In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Julia Buckney
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi all, Well, I read all this stuff about connecting to banks and paying
> money over the internet. But call me suspicious, how can I protect my credit
> card *and* spend money online to register programmes - which is really the
> only way from NZ to send money overseas. It costs far too much in bank fees
> otherwise. It just all feels a tad risky.
I think many people these days overestimate the risk of online credit
card payments.
Credit card customers already are extremely well protected. SSL makes
it impossible (for practical purposes) for anyone other than the
merchant or yourself to find out your number. Also, in the case someone
does find out your number and charges your card illegally you can
always charge those amounts back, with no cost for you, for up to
three months after the charge. Under international credit card law the
customer is much better protected than the merchant. The only reasons
why merchants accept credit cards are convenience, and because the
competition also does it. When it comes to legal protection, cash or
money orders are much safer for merchants than credit cards.
The other issue is: if you are so worried about someone finding out
your credit card number, are you *always* that worried ? For instance,
if you go to a restaurant and pay by credit card, do you really follow
the waiter back into the office and watch him charge your card, to make
sure he does not write down your number ? And even if you do that, who
guarantees you that some other employee does not later copy your number
from the sales slip or imprint ?
If someone really *wants* to get other people's credit card numbers
then there are usually many far easier ways than trying to get them
across the Internet.
--
Holger Kruse [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.nordicglobal.com
NO COMMERCIAL SOLICITATION !
