Gift list security
There are many factors which make The Bottom Drawer a more secure company to use than other gift list services:
1) We have been operating for many years and whilst we are predominantly an online company, we do pop up into the real world every now and again just to put some faces behind the service! Maybe you saw us on TV at the RHS Royal Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in July 2007 where we created a showgarden to promote our garden makeover gift list service. And we even won a prestigious Silver Flora medal for our efforts!
2) All credit and debit card transactions are processed online using 128bit technology by Protx, a card processing company approved by all the major banks.
3) We are a Limited company in law which means we have to follow strict reporting requirements to Companies House each year. This enables you to view important documents on the company such as registered address, details of directors etc.
4) All client funds are received into Client Gift List Accounts at Barclays Bank plc and Alliance & Leicester plc in the UK and these are separate accounts to the day-to-day trading account. Barclays and Alliance & Leicester are major UK financial institutions and not obscure offshore accounts.
5) For those couples using our service to collect cash contributions, we do not ask for your bank details in advance, only when your funds are ready to be transferred. They are then filed on a separate system to the main website so your confidential data remains separate.
6) Ian Bush, the CEO of The Bottom Drawer, is a fully qualified chartered accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). Ian was recently awarded with a place on the 2009 Observer Newspaper/Courvoisier Future 500. The CVTF500 network, founded in 2007, is one of the UK’s leading and most dynamic professional networks, recognising and rewarding the country’s most innovative business brains and creative talent. Ian has been hand-picked by a high profile judging panel of leading entrepreneurs who screened hundreds of applications from a variety of business and creative sectors. Judge Reed Paget, CEO of Belu Water, says, “We were looking for extraordinarily smart and passionate people, with ideas both clever and well thought through. The Bottom Drawer, run by Ian Bush, genuinely stood out.”
7) The Bottom Drawer is certified by the worlds leading internet security company (McAfee Secure). Our site and systems are tested daily to make sure they are secure against all known internet threats.
8) The majority of guests contribute towards a gift list using a credit card or visa debit card. There are numerous safeguards when a credit card or visa debit is used and the funds can normally be recovered from the card provider if a company cannot complete its service.
9) Finally, some couples consider using a traditional department store gift list as they simply feel more secure using a major household name. However, being bigger doesn't automatically make them safer! Consider some big names that have disappeared in recent years - Woolworths, C&A, MFI, Zavvi. The bigger the company the more money they can owe others and even John Lewis reported liabilities (ie the amount of money they owe other people) of over £2billion**. Yes that's a 2 with 9 zeros on the end of it! Compare this to The Bottom Drawer - we have NO outstanding loans!
We hope the above answers your questions but if you have any others please do not hesitate to let us know.
** John Lewis Report & Accounts 2008