Apollo Hosting September Newsletter

Jumpstart Your Ecommerce Season!

Greetings from your team at Apollo Hosting,

Fall is almost upon us, and though it's still pretty warm where we are, that doesn't mean winter isn't right around the corner. For a lot of merchants, winter means a certain season that can make their entire year. It's always a wise move to be prepared early, so we present some new features and tips in this issues.

Learn about our new partner who provide free PCI Compliance scanning services. Don't know what PCI compliance is? Read on. Our Hosting Help section features an article all about that most important of ecommerce endeavors, getting paid. Specifically, what are you options for having all those customers out there send you their hard earned money in exchange for your goods and services.

We'll try to provide additional tips as the season approaches to keep those carts humming.

The A-Team

PCI Compliance Services- FREE

Visa and MasterCard require all entities that accept credit card payments over the Internet - or process, transmit or store credit card data on a network connected in any way to the Internet - to be certified to meet the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (PDF).

Apollo Hosting has also arranged for you to have a PCI compliance account FREE for the 1st year. Each additional year is only $19.00. This is the same quarterly compliance scanning service that ScanAlert retails for $149. This new service is designed to allow all Apollo Hosting customers to easily meet the requirements of Visa and MasterCard’s Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.   Compliance with the PCI standards is required by all ecommerce merchants.

The ScanAlert program is a complete security auditing system with a breadth of features that far exceed the basic vulnerability scanning requirements of PCI, CISP and SDP which comprise the PCI Security Standards. A comprehensive security tool, it includes:

•    Access to ScanAlert’s web-based Vulnerability Management Portal
•    Scheduled quarterly automated vulnerability scans
•    Unlimited on-demand manual scans to re-test systems whenever needed
•    Detailed instructions to patch all vulnerabilities found during scans
•    Easy-to-understand security self-assessment forms and online assistance
•    Preparation of the Report on Compliance (ROC) documentation for submission to an online merchant’s acquiring bank

ScanAlert Logo

Enroll with ScanAlert online now FREE at: Apollo Hosting's FREE ScanAlert SignUp Page or call toll free (866) 233-3353 for more information.

To learn more about mandatory PCI compliance, see Visa's security program overview.

Learn More...

Hosting Help - "Moving the Money- Online Payment Options"

Hosting Help Graphic Having a product, a website, and a shopping cart isn't enough. Learn the various methods available to allow your customers to do that most important thing in ecommerce, pay you.

Moving the Money- Online Payment Options
The ever increasing market for ecommerce has created a wide variety of methods by which a budding entrepreneur may do business online. This article will review the most common methods available to allow customers to pay for goods on a website. These include, in rough order of complexity, online check solutions, 3rd party processors, and finally merchant account / payment gateways. Depending on the nature of your business, one of these will probably suffice. Larger businesses may even consider providing multiple payment methods in order to cover as many potential customers as possible.