Beta-version available today for your feedback!

Do you say “checkout” but a subset of your customers say it differently? We have your solution.

Staying true to our commitment of diversifying features to remain focused on the needs of an expanding global audience, 2Checkout has officially launched the beta of a new purchase routine loaded with 14 language translations for customers to choose during checkout.

The new feature, located in the top right corner of the purchase page in native characters, will provide immediate translation of 2CO’s standard purchase routine with a single click. Better yet, once the system goes live early next year, vendors will be able to direct customer traffic to the translated version of their choice, to eliminate the extra step of translating the English version for their international customer base.

In addition to English, the new purchase routine will include Traditional Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovenian, European Spanish, Latin Spanish, and Swedish. Click on any of the following sample links to test the translation process:

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This is the season where our thoughts turn to making the world a nicer place. While many people discuss December as the biggest shopping month of the year and many retail outlets count this month as their most profitable, this is also the largest month of charitable donations and volunteering. I want to take a moment to write about some of the charities 2Checkout has supported and some of the things we do to give back to our community.

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As of January 1, 2009, Slovakia will be adopting the Euro (EUR) as its local currency. Because of this, our Slovakian suppliers must update their banking information via the Banking Wizard before December 16th to prevent delays in payment. Suppliers from this country will need to change their payment currency to Euro and enter a IBAN number to receive Euro payments to their bank account. If you do not know what your IBAN number is please contact your bank for this information.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Think your online business is too small to be concerned about PCI Compliance? Think again.

Every business accepting credit cards is responsible for meeting Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). However, since 2Checkout is the merchant of record on each sale you make, we take full ownership of the security requirements, managing PCI for you free of charge. How important is this value-added service? You make the call…

Javelin Strategy and Research recently published a report on data breach measuring consumers’ feelings about security. The study suggests over 75% of consumers will stop shopping with businesses regularly plagued by data breaches. With a heightened concern for identity theft, consumers feel they have too much to lose… and so does the credit card industry.

The study also suggests, “retailers and merchants are viewed by 63% of consumers as the least secure when protecting consumer’s data, compared with processors (16%), card networks like Visa or MasterCard (5%) and issuers (5%). When little is known about a data breach, half of all consumers automatically consider the merchants where they shop to be at fault.” In other words, no matter whose at fault, there is a good chance consumers will point their fingers at you!

Correctly following PCI standards can be very expensive and time consuming for small businesses lacking the resources and technical knowledge to handle data storage to spec. However, it is an imperative part of doing business and based upon the results of this study, even more important to your customers.

The bottom line is, every business accepting cards must follow PCI standards. However, since 2Checkout takes full ownership of these requirements you can remain focused on marketing and selling more products instead of being concerned about remodeling your coat closet into a makeshift, password protected server room.

Related Article: PCI Compliance

So, the world market is shaky and your 401K is worth half last year’s value, right?

Does the following scenario sound familiar? Last week, my broker poured over my portfolio then calmly instructed me to ride the market out while his hands shook and sweat beaded up on his forehead. The muted TV over his shoulder ran an endless stock market ticker of red arrows and minus signs while a reporter rattled off a story in front of a foreclosure banner. Making matters worse, a doomsday advertisement followed the news suggesting I buy gold immediately. My blood pressure, instead of my portfolio streaked to an all time high.

One thing is for sure. The economy and your 401K will not bounce back overnight, so a second source of income could never hurt. Daily, an internal passion burns in your soul to open a small internet marketed business and be your own boss, but you can’t readily quit your day job because you need the income. What you need is a convenient way to stay employed while slowly building the business of your dreams after work, an hour at a time.

Well today, in 2008, you are in luck. The e-commerce industry has made starting a second business easier than ever. Automated services and plug-n-play code make it a snap. For example, due to the fully automated suite of features offered by 2Checkout, thousands of small business owners, who have day jobs just like you, are growing their dream businesses when they can – a few hours on the weekend or an hour after dinner — through e-commerce enabled websites selling 24 hours a day.

Because your time is limited but you want to start selling now, we have designed a free shopping cart and order page to easily upload your products and link them to our checkout process. 2Checkout’s supplemental customer service department is also on-call 24/7 to answer your customer’s questions during checkout and our fraud department works around the clock to filter criminally minded transactions from honest customers.

There is no better opportunity to take the leap of faith and invest in yourself and the business you know best. But the key to making a smart decision is finding a resourceful e-commerce partner willing to help you protect and grow your business when you only have a few hours to dedicate each week. Invest in yourself and your dreams by signing up for a 2Checkout account today!