Small Merchant Services, Inc.

Our Security department: Specific responsibility for ensuring that we have thorough security standards to protect our systems and your information against unauthorized access and use rests with our Security department. This group keeps up-to-date with ever-evolving security issues, tools and methodologies. They ensure that appropriate security controls are built into Small Merchant Services, Inc.'s procedures, systems and software.

Steps we have taken to ensure the privacy and security of your information: Small Merchant Services, Inc.'s top priority is to protect the confidentiality and integrity of its information. Small Merchant Services, Inc. has ensured that the appropriate safeguards have been implemented each step of the way. The safeguards include:; 1. Encryption - all applications and other communications requesting confidential information must be set up in a "secure environment" on our site, transmitted to us securely through the use of encryption and maintained in a secure format upon receipt by us.

2. Firewalls - Small Merchant Services, Inc. has in place an Internet firewall designed to securely separate the Internet from Small Merchant Services, Inc.'s internal computer systems and databases. Data coming from customer computers via the Internet flows through a series of safety checkpoints on its way to our internal systems so that only authorized messages and transactions enter our computer systems.

3. Monitoring - Small Merchant Services, Inc. monitors all internal and external systems to ensure that there has been no security attack or attempted break-in. We also arrange for regular independent security checks on our computer systems to ensure our high standards are being complied with.