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In 2004, a group of credit card companies banded together to create the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards. Complying with those standards is critical in ecommerce hosting, as these guidelines are now usually contractually enforced in merchant agreements. Compliance also is good for your business, because consumers hearing about credit information security breaches want to spend their money with companies who protect their data.

The current 12 primary requirements are broken down into several sub-categories. These requirements range from technical criteria to well-defined business practices. Examples of technical criteria include the storage and transmission of encrypted information. In addition, a company is required to regulate the digital and physical accessibility to the data.

Any company that processes transmits, or stores credit card information should adhere to the PCI standards. Doing so can be quite a challenge, especially for small- and medium-sized companies. Fortunately there are many PCI-compliant ecommerce solutions from online shopping cart software to ecommerce hosting. These solutions guarantee compliance and take the burden off of sellers and allow them focus on the business they know best.

A small company trying to break into the ecommerce market will need a PCI-compliant hosting provider that is trustworthy. Often times, ecommerce hosting can be evaluated through third-party opinion web sites, but it is important to ask for references as well. Because of the intimate nature of this business relationship it is of the utmost importance to choose a hosting provider with good credentials.

Even though security is an important feature to look for in ecommerce hosting, be sure to pay attention to the other benefits available in ecommerce solutions. Many hosting companies will partner with their customers and provide online shopping cart software as well. It is an enormous benefit when you hosting provider is knowledgeable about your software as well. They can often provide superior technical support. This translates to less downtime and web site at which consumers are comfortable shopping.

There are many challenges to face in creating a successful ecommerce store. It is easy focus on solely on product selection and marketing strategies. However, nothing is more important than easing a customer's mind about his or her private information and complying with your credit card provider's merchant agreement. Partnering with a secure and PCI-compliant ecommerce hosting provider makes good sense from all angles.