How to Process Online Payments Securely

During a time when it is very commonplace to order and pay for purchases over the internet, a 2006 study by TNS Research indicated that 87% of online shoppers are worried about credit card fraud, and almost that many are worried that they will become victims of identity theft due to providing credit card information over the internet. Online retailers need to recognize these consumer concerns and work to gain customer trust in order to operate a successful e-commerce business. (Read about credit card security).

Gaining Customer Trust

How can you provide a secure shopping environment that your website customers recognize and trust? For starters, since roughly 79% of all online shoppers recognize the padlock image of the VeriSign Secured Seal- you probably want to consider becoming part of the VeriSign security network of websites. Newer web browsers are starting to display a colored address bar in the browser window whenever a security authentication certificate is detected.

Online stores and shopping sites that accept credit cards should use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to protect customer credit card information as it is transmitted over the internet. SSL encrypts the customer account information as it is sent and verifies the ownership of the site receiving the information using certificates. You wouldn't send a stack of cash through the postal service in a clear envelope, would you? Of course not, but asking customers to submit credit card information over a website payment system that doesn't use SSL encryption is a bit like asking them to send cash in the mail inside a clear envelope!

VeriSign uses the Secure Sockets Layer technology to provide secure online shopping environments. Customers who add the VeriSign Secured Seal to their website check out pages report about a 10% increase in sales over not having the padlock image on their site. Approximately 65% of online shoppers will abort a purchase transaction if they feel the site is not secure enough to transmit their credit card information. This statistic is excellent proof that you must work to gain the trust of your customers if you hope to operate a successful internet business.

Why Use VeriSign?

There are actually numerous providers that offer website owners the ability to set up SSL technology on their website, but you already learned that almost 80% of shoppers already recognize the VeriSign padlock as a sign of secure shopping environments- so why not work with what the majority of internet shoppers already understand? VeriSign is also the most popular company providing SSL, with at least 40 of the largest banks in the world relying on VeriSign for their security needs, and nearly 93% of Fortune 500 companies using the system to provide their own customers with secure shopping environments.

Another advantage of using VeriSign to create secure shopping websites is that it works with most browsers- in fact, 99% of web site visitors on websites with VeriSign are able to receive 128 bit or 256 bit encryption.