| These days, compliance with the industry's security | | | | options insure PCI compliance and take the burden off |
| practices is one of the most significant concerns | | | | of the sellers and allow them to focus more on making |
| regarding ecommerce hosting. In the year 2004, an | | | | sales. |
| association of credit card providers developed the | | | | Ecommerce hosting ratings can be found at opinion |
| Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards. | | | | sites throughout the Web. However, an opinion from |
| While they were at first only recommendations for | | | | an unknown is no guarantee of satisfaction; you need |
| keeping consumers' personal information secure, they | | | | solid references as well. You will be doing business |
| now have the force of contract in most merchant | | | | with them for a long time. Is your hosting provider |
| agreements. And since customers are more willing to | | | | PCI-compliant? Are they trustworthy? Do they have a |
| deal with a company which protects their credit | | | | good reputation? Demand and check references. |
| information, these guidelines are helpful to everyone | | | | While security is certainly a major factor to consider |
| involved. | | | | when looking at ecommerce hosting, you should also |
| Today's standards are comprised of twelve main | | | | check out the other benefits ecommerce solutions |
| regulations, each divided into numerous sub-regulations. | | | | have to offer. Hosting firms often pair up with their |
| These range from technology guidelines to carefully | | | | clients to offer online shopping cart software too. It is |
| defined administrative practices. One of the technology | | | | extremely helpful if your hosting provider has software |
| regulations involves the encryption of information during | | | | expertise, since this can often result in better technical |
| its storage and transmittal. A firm must also maintain | | | | support for you. In the end, that means your site will be |
| control over both physical and digital access to the | | | | down less often and your customers will find their |
| information. | | | | shopping experience a more comfortable one. |
| PCI standards should be followed by any company | | | | Starting an ecommerce business that makes money is |
| that processes, transmits or stores credit card | | | | not simple. It is easy to obsess over the interesting side |
| information. For smaller companies, this is not the | | | | of things, choosing what you will sell and how you will |
| easiest thing in the world to accomplish. To assist | | | | advertise. However, far more important to most |
| them, there are many PCI-compliant ecommerce | | | | people is the understanding their information is secure |
| solutions available to them and range from online | | | | from prying eyes. Similarly, you have obligations |
| shopping cart software to ecommerce hosting. These | | | | enabling continued use of credit cards. |