An SSL certificate IS NOT needed for accepting credit cards through a normal merchant account. All transactions are done on the gateway server, not on the seller's server.
Only when collecting the data for hand entry at a later time - which is against card processor regulations - is an SSL certificzte and a secure server section required.
This is a totally mistaken "urban legend" or "old wfe's tale" on the Internet. All shopping carts pass on the total to a secure gateway or system such as 2 CheckOut, etc. where the cardholder information is gathered in a secure manner.
I am not saying that displaying a SSL certificate banner is not a good idea, but it is not required for actual cardholder safety, only as a customer confidence builder.
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