences and information.

The thieves of today are also aware of the growing audiences of these networks and have already started to target their victims. According to an article in on BBC news, in 2008 these sites will become an attack vector for the hi-tech gangs who are now behind the vast majority of cyber crime. This data can give criminals knowledge about the names of employees at a company, insight in its managerial make-up or information about its processes to lend credibility to other attacks.

The big challenge for now and the coming future is for individuals and companies alike, is to recognize these problems and the vulnerability of these networks and find means to counter the attacks. By making systems more secure and more complicated, my not be as successful as just refraining from volunteering the detailed information that the thieves are searching for.

Technorati Profile

Using today’s technology
By G2S

Thieves in today’s society aren’t coming in through the windows or doors anymore, now they keep their selves at a distance and are attacking their prey by using the technology that so many of us depend on in today’s society. The internet not only provides us with the comfort of performing our every day tasks but it has become a way of life.

And the thieves and hackers are counting on our dependency to stalk and reap the rewards for using the same technology against us. Throughout the United States alone, the thieves have formed groups or rings as you may call them. They utilize technology to intercept financial data that is being transmitted from the businesses that they target and this has turned into a multi-million dollar revenue source.

According to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana  AP, in two States alone a cyber “ring” managed to steal information leading to tens of thousands of credit card numbers and costing over a million dollars in losses to the banks that issued the cards.
An expert with the Department of defense said such a scheme can get started by a thief with a laptop, driving around town until he finds a business with wireless computer networks. The thief breaches an insecure wireless network, then inserts malicious software — similar to a wiretap — in the merchant’s computer that will collect customers’ credit card numbers and send them to the thief’s e-mail account.