credit card verification

Tiger99

Hi All
I'd like to create a php site with credit card check out functionality. Some of the sites that I saw which have the credit card functionality use VeriSign Securied.
Does anyone know how I can create such functionality? If you can direct me to any documentation or script that are related to building credit card check out functionality, I will be really appreciated

Thanks

jheitz

What about taking a look and reading Verisign's web page?:

http://www.verisign.co.uk/

In summary, Verisign is one among many comapnies issuing SSL certificates, basically entities that certify a web page is secured via https. If you want to create a secure site where users will not be worried entering credit card details, you need an SSL certificate (this costs money).

etully

After you get an SSL cert, you'll then need two things: A Merchant Account from a bank where the money goes after someone pays with a CC and a Gateway account. A gateway account connects your web site to the companies who authorize the CC. Lastly, you'll need to obtain or write some code to pass the CC# from your web site to the gateway company.

There is another solution where your transfer the user from your web site to the gateway account's web site. Then you don't need to buy the SSL cert and you don't need to install any code to pass the number to the Gateway company. Not only is this cheaper but it's easier to install. You'll still need the Merchant Account, however.

Google for "accept credit cards" or "merchant account credit cards" and you'll find tons of companies who will hook you up with a merchant account and a gateway account.

Or you could use Pay Pal and you don't have to have the SSL cert, the Merchant Account, or the Gateway account.

Tiger99

Thank you so much for the information
I looked at the pay pal website and they do provide an easy way for CC authorizion. I am just curious, if pay pal provides SSL Cert, Merchant account and Gateway account, why would people still want to pay for them?
Is there some kind of catch for using pay pal?

Thanks in advance for your help

Yari

Sure, paypal charge a percentage of each transaction, and can be quite limiting in how you interact with the payment system.

Then again, paypal is a very easy system to implement, as all the coding etc is already done, and all on paypals website, not your own. So if you don't have time or skills to build your own, paypal is a good way to go.

etully

Tiger99,

Pay Pal doesn't give you an SSL cert, a Merchant Account, or a Gateway account. You get to borrow theirs. What this means is that when the customer is ready to check out, they are transferred to Pay Pal's web site for the checkout. Then, when they are done paying, they are returned to your web site. To an alert customer, this looks unprofessional. The average user might not notice that they left your web site. Either way, you lose some control over how the page looks and asks for the CC information. That's the main reason that people would still choose to pay for a Merchant account, Gateway account, and SSL cert.

Also, I have heard many nightmare horror stories about Pay Pal refusing to give people their money. I've heard stories about people who sell a product using Pay Pal, the seller ships the product, and when it's received, the buyer calls Pay Pal and says they never got it, the buyer gets their money back and keeps the product. (Which stings when it's a $2000 laptop). I've heard stories about Pay Pal freezing someone's account because they didn't like the product they sold (some sort of controversial product). Pay Pal kept their money.

See http://www.paypalsucks.com/

But other than that, yeah, Pay Pal is a great way to go.