It’s true that no e-commerce business can survive if the merchant refuses to convert to the latest methods of accepting payments. Consumers simply do not carry cash any more! Credit Cards or other forms of plastic money are convenient, and secure. However, that is not where it ends. For a merchant account to function properly and accept credit card payments, a merchant needs to acquire certain pre-requisites. The right infrastructure would be an e-commerce Web host and a merchant account provider, who can provide you with the features you need.

First, ensure a secure payment area. This is to protect sensitive information such as credit card details from fraudulent elements who are always on a lookout to access credit card information during the transaction process. Identity theft and credit card fraud are extremely common on the Internet, and you need to protect not only your own interests, but are responsible for the safety of your customers too. In fact, today’s consumer takes care to educate himself of what all is involved in credit card payments and will probably refuse to buy from a site that does not provide secure transactions.

Secure your site with a secure socket layer certificate, or SSL. SSL encrypts information being entered on your site as it is sent across the Internet. You can purchase this certificate yourself, or your Web host may let you use theirs as a part of its service.

Another important component of fostering successful online sales from your website is a compatible shopping cart application. Ascertain that the shopping cart application on your website is compatible with your payment-processing gateway. Several payment gateways exist, and each one has its own set of standards.

Boost the confidence of your customers with PGP encryption. For Phone/mail orders, the information being transferred among the participants of a credit card transaction, must be encrypted.. PGP, which stands for “pretty good privacy,” is the most common form of email encryption. PGP encrypts emails when they are sent and decrypts when the information has reached its intended recipient. Do you plan to use PGP? In that case you need to make sure that your email client supports it. Keep the security key to yourself!

Get a firewall for your server! To your customer’s data or credit card numbers that you may have saved on your server, it is vital to have a site wide firewall to protect this information.

Once you have all the above technology requirements, it’s time to approach credit card processing service providers. Provide your customers with a safe and secure payment processing solution!