On-Line Credit Card Payment Processing and Fraud Prevention for e-Business

Abstract

As the volume of purchases for products and services on the Internet has increased and the chosen method of payment is a credit or debit card, e-commerce merchants must be capable of accepting such payment methods. Unfortunately, cyber-criminals have found ways to steal personal information found on credit cards and debit cards and fraudulently use this information to purchase products and services which costs merchants lost revenue and fees for chargebacks. This article discusses the process by which credit card payments are processed beginning with the e-commerce merchant’s web site to a credit card processor or service gateway to the credit card company’s network to the issuing bank’s network with an accept or decline response being returned to the merchant’s shopping cart system via the same networks. The article addresses the issue of credit card fraud in terms of how the cyber-criminals function and the potential solutions used to deter these attempts by the cybercriminals. A list of preventive measures that should be used by e-commerce merchants is provided.