Why are some people STILL afraid of paying with Credit Cards online?

I'm afraid that some sort of mistake will cause my card to be charged twice and somehow lead to a bunch of overdraft charges, or that my number will somehow fall into the hands of an evesdropper (security doesn't stop between me and the store, there's no way for me to know what they're doing behind the scenes).

I like forms of payment where I can place the amount required for a purchase in the account, and no matter what happens I'll never spend more than that amount. It makes no difference if someone gets my account number if there's no funds in the account, and any mistakes in processing will not be able to take more than the originally intended amount.

 

A prepaid debit card ( mentioned before on this page ) will be your best choice, but is not going to be digitally more secure than a credit card.

In the age of information, the programmers are king. If you are not a programmer, you have no way of knowing what is going on behind the scenes.

 

Joebert,

I completely understand your point of view. Is that consistent across all sites across the Web? For me, I get very suspicious if it is a site that I haven't used before. But for other sites, like Amazon.com, or when I pay my cell phone bill (ATT.com) I have no problem using a credit card. Do you use your credit card on ANY Web sites?

 

I'm a programmer, that's why I'm afraid. A prepaid debt card actually is more secure than a credit card though simply because of the potential impact if someone gets ahold of the number. I will admit that if you have a prepaid debt card with $1000 on it, and a credit card with a $1000 credit limit, there is no difference in the risks involved with either one. But if I want to buy something that costs $100 and I put $100 on my prepaid debt card immediately before buying that item VS using a credit card with a $1000 credit line, the debt card will be more secure.

In the case of the credit card with the $1000 credit line and a $100 purchase, there is a potential of $900 being stolen any time after my purchase. This is assuming there is no overdraft protection on the card and the card company denies transactions when the limit is reached.

In the case of the prepaid debt card with $100 on it, there is the potential for $0 being stolen after I make my purchase. I've never had a prepaid debt card that provided overdraft protection or anything of the sort, this is why I regularly use them when I go out drinking, so I both have a record of my activities the next morning and so I can't spend more than I intended to when I'm drunk.

There is the left field chance that somehow an attacker could randomly try transactions with the prepaid debt card and get lucky enough to hit you right after you put money on the card to spend, but they're going to bring suspicion on themselves or exhaust their supply of transaction details (addresses, IP addresses/ranges, etc). It would be more cost effective for them to target someone with a credit limit.

I don't use anything with a credit line, "overdraft protection", or anything of the sort on the Internet.

 

Phishing is a very real problem. I know of many people whose credit card information have been stolen, online and via other means, and that is why there are still people who do not want to pay with a credit card online.
Among those people you will find that a significant percentage is willing to pay by credit card over the phone, so it would be a good idea to offer that option.

 

Wow, now that I know you are a programmer, that statement is like someone in the medical industry saying; " I hope that my colleagues do not kill anyone today with one of their mistakes. " ( About 273 people a day die through errors in the medical industry )

 

I can see how someone who is fairly computer illiterate might be a victim of phishing, but as long as your computer isn't infected with some kind of Spyware, and you are using a properly SSL encrypted payment page, is there really anything worth worrying about?

Of course it's logical to provide customers with the most payment options available as you don't want to limit their purchase options, but the fear of credit card payment online to me seems a phobia rooted in problems of the 90's rather than today...

 

LOL - That's why I'm a programmer, and not a doctor.

All I know is nobody can steal something that isn't there. I guess if you use a credit card that's always maxed out and only pay enough to make a purchase it would provide the same sort of security assuming you don't have overdraft protection, but then you have to pay the interest rate.

The things like images/scripts/etc included in the page.

For example, Paypal was just acting screwy for me. I connected to Paypal just fine, and the SSL connection appeared to be working properly as indicated by the https and the little lock icon in my address bar, but something in the search form was supposed to come from a Paypal search domain yet the certificate was registered to something called baynote. Now, a quick look seems to support a hunch that Baynote is the provider of Paypals search functionality for things like auto-complete, but if they've mis-configured the certificate I have to wonder what else is mis-configured at the moment.

Elements on a page coming from an insecure source are just as bad as if the main page were insecure. Especially if that insecure source is retrieving something like Javascript or Flash. If you allow the page to load an insecure Javascript, that Javascript can setup something that watches which keys you press in addition to providing the usual functionality. The point of valid certificates and secure connections, is that you know the message is coming from where you think it's coming from.

 

That is for programs that are designed to have no intentional errors. Think about software that is only designed to "work" and was never designed with "security" in mind. How big would the list get of popular software in most people´s computer that was not designed with "security" in mind ?

We could start a list :

1. Windows
2. Internet Explorer
3. ( Insert name of popular music downloading software )
4. ...

Then we could start one for mobiles.

 

Naaa. This is BIG problem in Latin America. Conversions are lower because of this. The best way to battle this is creating a site persona so credible that will make your consumer confortable. posive reviews of satisfied customers will help.

 

You are right, it's hard to believe that people still feel that way, especially considering most credit card companies have all sorts of protection policies for the card holder.

What's your domain name? http://www.seewhosells.com? If so, you have a great design and great setup, it surprising that people would be worried about paying via credit card on your website.

 

Yes, that is our site. Thanks for the praise, but it has been an issue. Unfortunately unless you are a huge brand people still seem to be hesitant to pay by credit card; if they haven't known you for some time, then they won't trust you, which is why right now we are trying to focus on building brand trust and recognition... it's not an easy process and will take time, but we will do our best

 

What's strange to me, is that when I started, the things that everyone considers to be "security" these days, are just things I always thought I should do to make sure the program didn't break and leave the user hanging.

 

I do not know if you work for someone else and get paid by the hour, but I know what that ( getting paid by the hour ) does to the mindset of the average worker. It makes them do just enough to please the boss and get a paycheque.

If they are just doing enough to get by, security is one of the last things they think of.

 

well blame it on the media as well, for hyping some of the fears..

 

because many websites are fake that possibly stealing credit card number is high for this reason people scare to buy online , debit card is more secure than credit cards. if someone is going to buy , debit card is better for using online . but i remind many websites are reliable like Nike , Sony and so on that using credit card has no problem with them .

 

As far as USA is concerned I believe media is hugely responsible. Because in USA most of the news are too much exaggerated. And like everyone knows all countries around world follows USA and it flows from USA media to other countries.
You can compare this fear of credit cards to stereotypes in society because stereotypes aren't true but most of the time for some stupid reasons everyone believe in them.

 

I can't say that I blame the buyer for being cautious in today's times when so many people are not honest. It's not easy knowing who is on the up and up, and it's even harder to determine which online business is not trying to steal from you, because so many of them do.

I have used my credit card online for years - I like the convenience and personally do not have this issue you're speaking of.

But one thing to keep in mind that not every one knows what "ssl authenication, etc., etc." language is - it's Internet merchant's lingo and may need to be broken down into language that an eight year old can understand.

Perhaps you can put a simple blurb on your site which educates your buyer of the online order-taking/order-processing experience and spell out what measures you have personally taken in order to protect your customer's privacy.

This may help in further lowering or even taking away the risk of buying or fear of buying online that your customers are experiencing; and also, help in building up their lack of trust where your company is concerned.

 

I only use a prepaid credit card now online. Amazon requires you keep some kind of credit card on file, whether it is the amazon card, your own visa/mc, etc. I had my amazon account hacked and someone used my stored credit card information to charge a $1000 gift card. I only use a prepaid card now so I'm not out more than $100 if anything happens.

 

Wow, that was a big one. Amazon was hacked or just your personal account at Amazon ?