This Thursday, July 29th, the Chargify team will be at the 4th annual Boston TECH cocktail event.

For those of you unfamiliar with TECH cocktail, the company is run by two entrepreneurs and works to connects local technology companies through awesome events like the one we will be at Thursday.

What Happens at the Event?

Boston area startups, investors and others in the tech industry will be gathered at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA to network, showcase their companies and maybe generate some funding interest.

Along with hundreds of attendees, there will be eleven “Showcased Startups” (including Chargify). Each company will have a table set up expo-style where they will feature their company, answer questions and network with other local entrepreneurs.

*Update* - See some photos of the Chargify team from the event at TECH cocktail.

If you haven’t seen our recent tweets you may not have read about Grasshopper Group. Grasshopper Group is the recently launched endeavor from the company that brought you Chargify and we wanted to share the great news about it.

What is Grasshopper Group?

Grasshopper Group is the parent company of Chargify, Grasshopper, Spreadable and everything else we do in the future. Grasshopper Group will be where we focus our entrepreneurial efforts, like National Entrepreneurs’ Day.  This will allow of our companies & products to evolve, improve and be the best in their respective industries.

How will this effect Chargify?

Since Chargify was already technically “owned” by Grasshopper Group, you will not notice any changes.

With over $131 billion in online sales in 2009 (U.S), we have definitely become an e-commerce oriented society. This in turn, means we are also a society where customers are more vulnerable to identity and credit card theft. 

As a business it’s extremely important that you protect your customers’ data. Luckily, there are a number of solutions out there designed to ensure your customers’ data are secure. Aside from software, there are a few precautions you can take:

1. Maintain a Secure Network through Firewalls
   A firewall installation between wireless networks with a secure password policy will prevent any unwanted visitors from accessing credit card information


2. Testing and Monitoring
   Make sure your privacy settings are kept up to date by consistently checking the status of security controls, limitations, networks and restrictions on at least a quarterly basis.


Read More…

One Year In, a Really Dynamic Business

Our code base is over a year old and I thought it was a good time to think & write about where Chargify is and where we’re headed.

Overall, people seem to like Chargify .

I’ve never been part of a more dynamic business. I’m amazed and inspired because most customers are start-ups or small businesses, which is a nice bit of news against the backdrop of recession. There are developers who give back to the community in the form of sample code. And some of them also offer consulting services to other customers.

We’re of course delighted that so many businesses and developers put their trust in us. There are challenges, of course, but so far we seem to be keeping up with them reasonably well, even with the occasional glitch.

Merchant Accounts & Payment Gateways

We reach a lot of small businesses and software developers who’ve never needed to know anything about merchant accounts and payment gateways, so I wrote up a personal blog entry a few weeks ago that explains most of what you need to know - from what the pieces do to where to get them.

If you’d like to learn more about merchant accounts and payment gateways, in general, please check out Merchant Accounts & Payment Gateways… Keeping the Grass Green!.

Why We Removed PayPal WPP

Back in April, were excited to add support for PayPal Website Payments Pro (“WPP”) for Chargify merchants in the US, UK, and Canada. WPP provides an additional and in some ways easier path for startups and small businesses to get a payment gateway and merchant account in one package.