Data Hostaging in the Payment Processing World. You may have heard of someone’s computer being hijacked with messaging demanding they pay for alleged wrongdoings or to be able to get important data back. Typically referred to as Ransomware, this malware holds your computer hostage by encrypting its data or by making it inaccessible in some way. The user is then hit then demands to pay ransom money to the cybercriminal who installed the malware. For more information a good post by Andy O’Donnell [http://netsecurity.about.com/bio/Andy-O-Donnell- 82564.htm] is at: http://goo.gl/3ymh6d.

Top 5 must haves before integrating with any Payment Gateway. The #1 MUST HAVE is probably the least thought about decision making criteria yet arguably the most important.You MUST make sure your payment gateway partner values your customers as much as you do. You know how much time and effort is spent on customer acquisition. In today’s world competition for clients is fierce. You can’t afford to spend time and money to bring on a new client only to have them disappointed with poor communication or a complete lack of support. Having confidence that your most valuable asset is being well taken care of simply cannot be overstated.

Payment Gateway Integration: A Growth Strategy for developers and SAAS providers.

Payment Gateways play an integral role in ecommerce and the ability to embed payment-processing functionality inside applications. Authorize.net founded in 1996 was the first to market.

There are now multiple providers of gateway services and although the technical capabilities have evolved the role of the gateway remains the same: to provide a secure method of transmitting payment data from the merchant to the back end payment processor.

For many developers and SAAS providers choosing their payment gateway partner[s] is not a decision driven by the potential for the partner to actually help grow their business. Integrate with usual suspects in gateway space, hand off the customer and hope for the best is somewhat standard. Support and funding issues, data hostaging, customer confusion on gateway versus merchant account, lack of payment options [specifically for recurring payments] and more can leave clients frustrated and looking for alternatives.