With shopping-cart capabilities, industrial-strength encryption and
real-time transaction authorization, Evolv Adaptive Technology''s Skipjack Merchant Services offers a useful and affordable way to add credit-card transactions to your Web site.
Skipjack''s full range
of features include shopping-cart capabilities, e-mail responses and
receipts for both customers and merchants and terminal services.
Skipjack Merchant Services encompasses several different entities:
SkipjackIC, Skipjack Merchant Reporting, Skipjack VPOS Terminal and more.
The security side of the offerings, SkipjackIC, (Internet Commerce), is unique in the online-transaction world, since it is more advanced than RSA encryption
technology. Functionally, SkipjackIC encrypts customers'' transactions on
the Skipjack server, submits them to credit-card vendors for authorization
and then stores the transaction record back on the Skipjack server.
While most transaction servers use a public-key encryption record like RSA or PGP,
SkipjackIC carries its own key, which means that each transaction has a
unique key. In addition, SkipjackIC has a minimum key space of 225 to the
2000th power (as opposed to RSA or PGP''s key space of 2 to the 2048th
power).
With the threat of hackers intercepting credit-card transactions
via the Internet and snooping for individual transactions in a set of
packets, customers should be comforted by
this high level of security. However, the Skipjack technology is not widely
supported in the credit-card industry, and committing to Skipjack means
that merchants may be buying into a relatively closed technology.
For payment solutions, Skipjack supports MasterCard, Visa, American
Express, Discover, Diners Club, and JCB credit cards as well as debit cards
and checks. The pricing structure -- $29.95 for the first 500 transactions per month with a
$79.95 set-up and integration fee -- is slightly less than the prices offered by
companies such as CyberCash and the Skipjack Web site advertises lower rates
for larger customers. A merchant account is necessary to handle credit-card
transactions, as well as a Web host with a secure server. Setting up a
Skipjack account can be done via 800 number or by filling out an online
form.
Adding shopping-cart capabilities to your Web page is simply a matter of
grabbing files from the Skipjack site and inserting some code to
your Web pages. The code is a link to the Skipjack secure servers, which
contain variables detailing the purchased items, whether the items are taxable and the merchant ID number assigned by Skipjack.
The files provided by Skipjack fall into two categories: e-mail messages
and HTML files sent in the midst of a transaction. The e-mail messages
provide feedback to an online order, detailing whether a transaction was
successful or if it failed (and why it failed -- if a credit card was not
authorized or if there was a system error).
The HTML files report when a
system error occurs, when there is a validation problem with the data
supplied by a customer, when the customer supplies incorrect credit-card
information and when a transaction was successful. These HTML files
contain special Skipjack tags that allow information to be automatically
inserted into the HTML file by the Skipjack services. However, these files
can be customized (as long as the tags are left alone), with company
information and logos inserted.
However, SkipJack does not offer wallet capabilities in which users can
store credit-card information on their local system and have that
information sent automatically to compatible systems.
Even if merchants are already using another shopping-cart service, they can still
integrate it with the Skipjack IC service. This requires a more elaborate
configuration process involving more variables (including address and
credit-card information). E-tailers also have the option to log onto
the Skipjack Web site and use their Web browser as a virtual terminal,
and log credit-card transactions from the local terminal.
Skipjack''s reporting tools are excellent, providing a wide variety
of information in an easy-to-read format via Web browser. Information
reported by Skipjack includes transaction totals, the status of the
account, total sales and credits to date, pending sales and credits, the
current and ending balance, alerts (which flag credit information that is
possibly fraudulent), transactions sorted by customers and more.
In addition, there''s
also an exceptional level of detail available for individual transactions,
including date and amount of the transaction, customer information
(address, phone number, e-mail address), pending status, IP address
from where the customer placed the order, credit-card information (the type
of the card and the last five digits), specifics of
the item(s) purchased, how much tax was charged and what shipping method
was charged.
Larger Web sites will appreciate the open framework offered by Skipjack,
with a published API that allows advanced vendors and consultants to more
closely align their Web sites with Skipjack services.
Anyone looking to add credit-card transactions to their Web site should
consider Skipjack when evaluating services. With shopping-cart capabilities
and a very affordable price tag, Skipjack is in the upper tier of secure
transaction providers.
Pros: Excellent reporting tools; industrial-strength
encryption; shopping-cart capabilities; open API for larger sites.
Cons: No support for wallet capabilities.
Reviewed by: Kevin Reichard
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