If you accept credit cards on-line, you are automatically expected to conform to industry security standards. Until recently, it was acceptable to send credit card numbers over the internet without encryption. Fines for mistakes can be costly.
Current credit card industry standards, called PCI for short, the requirements for certification include using a SSL Certificate. Servers must be hardened to withstand serious hacker activity, and provide a way to track employee access. A minimal system will typically cost hundreds of dollars per month, and any web site with high activity will increase this by hundreds of dollars more each month.
PCI short definition
PCI detailed definition
AmeriWeb has a solution that protects our customers, our customers' customers, maintains PCI standards throughout the transaction and beyond; and virtually eliminates problems. When we set up one of our customers with a shopping cart, we automatically install special software that allows the cart on our servers to accept the order, then goes to a payments page for your client to go and enter his/her credit card information. This payment page is handled by the bank itself, and is guaranteed to conform to PCI standards. This relieves you from the enormous paperwork required for PCI certification, as your own site never sees or touches your client's credit card data.
We work hard to protect our customers from both visible and invisible dangers!
