What are the risks with most conventional, non-PayPal payment systems?
With most non-PayPal payment solutions the following people all see your credit card number: 1) The people you are buying from, 2) The people at the company hosting the website, 3) The Payment Processor company that charges your credit card, 4) The Payment Gateway company that interfaces between your credit card and the Payment Processor company, and finally, 5) Your credit card company. As you can see, with non-PayPal payment systems, not only do lots of people get to see your credit card information, but you are also relying on the Seller’s security and privacy. And there may be more. With most conventional non-PayPal payment systems, if the seller’s web site is hacked, your credit card information can be made public (ever read about these?). Not only that, you are trusting the Seller to maintain the privacy of your credit card! So, with most conventional online payment systems, you may get some ease of use, but at the cost of sacrificing your privacy.
