From Web surfer to Web site: credit card numbers
A potential customer visits your Web site.  He sees something that interests him so he places an order, inputting his personal and credit card information on your site. You have a variety of options available regarding how you will accept this information. You may use your own form and programming (CGI), ShoppingTechnology or some other third party product that you may find (ie. shopping cart).

Your customer's information must be transmitted securely from your customer's browser (i.e. Netscape, Internet Explorer) to the server at GetSite on which your Web site is hosted.  Security is an important part of merchant transactions. Most people are unwilling to provide their personal information without the assurance that a third party cannot intercept the information as it travels across the Internet. This securtiy is accomplished using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption which is a feature of your customer's browser and also of our Web server.

GetSite provides a secure (SSL) Web server for you. GetSite paid a Certificate Authority (CA) to verify the authenticity of GetSite as a business and to provide a secure certificate signed with our information. Therefore, visitors are assured that the information they intend to send to GetSite is actually making it to the company called GetSite.

GetSite does not provide a unique certificate for your Web site. However, we allow you the use of our certificate. The disadvantage to this is that most browsers will warn that the Web site name does not match the company name (since our certificate matches www.GetSite.net with GetSite Hosting Services). Using our certificate, your visitors are not guaranteed that you are who you say you are, only that the data cannot be intercepted by a third party.

GetSite recommends that you obtain your own secure certificate for serious applications. You may purchase a certificate signed by:

• Equifax Secure - free with Merchant and Corporate accounts.
• Thawte
• Verisgn - call GetSite sales at 888.638.9972

Processing the Credit Card
Once the information is passed to your Web site, it must now be verified by your Merchant Processor. Since most Merchant Processesors don't provide connections to the Internet, you must pass the information through a gateway such as Cardservice International, CyberCash or Authorize.net. The information is passed from your Web site (on GetSite servers) to the gateway (using a secure method provided by the gateway). The gateway services have a dedicated connection to your Merchant Processor. Once the gateway receives a response from the Merchant Processor they forward that information back to your Web site where you can act on it accordingly.

Gateway services (such as LinkPoint International, CyberCash or Authorize.net) are normally resold to you by your Merchant Processor. The fees associated with the gateway are included in the fees that you pay for credit card processing.

Do I need to have a regular bank account for my business?
Yes. Where would your Merchant Processor put all the money you make otherwise?

Can you sum this up for me?
What do I have to do to accept credit cards?

1. Open a ShoppingTechnology Cart account by following this link:http://www.getsite.net/ecommerce.html and select your payment plan
   
   
2. (Optional) Obtain a secure certificate from a Certificate Authority such as Thawte, Equifax Secure or Versign.
   
   
   
3. Establish an account with a Merchant Processor. Click here to sign up with Cardservice International.
   
   
   
4. Choose a gateway service. Your Merchant Processor should help you make this decision. LinkPoint International, Cybercash and Authorize.net are supported by Cardservice International and ShoppingTechnology. (The LinkPoint API is implemented through ShoppingTechnology; no programming knowledge is required) Once you've chosen a gateway, make sure you've completed all the steps necessary to register with that service.
   
   
   
5. Configure your shopping cart to use your chosen gateway. The gateway services are included as payment modules in ShoppingTechnology. Test your set up.
   
   
   
6. Spread the word.
   Tell people your site is ready

What are Merchant Services?
Merchant Services are what you need to accept and process credit cards from your Web site. There are many steps involved in accepting credit cards because of the number of parties involved. Transactions involve your customer, your customer's bank, your customer's credit card issuer and your bank.