eCommerce and self credit card processing

Mr.Orange

Hi,

I am new to this side of the web, eCommerce. I am in the process of setting up a shop online. I had thought about paypal or worldpay etc.. but i have a credit card machine that i use for the business already and i can process credit cards through that.
I am wondering what would be required for me to store customers card details on my own secure server database? i presume i would need a SSL?
Are there any legal guidelines i should know about?
I hope someone can shed some light on this for me, i've spent ages on google with not much luck

Thanks in advance!

mneylon

While it can be done, I'd recommend against it.

If you already have a merchant account for your shop, then you should contact Realex and they can help you get it sorted out.

The main issue with online sales isn't handling the actual payments, but avoiding the fraudsters

Liam Byrne

What are the subscription/commission costs for Realex ? There's no mention anywhere on their website that I could see.....

mneylon

I think it varies on your volumes.

If you were Aer Lingus type of company you'd pay less per transaction than we do

comer_97

just mail realex they will reply with their rate card within a day or 2. If you are low volume paypal might work out cheaper.

Mr.Orange

The reason i dont want to use a company like Realex of Paypal is because they charge alot for something i can do myself (especially the later).
What is required from a webserver point if view if i was to do it myself?
Should i store the CC numbers in a MySQL DB then maybe run a delete once a week on all card that are processed?

Seth Brundle

do not store someones CC details!!!!!
Are you prepared to repay them if a bold person gets hold of the info?

comer_97

OP what rates do the bank charge you for transactions and for rental of the machine and the cost of paper etc.

Paypal is 3.4% + 30c is there that big a difference? and if your throughput is high the paypal rate gets lower.

Diddy Kong

You could store the CC numbers then once a week, export them to me :D:D

Serious, that sounds like a bad idea, all it would take is a bored person some time to crack it.

There is plenty of options for payment, http://www.secpay.com or https://www.2checkout.com/

phil

With realex / paypal, the advantage is that CC details do not need to be stored.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with storing the CC details, providing you can do so in a safe and secure manner. Without trying to sound self-righteous, it doesn't sound like you can do this.

Realex / paypal charge reasonably large transaction fees for a reason, the alternatives aren't feasible for small volumes of transactions. Start talking larger transaction volumes and believe me you'll start paying less and less per transaction.

Phil.

mneylon

phil wrote:

There is nothing necessarily wrong with storing the CC details, providing you can do so in a safe and secure manner.

Try telling that to the bank

They really do not like that idea.