[thelist] Explaining Payment Processing

[Keith]

>>Another alternative is secure capture of credit card information for 
>>processing via a POS device.

That is certainly feasible, from a technical standpoint. But read your 
merchant account small print, it is illegal. In fact, if you have a 
"storefront" merchant account and you process Internet sales over that 
account you are committing fraud. Not criminal fraud - contractual fraud.

The card companies filter all transactions for this type of activity. For 
example, your storefront account is for Mable's Shoes in Seattle and you 
have a card sale to Jane Customer in Tampa Fla. If the filter doesn't find 
card charges for gas, motel, plane fare, etcetera to get Jane to and from 
Seattle, your merchant account, and all personal assets, will get a lien 
placed on them until you can explain how Jane walked into your store and 
made the purchase "with card in hand, over the counter". The acquirer bank 
behind the merchant account can liquidate all of the merchant's business 
and personal assets and pay back to cardholders every dime ever collected 
through the account, if they want to. I had this happen to a client, it's 
not a joke!

Few acquirer banks will allow you to just add "web sales" to a POS merchant 
account. It usually requires a totally separate account



Keith
cache at dowebs.com 


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