How to Safely Order Merchandise Online

Purchases made online are easy, fast, and sometimes cheaper than going to your neighbor store. The dilemma most people have when it comes to ordering merchandise from the Internet is that they feel uneasy sending their credit card account number out to the World Wide Web. All it takes is one nightly news story about hackers stealing thousands of credit card numbers from a major company to stop us in mid-click from ordering online. Seriously, can you blame us? When a multi-billion dollar company who fancies itself on using the latest security software gets hacked by a couple of average joes, we should be worried.

But it's how we deal with our fear that counts. One route is to be content with never making an online purchase. Yes, it's possible to never order merchandise online and still lead a happy and fulfilling life. However, what do you desire? Online purchasing has several advantages over local stores, including discounted merchandise, express shopping, and being able to compare dozens of brands in a matter of minutes. So, what's a cautious shopper seeking online bargains to do? Read on for several ways to shop online without ever having to type in your credit card account number during a transaction.

SECURE SHOPPING SOFTWARE

Secure shopping software, such as Ilium's eWallet, allows you to store important and confidential information into a virtual card for safekeeping. This 'wallet' has several category slots (called cards) to hold data pertaining to your bank accounts, credit cards, website logins, and much more. The advantage here is that during an online transaction, the eWallet software routes a secure message from the merchant's server to your computer. When it does, you conveniently have the exact data needed to complete the online transaction.

SMART CARDS (STORED VALUE CARDS)

Similar to debit cards and prepaid phones cards, smart cards (also known as stored value cards) protect against a number of security threats, such as when a user carelessly stores his or her user passwords and when savvy security hackers try to evade your computer or the merchant's computer. More and more, online businesses are welcoming the use of smart cards in their transactions.

POINT-OF-SALE DEVICES

A Point-of-Sale Device (POS) can be your personal digital assistant (PDA) or your mobile phone. By using a Point-of-Sale Device you can make your online purchases, and then pay the incurred bill each month. This keeps your personal information from potentially being snatched from Internet hackers each time you shop online.