Real Time Electronic Credit Card Processing is Convenient... But SECURE?

Real Time Electronic Credit Card Processing is the only way to go, if you the majority of your orders is generated on your website.

For a more comprehensive understanding of the whole process let us start with a short overview of the three major ways of processing credit cards - both offline and online -, which involve different types of credit card processing equipment. Actually, behind the scenes, a real time electronic credit card processing system - in principle - works just like a merchant accepting a credit card through a terminal in his shop.

Data is entered, such as the transaction amount, the card number, expiration date, etc., and is then sent to the customer's bank for approval real-time. The difference: Instead of a terminal, an order form on a website is used to collect the necessary data. Finally the money is transferred from the customer's credit card account into the merchants account and the money is now available to the merchant...

Credit card processing through credit card processing terminals is usually performed in a "Card Present" situation. "Card Present" means that at least eighty percent (80%) of the merchant's business is done face-to-face with your customers. In this situation you can "slide" the card through the electronic credit card processing terminal (credit card processing machine). Electronic credit card processing in a "Card Present" situation enjoys the lowest discount rates and fees because "Card Present" is considered to be the lowest risk.

This is a credit card processing software - usually on a floppy disk - which operates through your modem and phone line connected to your computer. It does not interact with a web site at all. Regardless of how the order is collected - via Internet, Phone, FAX, Direct Mail or Face to Face, you simply type in the credit card information and in a few seconds the authorization number will appear on your monitor. This electronic credit card processing software uses an onboard database to store all of your transactions. The POS�software can also hold multiple accounts. If a business requires to bill or charge its customers monthly the POS software database can perform the billing automatically. Also in "Card Present" situations the POS software, along with a "Magnetic Card Swiper" that plugs into your computer, can be used instead of an electronic credit card processing terminal.

If you have an Internet business and the majority of your orders is generated on your website, Real Time Electronic Credit Card Processing is the way to go. Especially if your sales volume is high and your per-order cost is low, manual verification may simply not be worth the hassle. The real-time credit card processing solution allows you to process credit card orders both automatically through your website or manually via a web browser-based interface.

When your customers are ready to pay, they simply click on the "Credit Card Payment" option and are switched to a secure page where they type in their card information. In 3-5 seconds a message appears on their monitor showing their card has been accepted or declined. Two days later the money will arrive in your business checking account. You are provided with an online database containing all of your credit card transactions which makes accounting and balancing simple. You should consider real time credit card processing if you plan on having a lot of transactions daily.

Credit card fraud is especially endangering your Internet business, if you are in need of real time credit card processing. If you are processing orders offline, you can carefully scan all the orders for fraudulent use of credit card information by different methods. But if you use real time credit card processing, you cannot manually check the orders. You have to rely on the verification service to do that for you. Most importantly, you have to hope they do a thorough job of checking. A reliable Real Time Electronic Credit Card Processing Service must offer the most effective risk management available in the marketplace today, significantly reducing the risk of fraud, while ensuring smooth transactions for legitimate customers...

Surefire Premium Processing specializes in high-risk transaction processing. SureFire is the leader in processing for the most high-risk (fraud and chargebacks) online industry of all - it processes half of all online gaming transactions. So SureFire's anti-fraud squad and technology is not just "second-to-none"... there is actually no other company considered in "close second place"...

Real time electronic credit card processing... that's all SureFire does. In under three years, it has grown rapidly, processing over $1.5 billion annually. Unlike most other businesses that provide electronic credit card processing, SureFire is an e-commerce specialist. They don't do point-of-sale credit card transactions or supply offline merchant accounts. Everything they do involves selling on the Internet. That means that your needs as an online business are the first and only concern of SureFire Premium Processing...

Look to this newly revised resource for an up-to-date, in-depth examination of how payments are made electronically across the Internet. The second edition covers the very latest developments in this quickly expanding area, including new security techniques such as the advanced encryption standard (AES) and multi-application smart cards.