Community Dispatch has a great article that gives consumers a guide to making E-Payments - or making online purchases.

‘The Internet has taken its place beside the telephone and television as an important part of people’s lives. Consumers use the Internet to shop, bank and invest online. Most consumers use credit or debit cards to pay for online purchases, but other payment methods, like “e-wallets,” are becoming more common.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants you to know about these payment technologies and how to make your transactions as safe and secure as possible. Keep these tips in mind as other forms of electronic commerce, like mobile and wireless transactions, become more available.

And How Would You Like To Pay?

Most online shoppers use credit cards to pay for their online purchases. But debit cards - which authorize merchants to debit your bank account electronically - are increasing in use. Your debit card may be an automated teller machine (ATM) card that can be used for retail purchases. To complete a debit card transaction, you may have to use a personal identification number (PIN), some form of a signature or other identification, or a combination of these identifiers. Some cards have both credit and debit features: You select the payment option at the point-of-sale. But remember, although a debit card may look like a credit card, the money for debit purchases is transferred almost immediately from your bank account to the merchant’s account. In addition, your liability limits for a lost or stolen debit card and unauthorized use are different from your liability if your credit card is lost, stolen or used without your authorization….’

Read more at A Consumer’s Guide to E-Payments

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2005 at 12:32 am and is filed under Credit Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.