Possible to not accept customer name, address etc?

[nadsab]

Hi,

Do any of the standard or add on payment modules allow for ZC purchases that do not require ANY customer info such as name, address, card # etc be entered into zen cart?

In other words, I would like to have all customer data entered into a third party payment service (and not entered in to ZC), such that customer name, address, card number etc is stored/processed on the payment processor server(s), and not in Zen Cart. And once item is purchased, I can just log into an account at payment processor and get the ship to address....and not have access to any credit card data at all...

[stevesh]

Search the Plugins area for COWOA.

Other than with the Manual Card Processing mod, which no one should use anyway, Zencart doesn't store credit card information.

[nadsab]

Thanks I will check out COWOA.

I know ZC does not store credit card #'s - I would like to take it a step further and also not store customer name and address either.

[nadsab]

Search the Plugins area for COWOA.

Does COWOA function well with any or all of the standard or add on payment gateway mods?

[stevesh]

Probably, but I can't say for sure, as we don't use them. I think it's important to offer customers access to their order history as well as the option to change their shipping address, so we require account creation on our sites. Those (few, in our opinion) potential customers who won't buy from us if they have to create an account ? Well, OK, see you around.

As far as any liability associated with storing customer names and addresses, I think it makes sense to realize that one can glean that same information from a telephone book. Not exactly top-secret high security information.

I'll offer my two cents worth of advice, for what it's worth: stop obsessing over remotely possible liability concerns and start building your sites. You have to realize that if one of your customers is surfing your website while driving, loses control and runs over a nun, the nun's family can sue you. Stupid and ridiculous, yes, but possible and there's absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it before the fact. Relax and get down to business.

[nadsab]

Yeah thanks for the advice stevesh, you are right on that. Ever since pci dss came out I have been spooked about it - banks and credit card companies....I really do want to store customer names and addresses on my server (not cards) simply for keeping track of my sales and offer specials and such to loyal customers, send them product info etc. In the end I will prob do so.

My two cents worth, if Visa, mastercard, Amex and Discover and all the rest truly were concerned about security and wanted to make things better, they would not allow any third party payment processors to take credit cards over the internet, and do all the credit card processing on their own equipment. That in my opinion is the best way to prevent hackers and fraudsters from hacking into all of these payment processors servers. Have a central location where the card companies control all the activity and monitor it the way they want to. Instead, it seems that the banks and card companies want to spread that responsibility out all over the world and onto small and medium sized businesses, and then hold the payment gateway folks and merchants responsible for Visa's own desire to blame others for fraud. They forget that both the card user and the merchant are victims when it comes to theft.

The card companies are really and ethically the only companies who should be processing payments IMHO.

[stevesh]

The card companies are really and ethically the only companies who should be processing payments IMHO.

Nice idea maybe, but Visa and Mastercard are already skating on very thin anti-trust ice.

[RodG]

The card companies are really and ethically the only companies who should be processing payments IMHO.

In other words, stores that provide EFTPOS and/or POS facilities should be banned because they aren't 'ethical'?

Just putting it out there...

Cheers
Rod

[nadsab]

In other words, stores that provide EFTPOS and/or POS facilities should be banned because they aren't 'ethical'?

Just putting it out there...

Cheers
Rod

No I did not mean that at all.

It just seems to me that the credit card companies want to place all the resposibility for taking credit cards onto others, and punish those who get victimized by fraud or crimes. it's like a double whammy - if theft occurs, you get ripped off by a hacker THEN the credit card companies try to punish merchants or sellers for being the victim.

I am not saying that payment gateways should be banned, but a good idea would be for the credit card compamies to ALSO compete with them and offer a competing gateway service which assumes all the responsibity for fraud and hacking if such takes place on their own servers.

Because when you think of it, both merchants and credit card users are the customer. Credit card companies what to puhish everyone with fines, not just the crooks. So if they can not catch a crook, they punish the victim for compensation.

[nadsab]

It's like this...one has a bank account and someone steals money out of it, instead of trying to catch or punish the crook - the bank would instead punish and fine that person for getting money stolen out of their account and blame them for it.

This is what PCI DSS is like.

And I really have a problem with private companies levying fines onto victims of crimes. Someone please show me who wrote THAT law.