Category: Best Practices for Merchants
October 11th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Cybersecurity via Converge:
Converge uses a multi-layered approach to security which helps keep cardholder data safe throughout the entire payment process; from beginning to end.
- EMV: All new Ingenico PIN pads and readers – iCMP and RP457c used with Converge Mobile offer EMV to help protect against counterfeit card use. The PIN pads go a step further in helping protect against lost; stolen and NRI (never received/issued) when a PIN-preferred card is accepted with PIN entry.
- Encryption: All new Ingenico devices also include encryption as a standard security component in addition to protect card data in transit.
- Tokenization: An enhanced security feature that is particularly valuable in card-not-present (CNP) environments when cards are stored on file for processing at a later time, or either for recurring/installment payments.
Get the Ingenico iCMP EMV PIN Pad for only $130.00.
For all payment applications, either Debit or Credit PIN Transaction. Work with both Apple and Android Devices.
Ingenico EMV RP457c card reader for only $75.00.
For Merchants that do not need PIN Pad. Works with hundreds of mobile devices.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Smartphone Tagged with: card, card-not-present, cardholder, data, EMV, mobile, payment, PIN pads, Security, tokenization
October 7th, 2016 by Elma Jane
NEXT DAY FUNDING
To be responsive to the needs of our merchants and to meet that needs, NTC offers next day funding in addition to the value added service for customers and businesses that need to have their funds available quickly.
National Transaction also offers a variety of electronic payment services and technology for businesses; with more than 15 years of experience.
Our services include:
- Currency Conversion
- Credit and debit card processing
- E-commerce and gateways
- Electronic checks
- Gift and loyalty card programs
- Mobile processing
- Cash advances and loans/funding program
- NTC e-Pay and MediPaid
NTC e-Pay – is an Electronic Invoicing that made simple with NTC e-Pay!
Free Setup, nothing to Integrate, Secure, and Fast. Invoice customers Electronically with NTC e-Pay. In addition, our e-Pay Platform can help Travel Merchants bring new customers while encouraging repeat business.
Our Virtual Merchant Gateway – accept payments your way! Online, In-Store and On the Go. Another payment platform that flexes with your business.
NTC Business Loans – Fast yet Affordable and most of all Simple Application Process.
MediPaid – another medical health insurance claims payment. Delivering paperless and next-day deposits for Health Insurance Payments.
Furthermore, NTC provides services to thousands of customers. NTC maintains a one on one relationships with all its merchants consequently providing 24/7 customer service and technical support!
To know more about our product and services call us now! 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit card Processing, Credit Card Reader Terminal, e-commerce & m-commerce, Electronic Check Services, Electronic Payments, Financial Services, Gift & Loyalty Card Processing, Internet Payment Gateway, Medical Healthcare, Mobile Payments Tagged with: credit, Currency Conversion, customers, debit card, e-commerce, E-Pay, electronic checks, electronic payment, funds, gateways, loans, Loyalty Card, merchants, payment services
October 6th, 2016 by Elma Jane
A personal guarantee is an agreement. The guarantors are responsible for repaying the loan with their personal assets; if a business is unable to finish repaying a loan.
This type of agreement is commonly required when you borrow capital from any bank; and also applies to many business credit cards. Traditionally, it is signed by anybody who at least owns 25% of the business.
Different Types of Agreements:
Some of them offer more protection for you and your business partners.
Unlimited Guarantee – is the only agreement available for a single-owner business, there’s a possibility that limitations are negotiable with your lender upon the agreement.
Limited Guarantee – the type of guarantee that are being used for businesses with multiple business partners are signing for a loan.
Two different types of limited guarantee:
Several Guarantee – means that you and your partner are responsible for a set percentage of the outstanding capital and legal fees. It is more desirable because each partner knows and agrees to how much they’ll be responsible for ahead of time.
Joint and Several Guarantee – This type of agreement could lead to problems between you and the other guarantors if something should go wrong because each guarantor is responsible for the full amount of the loan.
Read the fine print before signing a contract.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: bank, credit cards, loan
September 30th, 2016 by Elma Jane
The Process of Underwriting!
Some of the key things that are reviewed in setting up electronic payments.
Getting a merchant account, is an important step for any businesses that sells services.
Merchants need to understand the following process:
Billing policy – Businesses that bill too far in advance are at greater risk for a chargeback. Knowing how does the business bill is important.
Example: A travel agency who sold travel destination packages six months in advance and cancel the trip.
Business type – Businesses at a higher risk are industries with vague products or services; which are more highly to be examined in detail than those with concrete offerings.
Chargeback history – A business with a lot of chargebacks tied to their old merchant account will have a hard time with underwriting. A chargeback can be issued by the cardholder; if the merchant does not fulfill the product or services being rendered as agreed.
Owner/signer credit score – Credit score plays a big role during merchant account underwriting. However, some processors will review financial statements instead in the case of poor credit. if the original signer’s credit score is insufficient, businesses with multiple partners can also try the application with a different signer.
Requested volumes – This are weighed against the processing volumes requested on the application. New businesses usually start with smaller volumes to build a trustworthy relationship before increasing their processing volumes.
Years in business – Long terms in business go a long way in merchant account underwriting; it speaks for their legitimacy and they are more prepared to respond to something like a chargeback and often have a more stable cash flow.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: cardholder, chargeback, credit, electronic payments, merchant account, processors, travel agency
September 29th, 2016 by Elma Jane
MerchantConnect is a great tool for merchants because it contains all the information that a merchant needs to manage their electronic payment activity. Furthermore, it’s fast, easy and secure!
- Merchant can either view or update account information and make changes.
- Find copies of statements.
- Furthermore find valuable products and services to help merchant with their business.
View recent deposits and other information about account activity including:
- Batch Details
- Chargeback
- Retrieval Status
- Deposit History
The merchant can also find news and information to help manage payments at your business. Learn how to:
- Best Qualify Transactions
- Reduce Risk
- Manage Chargebacks
- Find reference guides to help operate your payment terminal
The merchant can also utilize the BIN Lookup when you need to inquire about which bank issued a particular card. Simply enter the first six digits on the card and you will receive the information on the issuing bank, including contact information.
If you need a to set-up an account and want to use this tool give us a call at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Electronic Check Services, Electronic Payments Tagged with: bank, card, chargeback, electronic payment, merchants, payments, risk, terminal, transactions
September 28th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Business Lines of Credit – is for businesses with an inconsistent cash flow. Either businesses that needs to borrow a small amount of capital, and businesses that use invoices.
Different types of lines of credit:
Cash Account, the most basic line of credit – which you can access when you’re in need of capital; whether you’re making a large purchase or covering a temporary gap in cash flow. You only have to pay the interest on the amount that you borrow; with this form of financing, the money is always available when it’s needed.
Inventory Line of Credit – specifically intended for purchasing inventory.
This kind of loans give the merchant, two advantages:
- First of all, you can purchase inventory wholesale.
- Second, purchasing inventory won’t take a large amount out of your cash flow because you’ll be paying in increments instead of one lump sum.
Invoice Financing – basically, this is a line of credit where invoices are the collateral.
Personal Loans Used for Business: Startups and young businesses, merchants who have excellent personal credit. Furthermore, personal loans are term loans that can be used for a number of purposes.
If your business is new to qualify for a business loan, consider using a personal loan.
Short Term Financing: Is for young businesses experiencing rapid growth.
Short term financing covers merchant cash advances and short term loans.
Term Loans: Is for Businesses that need cash to fund one-time expenses like equipment purchase/real estate or expanding a business. Term loans are basic, everyday loans. The merchant receives the capital in one lump sum and repayments are almost always monthly.
For more information about Loans/Financing call us at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Merchant Cash Advance, Small Business Improvement Tagged with: cash advances, credit, financing, loans, merchant
September 23rd, 2016 by Elma Jane
What is ARC, IATA, and CLIA? what’s the difference? What it does and what type of agents would benefit most from it.
CLIA Number – is a way for vendors to identify you as a travel agent. It is issued by the Cruise Lines International Association; without the ARC accreditation, CLIA agencies cannot issue airline tickets since CLIA numbers were designed specifically for cruise-focused travel agencies.
You don’t need to get your own CLIA number if you’re working with a host agency. You can always go under their umbrella organization and use their identification number therefore, it won’t incur the costs associated with obtaining your own CLIA number.
If you are not issuing airline tickets, CLIA is a practical option because it is NOT accepted by the airlines, but nearly accepted everywhere.
CLIA vs. ARC/IATA Number – If you’re ticketing air-only reservation, ARC and IATA are must-haves.
ARC (Airlines Reporting Corporation) – gives out these ARC numbers to accredited agencies, which allows travel agencies to issue airline tickets.
The use of an ARC number extends from either a hotel to a cruise ship booking not only air tickets for travel agencies.
For a home-based travel agent or a storefront agency that only books leisure travel (no air), having your own ARC number seems too much.
IATA – International Air Transport Association Network use extensive data resource to connect the suppliers to the U.S. travel distribution network.
IATA ID card holders get promotional benefits. A concessionary incentives from suppliers (participating members) who identify the agent with an IATA/IATAN number as a valid associate; in addition to approving travel agents for the sale of travel tickets.
IATA certifies either a referral agent or an affiliate travel agent to find clients for the hosting travel agency’s business needs as well.
Give us a call 888-996-2273 and and process your travel agency payments for less!
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: card holders, payments, travel, travel agencies, travel agent
September 21st, 2016 by Elma Jane
PCI compliance applies to any company, organization or merchant of any size or transaction volume that either accepts, stores or transmits cardholder data.
Any merchant accepting payments directly from the customer via credit or debit card must be Compliant. The merchant themselves are therefore responsible for becoming Compliant, as the deadline for the merchant becomes overdue.
Understanding and knowing the details of Payment Card Industry Compliance can help you better prepare your business. Because failing and waiting to become compliant or ignoring them, could end up being an expensive mistake.
The VISA regulations have to adhere to the PCI standard forms as part of the operating regulations. The regulations signed when you open an account at the bank. The rules under which merchants are allowed to operate merchant accounts.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, Payment Card Industry PCI Security, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: American Express, cardholder, compliance, credit, customer, data, debit card, Discover, jcb, MasterCard, merchant, Payment Card Industry, payments, PCI, transaction, visa
September 20th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Avoiding Chargeback!
Always ask for the card security codes:
- CVV2 for Visa
- CVC2 for MasterCard
- CID for Discover and American Express.
Always use the Address Verification Service (AVS) and only process sales after receiving a positive AVS response.
Avoid using voice authorizations, unless absolutely necessary.
Billing descriptor must set up properly and shows your phone number. Customer can contact you directly if there is an issue,
Consider using the associations’ 3-D secure services:
- Verified by Visa
- SecureCode by MasterCard
- A 3-D transaction confirmation proves card ownership and therefore protects you from certain types of chargeback. Another additional layer of security for online credit and debit card transactions.
Customers must be informed by email when a refund has been issued or a membership service has been cancelled. Notify them of the date the refund was processed and provide a reference number.
Make available customer support phone number and email address on your website so that customers can contact you directly. You need to meet this requirement before opening a merchant account.
Make it easy for your customers to discontinue a recurring plan, either membership or subscription. Finally, have a no-questions-asked policy.
Notify customers by email and indicate that their cards will be charge each transaction.
Obtain a confirmation of delivery for each shipment.
Process refunds as quickly as possible.
Secure an authorization approval for every transaction.
Secure customers’ written or electronic signatures, for recurring payments or monthly fees. Giving you express permission to charge their cards on a regular basis.
Terms and conditions must be clearly stated on your website. Customers must acknowledge acceptance by clicking on an Agree or a similar affirmative button.
Transaction amount must never exceed the authorized amount.
Reauthorize transaction before settling it if an authorization approval is more than seven days old.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security
September 19th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Terminal or credit card machines are used for processing debit and credit card transactions. Therefore, are often integrated into a Point of Sale System.
Electronic Authorizations – merchants had the choice of calling in for an authorization or imprinting their transactions, but many businesses opted voice authorization only on larger transactions because of the long waiting time for authorizing transaction over the phone.
Manual Imprinters – are considered a great backup processing method. Although time consuming and did not offer the speed or instant transfer capabilities, this imprinters are still widely used.
Point of Sale Terminals: POS emerged in 1979, which was a turning point in the credit card processing industry. As a result,
Visa introduced a bulky electronic data capturing terminal. The first of credit card machine or terminal as we know them today. It has greatly reduced the time required to process a credit card.
In the same year, MasterCharge became MasterCard and credit cards were replaced to include a magnetic information stripe which now has become EMV/chip and PIN.
The Future: There’s a lot of room for advancement when it comes to Credit card processing technology. Increasing processing speed, reliability and security are driving forces behind processing technology advancement.
Today’s credit card terminals are faster and more reliable with convenient new capabilities including contactless and Mobile NFC acceptance. The processing industry will definitely be adapting new technologies in the near future and has a lot to look forward to.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Near Field Communication, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: chip, contactless, credit card, debit, EMV, mobile, nfc, PIN, point of sale, Security, terminal, transactions, visa