Magento

If you want returning customers to be able to purchase using a credit card of file, using say Authorize.net, do you still need to ask them for the three digit code (cvv code for visa) to process the payment?

Does anyone store the three digit code?  From what I understand you can’t do this, correct?

Can you process payments without this code?

I am new to this stuff so go easy on me.

You should never store the CVV code. It will violate PCI compliance. If you are going to process credit card payments on your own website (i.e. WITHOUT the client leaving your domain), the hosting must meet the PCI-DSS requirements and you need to fill out a self-assessment questionnaire.

If you are not comfortable with setting up a payment solution yourself, it may be better to sign up for a merchant account and a hosted solution, in which the actual transaction is processed on the payment gateway’s domain.