From purchasing postage online for shipping gifts to ordering a wide array of gifts for friends and family, the card not present transaction process is a part of everyday life in a digital world. Just how those card not present transaction processes happen, however, is the task of payment gateway services and payment processing companies. In an attempt to avoid the growing number of fraudulent purchases and security breaches that no one wants to hear about on the news, the card not present transaction process can be outsourced to payment providers who specialize in authentication and chargeback tracking services.
Consider some of the many ways that you can use a card not present transaction process this holiday season:

• Acorns for your aunt who lives in Maine.
• Booties that you crocheted for your newest niece.
• Christmas gifts for your neighbors from the old neighborhood.
• Dresses that you found on sale at your favorite boutique. You know your college age daughter will love them.
• Elegant vintage jewelry pieces that you want to lend to your granddaughter for her senior prom.
• Fish food for your grandson?s new aquarioum.
• Glasses to replace the ones your daughter broke at her college volleyball practice.
• Hats and gloves that you knitted for your daughter?s neighbor.
• Individually framed photographs of your mother in her wedding dress. They are gifts to all of her grandchildren.
• Joke books for your nephew who wants to try to put a comedy routine together for his school?s talent show.
• Kites for your daughter?s first grade classroom. She is teaching her students about dfferent kinds of wind and has told them that envelope kites can fly with just the slightest winds.
• Little holiday window clings for your best friend from high school who is in the hospital recovery from a surgery.
• Money and gift cards so that your newly married daughter and her husband can celebrate their six month anniversary.
• Notes for every day of the week from now until your oldest son gets to come home from college.
• Old sheet music that you found when you were cleaning out your grandmother?s house. You know that your piano teaching niece will be excited to play these pieces.
• Pottery pieces that you made yourself. They will make perfect planters for your old neighbor who first taught you how to repot plants.
• Quaint little figurines that remind you of the toys you and your sister played with when you were little.
• Red hand sewn Christmas sockings for your daughter?s first apartment.
• Shoes that you found when you were shopping for your son who is starting his first full time job after graduating from college.
• Tiny little beads that you worked into handmade bracelets. You found a store on the west coast that is willing to sell them.
• Ugly Christmas sweaters that you created for a shop in downtown New York.
• Very old books and maps that will make perfect decorations for your sister?s new bookstore and coffee house.
• Wrestling shoes that were your good luck charm the year you won the state title. Your nephew is starting his first year of high school wrestling.
• X-ray/nighttime vision glasses for your nephews who are into exploring the woods near their house.
• Yellow quilted pillows for the guest room in your grandmother?s new assisted living apartment.
• Zoo passes and three stuffed animals that you are giving to the family that just moved into your gandmother?s old house.

The digital age is certainly convenient. Consumers can get in the habit of purchasing mailing supplies online to ship homemade gifts. They can even tackle their entire holiday shopping list without ever leaving their home. These digital purchases also, however, can put financial information at risk. Both the consumer and the merchant can put themselves at risk of fraud or a security breach any time a card is swiped if it is not a secured payment environment. Outsourcing to a gateway payment provider, though, offers many benefits for both the consumer and the merchant. Tracking suspicious and persistent chargeback fees, for instance, can help identify the use of a stolen card.
If you are getting ready to order the last of your holiday shopping items, or you are preparing to purchase online shipping supplies to mail homemade gifts, make sure that you are working with a secure payment provider and environment.