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What methods (in programming/web dev terms) were used to take payments online before such things as Paypal, Google Checkout and various gateways and API's.

How were such transactions carried out?

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CC Info was downloaded and then Processed locally (securely). Sometimes Manually, Sometimes Batch, via a dial up line (securely). This is often the case today as well.

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  • Not always securely :) I remember buying CDs off of a website using plaintext telnet. Granted, that was 20 years ago! Commented Aug 5, 2011 at 17:50
  • I mean the. Processing was secure , not web site or the download :-)
    – Morons
    Commented Aug 5, 2011 at 21:59
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Actually, not that much differently if you take all the middleware out of context.

Payment gateways typically provide a secure, offshore way to store CC data and provide advanced validation, invoicing etc.

But besides all that great funk behind the scenes, they're still saving it into a database and handing the information over to the bank.

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