Mike, >>Does anyone have any suggested method of scrambling a user's credit card >>number before I stick it in a mysql database?
With respect, if you have to ask the question, you don't have the technical skills to do this safely. In particular, there is no way to keep the numbers secure if you are storing them on a machine which can be accessed directly from the internet. Both your encryption keys and your card numbers would have to be stored on a back-end machine protected by a sophisticated firewall. Payment gateway providers have to meet challenging standards and undergo rigorous audits from the banks before they are allowed to store numbers. Much your best solution is to use one of these providers, who will store the card numbers for you. You can then do all the transactions you require, such as repeats, refunds etc without ever having to store the card number. Many providers offer the options of using forms on their servers, or using your own SSL forms and posting them the data using the SSL. With the CURL library, writing an interface for this is relatively trivial. Many countries (such as the UK where we operate) have laws about the storage of credit cards on computer networks, so what you are planning may even be illegal! -- Geoff Caplan Advantae Ltd mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.advantae.com -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php