setting up a merchant account in ASP cart

[slickwillyslim]

i created a cart with ASP code that uses sessions. i have no problem taking and storing customer information but i've never set up a merchant account. there are several of them out there that require a gateway cart setup. can anyone tell me what this means, and how to set one up? or, is there another way to accept card payments? i thought about just getting one of those manual keypads and fill my orders the 'next day', but i'd rather the card be verified immediately in real-time and the order email sent right after. also, i've never used SSL to encrypt fields. how important is it to use SSL if you're using a merchant account that supposedly has it's fields secure already? thanks for any help guys....

 

[Ayac]

A couple of things. I would say a gateway is like an interface between your application and the bank's server. You send predetermined named variables via a form them for further process. Based on those values, it returns a page with tax/credit card validation etc. a bunch of infos you need so you can display it on a nice result page. You probably have to contact with a bank's web support to do that, it is special in each case.

You must have SSL otherwise the form on your server you send the data from will send the credit card info as clear text - so wide open to those "packet sniffers" - and you probably do not want that. It is the matter of how the data travels from the client to your server and not about how secure your merchant cart is. SSL will create an encrypted path between the client and your server, so the data is secure. To get SSL is no big deal, you just need to buy a certificate from verisign (I think it is about $200/year) and use it on the folder you have those web forms in.

You can also use PayPal merchant (

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_merchant-outside),

they have a nice system that you can use. They will take care of the entire process, however you do not have that much control on how the pages look like and you have to be a Paypal member (that is also free - I am a member there too and I had good experiences with them so far). If you want a quick and workable solution with minimal investment, that is a good way to do.

 

[ChrisHirst]

merchant gateways are fairly simple things to set up, as Ayac says you just pass a few variables in a form to the card processors secure server. No need for SSL at your end unless you are collecting personal information or CC data and passing that.

All the processing companies have details on their sites of how to set these up and all I do is have a set of library functions to put the code onto the page set the account codes etc and Robert's your Mothers Brother!



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?

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A website that proves the cobblers kids adage.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[DreXor]

hey now i resemble that remark

DreX
aKa - Robert