Secure Payment Method

Literally millions of pounds in credit card transactions are processed on the Internet each day. Because of sophisticated encryption and security measures built into secure sites on the Internet, the chances that your credit card information will be used fraudulently are less than winning the lottery.

The padlock or key symbol in the status bar of your browser indicates that you are in a secure area and all information provided in this area is encrypted and protected.

When you buy online from us, the information that you supply will be kept confidential and secure. We use PayPal’s secure credit card online processing facility for all credit card details, which uses industry standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Thawte digital certificates along with PayPal's unique encryption systems. You will receive notification of your order by e-mail once the order has successfully been placed.

How secure is PayPal?

For millions of people around the world, PayPal is the way to pay - trusted and secure and PayPal payment solutions are trusted by thousands of businesses, big and small.

Security and PayPal

Security is probably one of the most significant concerns for both the shopper and the retailer during an online transaction. In reality, an online transaction is probably more secure than a card transaction in a shop or conducted over the telephone or by fax, as the information transmitted online is strongly encrypted using complicated logarithm combinations.

The PayPal payment system uses a combination of both established and innovative techniques to ensure the security and integrity of all sensitive data. Furthermore, our public web servers are certified by Thawte, a public Certificate Authority, ensuring that both the shopper and retailer can have confidence that nobody can impersonate PayPal to obtain confidential information.

Transaction Encryption

The transfer of the purchase details from the retailers site to PayPal are encapsulated using our own encrypted and digitally-signed protocol. This uses a combination of standard methods such as PGP, RSA and MD5 to ensure that the information passed is secure and tamper-proof via SSL.

Security for the Shopper

Any communication between the shopper and PayPal is also encrypted to the maximum strength supported by the shopper's browser using 128 Bit SSL. Shoppers are also protected from fraudulent use of their card in a "card not present" environment, by their card issuers. The card issuers provide the right for shopper to dispute a transaction if the goods/services did not arrive or if the card was used fraudulently.

Data Storage

Data storage on PayPal systems, and the communication between PayPal and the worldwide banking networks, is regularly audited by the banking authorities to ensure a secure transaction environment. We also ensure that we stay up-to-date with the latest versions of any third-party code we use, and continually review our own proprietary code.


Page Updated: 21 January 2009