At 8:48 AM -0400 5/20/09, Gary wrote:
Sorry, the first postssss were put in the wrong place...
Not sure this is a direct PHP question, however I know I will get some
answers here. I have a customer that I am bidding a small project for.
They want to be able to accept credit card payments for enrollment into a
class. Their customer will fill out a form and pay via CC on the site. Is
this something that I should just look to the host for whatever shopping
cart they have or is there an easy to administer software package that I
should look into. Or since it is a one item cart, is this something that I
could code?
Thanks for your help.
Gary
Gary:
Are they wanting to collect the credit card information and then
process that data in their shop OR are do they want the complete
transaction to be completed online?
In both cases you should have your script(s) work in the https directory.
If they want to process the cc information themselves in their shop,
then that information has to be provided to them in some secure
fashion. If they want to use email, then that's a problem because
email is not secure. You will have to work out a way for them to log
on to a secure area and review the cc information themselves -- this
is a clumsy way to do things.
The more acceptable approach is to use a credit card clearing company
like PayPal.com. They have different types of merchant accounts which
offer different types of processing and features and fees. Go to
PayPal.com and check it out.
Basically there are two types of collection systems. [1] One where
you direct the user to PayPal with the item(s) they want to purchase
and then PayPal does everything (i.e., collects the cc information
and approves the transaction -- the simplest); [2] Two, where you
collect all the information and then contact PayPal for authorization
(the more complex). While [1] is simpler [2] allows you to have full
control over the user -- IOW, they never leave your site.
In both cases, after the user has been approved, you are notified of
the purchase, you are are credited with the purchase AND the user is
[1] or [2] should be directed to a "Thank you" page.
While customers like to say "This is a small project" it really isn't
and does come with an element of liability on your part. For example,
if you somehow make user cc information public, then you have
big-time problems. That's something you should consider in your
bidding.
Good luck,
tedd
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