1st4PhoneCards is one of Europe's largest dedicated online suppliers of international phone cards (calling cards). For those who are not familiar with phone cards: They can be purchased on-line and delivered by email. They enable people to make very cheap International Phone Calls from almost any phone, including mobile phones.

How does a phone card / calling card work?

Pre-paid phone cards sometime know as "calling cards" are purchased in denominations, and they are available in currencies such as sterling (GBP).

When you purchase this card, the card is pre-charged with a value of call credit which is usually the same as that of the card value.

Callers can then use the card to call from almost any touch tone telephone to call either domestic (local) or International numbers.

Because cards are pre-paid, phone card producers are able to purchase 'minutes' in bulk from line carriers such as MCI, WorldCom, Deutche Telecom, BT, etc. Purchasing in bulk means savings, and these savings are passed onto the phone card user. Typically, on international calls, callers can save over 80% over a standard dialling service, and in some cases over 90%, thus making phone cards a very attractive method for calling abroad.

Phone cards are then generally supplied to phone card resellers who in tern retail the cards. 1st4PhoneCards are one such reseller.

Normally first line customer services are supplied by the card operator, details of which are normally sent with the order. As the physical card is not needed, many orders are now made via email or over the phone. The phone card resellers then send details to the customer, the details would normally include :-

• Access number(s)
• PIN number(s)
• Customer Services telephone number for that specific card
• Usage instructions

Security

Fore note: 1st4PhoneCards take security very seriously. This is done both online and offline. 1st4PhoneCards will also take advice and liase with relevant authorities to help reduce and prevent the fraudulent use of credit cards with their business.

It is more likely that stolen credit card details, obtained fraudulently, are used to try and purchase cards from the 1st4PhoneCards web site. 1st4PhoneCards operate 'zero' tolerance for unauthorised use of cards and will pass recordings, browser id's, 'call from' and 'call to' numbers to the relevant authorities in such circumstances.

Because of these attempts, and because some children try to use their parents cards!, 1st4PhoneCards do need to make a call to confirm first time orders, and may ask for additional identification. 1st4PhoneCards apologise for any inconvenience caused to their customers. 1st4PhoneCards request that you give us a landline, not a cell phone or payphone number.

Please note that, apart from random samples, this 'due diligence' normally only applies to your first orders. 2nd, 3rd, 4th orders etc.. can be normally made without additional confirmation.

What type of security do you use to protect my credit card details?

1st4PhoneCards use 'Secure Server' for entering this private information. This means that the information that you provide gets encrypted before it is sent over the web. Depending upon you internet browser, this may be up to 128 bit encryption, which is the best currently available for commercial use.

How do I know that I am using a Secure online shopping connection?

When you enter the form which allows you to enter your credit card details you will notice that the URL being used starts with "https://" where the "s" stands for secure.

In some parts of the 1st4PhoneCards site, they may use frames so the 'https' does not show in the browser. If you right mouse click on the order section and select properties you will see the "https".

Do you store my credit card details on-line?

No. Credit card details are not stored in any electronic format (on-line or off-line). For convenience your account information is stored online but you will need to enter your credit card details for each time an order is made. If you set-up an account (recommended), then we can remember your name, address and shipping details.

N.B. A physical hard copy of the credit card transaction is kept and batched to meet the 1st4PhoneCards legal obligations as a merchant. 1st4PhoneCards also may keep recordings of phone orders and verifications. 1st4PhoneCards are keen to reduce the occurrences of credit card fraud and are proactive in it's prevention.