Payment Page - How to make it look trustworthy?

[Herath]

The credit card payment page is somtimes the page
where the customer closes the browser and takes his business elsewhere.

We have the following itmes/text on the payment page.

1. Phone number to call customer support
2. Verisign Logo/SSL certificate verification link.
3. 'Your personal information is safe' message
4. Your credit card # will not be stored. (In our case)

Any more suggestions?

[wackal]

make sure there are no spelling errors, typos, or incorrect grammar. ALso make sure the page does not display any error messages when loaded in different browsers

[pleeker]

The one thing I would suggest is making sure the payment page looks like part of YOUR site, not part of the credit card processor's site.

Nothing turns me off when shopping more than deciding that I can trust the merchant, starting to checkout, and then getting to a secure page that looks like a 5-year-old did it -- it has no relation to the design of the regular site aside from the merchant's name, and it kills all the trust that I'd built up on the main site.

I know some credit card processors don't allow customization of that last page -- so, use someone else. Find a solution that lets you integrate that last payment page into YOUR design. That'll make it look more professional and trustworthy. (I'm assuming you have a professional and trustworthy site to begin with. :) )

[Herath]

Wackal, Yes making sure there are no SSL certificate errors on payment page is critical.

When we 1st installed our SSL certificate we found many of our international clients were getting an error page since their browsers were not 128 big SSL complient. So we had to step down our chippers.

[danieljean]

I was researching that a couple of months ago, and found out that the Verisign SSL logo was the most trust-enducing logo to have on a page (IIRC, it was viewed favorably by about 1/3 of users). I was surprised that the VISA and MC logos also boosted trust.

Asking for too much information kills trust too. People balk if you ask them for a phone number unless you explain it's for next day delivery. If you don't need something, don't ask for it.

[figment88]

For the phone number, make sure it is a toll-free number, and point out that it is toll-free (especially if it is not 1-800).

It is surprising how many people think toll-free numbers are a big complex expensive deal, so that only legit companies have them.

[mktman]

You may have reservations about this, but you could try a few of these suggestions:

List your physical address, so they know your not in Panama

Have a personal message from you,the owner, with your real name and a picture of you and your staff. This shows that you are real people who are ready to serve the customer.

I also think those instant customer service chats are great. They aren't too costly, but you will need to have a present staffer take on the extra responsiblitiy. It doesn't need to be 24/7, even just during business hours is probably enough. If you can't field all the questions then just have it on your CC page.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head...

Mktman

[mansterfred]

I would think it is an overall site image. Check out page should be clean and easy to use. If the customer gets that far, to much of a "trust me" sales pitch on the last page might just come off as scary.

[carl holloway]

I would also place an image somewhere notifying them about the little image of a lock in IE that appears in the status bar at the bottom of the window. Also maybe another image that shows and explains what the 's' in https:// means.

[PCInk]

I also find that a page that looks professional goes a long, long way.

Don't ask for anything that is not needed - with one possible exception: a notes box for the customer to complete.

I often see orders with an order for a spare part which the notes box states "Is this the right one for a <manufacturer> <product>?"

That's good for them, they think I'll double check it! And it's good for me - because I can double check it and sometimes people have ordered the wrong thing - it saves refunds and replacements.

Physical address and your phone number helps a lot. In the UK, we have local rate and national rate numbers (usually 0845 and 0870) and these seem to have an affect on peoples perception of the size of the company. And yet, they are very cheap, much cheaper than a freephone.

Other pages in your site must match the payment page. So, if the payment processor page requests credit card name, address, postcode, phone number, email, then if you allow them to enter a seperate delivery address, these items must be in the same order and same format.

Don't force the user to enter details in a specific format because there will always be an exception. Don't force them to enter a space every four digits of their CC number. Don't force them to NOT put spaces. Let them decide. A telephone number may have 10 digits in one country, but what if they are extension 2256? They may want to type 'x2256' at the end - do you let them type an 'x'? Have you allowed for more than 10 characters to be entered? Do some people type the number with a '-' separator or area codes surrounded by brackets? Let them!

You can try as hard as you like, but the payment page is often where people stop to find out the price of an item. Too many places (like Amazon) have complicated delivery terms and it is much easier to fill up the basket and continue to the payment page to see how much it will cost. They may do this with a few suppliers, but only one gets the order.

[danieljean]

Don't ask for anything that is not needed - with one possible exception: a notes box for the customer to complete.

Excellent advice, PCInk!