I received an inquiry last week pertaining to the Authorize.net Customer Information Manager so I thought it would be beneficial to all Auth.net merchants by presenting info about this option.

Quite a few merchants do business with repeat customers and to make things a lot easier they want to store credit card information so they can use it again. Storing the data will let the merchants bill their customers for recurring orders. It also makes it easier for repeat consumers to checkout while buying items and/or services online.

However, if the merchant wants to store credit card numbers, they have to adhere to stricter PCI-DSS standards. Aside from PCI, it’s actually pretty hard to store credit card information safely and securely as there are a variety of technical aspects to doing it properly.  It takes a lot of work and ongoing management time to store credit card numbers safely.

But if you’ve got your mind set on storing card numbers and data, make sure you do it the right way. The simplest method is actually letting somebody else take care of it. If merchants outsource their credit card information storage task to a  customer information management system, then they aren’t legally liable for that data. The merchant’s reputation may take a beating, but they won’t take a hit financially.

If you’re looking for somebody to store the data, your payment gateway may offer a customer service manager.  This service will store the credit card numbers and data in the payment gateway’s secure database. If you do repeat business with a customer, all you need to do is reference their customer number and the amount you are going to charge them. This can be done manually via the administrative virtual terminal of the payment gateway company, or you may be able to do it directly online by utilizing an API.  This will allow merchants to setup recurring payments, void, credit and refund the stored cards of customers.

There are several gateways that can support data storage and retrieval,  including Authorize.net, which has a service named “Customer Information Manager.” There are also other gateways that utilize some type of custom vault type systems which can be incorporated with a website, charged manually, or included with a desktop application.

 Authorize.Net’s customer information manager has several features that make it a good option at $20 a month.

Because they store all of the customers’ credit card data for you on their own servers, you don’t have to worry about encrypting and protecting the information yourself. You also don’t have to worry about PCI compliance and potential hackers.

Authorize.Net has an automated recurring billing system that’s ideal for merchants who charge a fixed amount during each billing period. However, it doesn’t work if you charge a different amount each billing period.  The system allows your website to take care of any varying billing amounts and it will also store the billing information and processing of any recurring transactions.

If you need to charge consumers on a recurring basis, but it’s not on a regular schedule, the Authorize.net customer service manager can store the credit card and billing data you just have to take care of the payment scheduling. This process lets merchants use an entirely automated system which cuts down on costs and time.

The system also lets return customers store their information when shopping online. They won’t have to enter the data every time they reach the checkout page.  This is a feature that frequent online shoppers will definitely appreciate.