Benefits of accepting credit cards at your Business

We live in a nearly cashless society. Accepting credit cards is a requirement in today’s business trend.

What are the benefits of accepting both credit and debit at your business? Check out NTC’s List.   

Convey a sense of trust.

When launching a business, you won’t have the credibility of a well-established company, so gaining instant credibility by promoting that you’re able to accept credit cards will help your business evolve.

You’ll be able to acquire respectability and strong customer relationships, compared to companies that don’t accept credit cards.

The more payment options, the better the sales. 

Why limit your customers to just cash? The number of people carrying cash decreases every day, accepting credit cards will open the door to more opportunities.

Credit Cards drive e-commerce.

Nearly every transaction made on the Internet is paid for by some sort of payment card, be it credit, debit or gift cards, so having a successful online presence and creating an excellent revenue stream is crucial for the growth of your business.

Plastic is better than a check.

Because of the high level of diligence done by Credit Card Processors, it’s less likely that you’ll be a victim of fraud when compared to accepting checks. Accepting one bad check can make a business susceptible to spending valuable time dealing with banks and trying to find the customer to get reimbursed.

National Transaction can help you with your Merchant account set up, making the application process as seamless as possible.

Our goal is to create a smooth, fast and secured transaction process, leading to a better relationship with your customers.

Customers tend not to hesitate with convenient, nice to have purchases when they use a credit card compared to harder-to-part-with cash.

For Merchant Account Setup give us a call at 888-996-2273 or visit our website www.nationaltransaction.com

 

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: checks, credit cards, debit, e-commerce, Gift Cards, merchant, merchant account, payment card, processors

Things you should know about Near-Field Communication (NFC)

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Near Field Communication Tagged with: credit card, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, nfc, NFC payments, payments, swipe, terminal

Why Your Business Shouldn’t Be Cash Only

 

It can be hard to see the benefits of accepting credit cards for some startups and small business merchants – especially if the business has been cash only since opening day. However, there is a big downside to being cash only and you could really be limiting the customers you bring in.

While cash is the simplest form of payment, but it’s not always the best form of payment for small businesses.

Some consequences of accepting cash only.

• Being cash only can mean you will need to do additional paperwork come tax time. You must file Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, if your business receives more than $10,000 in cash from one buyer as a result of a single transaction or two or more related transactions. This same rule applies to cash equivalents including traveler’s checks, bank drafts, cashier’s checks and money orders. The form does require that you have your customer’s name, address and social security number.

• Credit cards and debit cards are very popular; in fact, most people only carry a small amount of cash or no cash at all. Because of this, being cash only can cause your business to lose both existing and potential customers. A cash only policy can make them feel inconvenienced and cause them to take their business elsewhere.

• If your customers don’t have the cash to purchase an item they want from your business, then they are more likely to walk away from the purchase.

• Keeping a large sum of cash at your business can put you at an increased security risk. It can also increase the amount of time you will spend at your business managing finances because of the time it can take to count cash and change.

If your Business is ready to accept credit cards give us a call 888-996-2273 or go to our website www.nationaltransaction.com

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: bank drafts, cash, cashier’s checks, credit cards, debit cards, merchants, money orders, payment, transactions, traveler’s checks

Turn New Customers Into Repeat Customers

 

Attracting new customers should be part of your everyday strategy, but are you doing everything to make sure those new customers turn into repeat customers?

Here are things you can do to retain your customers.

1. Being mobile is critical.The number of mobile devices used surpassed the number of people on the earth in 2015, according to MasterCard. If your website isn’t compatible with any mobile devices, you will have a hard time retaining your customers.

2. Do email marketing the right way. Proper email marketing can be extremely beneficial for small businesses, and low-cost email campaigns can provide a great way for you to maintain connections with customers. However, not using it the right way can do real harm to your customer base. Be sure your customers are interested in what you have to say and avoid spam as much as possible.

3. Focus on your existing customers. MasterCard says the marketing funnel has been flipped, which means bringing in new customers is no longer the focus for marketing. Instead, focusing on your existing customers can be more effective and provide you the most value. These existing customers are more likely to talk up your business and become brand advocates. This can result in more customers and higher profits.

4. Impress with your customer service. Providing great customer service is one of the best ways to guarantee your customers will return. Make your customers feel important and, if something goes awry, make sure they feel heard and quickly fix their issue. Great customer service helps build a strong relationship between your business and your customers, and in the end creates customer loyalty to you and your business.

5. Utilize social media. Social media is here for the long run, so take advantage of the free marketing space and provide your customers with interactive content. You don’t need to be all over every social media channel – pick and choose the ones that will maximize benefits for your business.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants

Are you EMV Capable or Enabled?

The credit card processing industry, have been working towards including EMV technology in all of the point of sale systems.

Many processors have sent out EMV capable devices that will need to be adjusted before they can start accepting EMV card transactions.

See which category you fall into so you are prepared when October 1 rolls around.

First, check and see if your credit card machine has the slot to accept EMV cards (it’s either a slot in front, or on the top of, the unit). If you don’t, you need to contact your processors or sales agent to update your equipment .

If you do have the slot for EMV cards, you’ll need to contact National Transaction to see if your EMV capable machine has been enabled to accept EMV cards.

What is the difference between EMV capable and EMV enabled?

• EMV Capable – EMV capable means that your credit card machine is equipped with the hardware (i.e. the slot) and has the capability to do a transaction, but first you’ll have to update the application to enable you to process the cards.                                                 At National Transaction, we have a support specialist to assist you with step-by-step instructions to switch your credit card Point-of-Sale System, from EMV capable to EMV enabled.

• EMV Enabled – When your machine is EMV enabled, your terminal is ready to accept EMV transactions.                                                                                                               According to MasterCard, 73 percent of consumers say owning a chip card would encourage them to use their card more often. In addition, 75 percent of consumers expect to use their chip card at the merchants where they shop today.                     Keeping these numbers in mind, it only makes sense to equip your business with an EMV enabled credit card POS system.

What makes EMV technology so important?

EMV is a global payment system that adds a microprocessor chip into credit cards and debit cards, and reduces the chance a transaction is being made with a stolen or copied credit card. Unlike traditional magnetic-stripe cards, anytime you use an EMV card, the chip in the card creates a unique transaction sequence that can’t be replicated. Because the number will never be valid again, it makes it hard for hackers to fake these cards. If they attempt to use the copied EMV card, the transaction would be denied.

The rollout of EMV technology is ongoing, but even with the October 1 deadline, it’s estimated that only 70 percent of credit cards and 40 percent of debit cards in the U.S. will support EMV. Despite these numbers, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t update your equipment.

Following the deadline, card present fraud liability will shift to whoever is the least EMV compliant party in a fraudulent transaction.

Make sure that’s not you!

 

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit card Processing, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Point of Sale Tagged with: card present, card transactions, chip, chip card, credit card, credit card processing, debit cards, EMV, EMV capable, EMV enabled, emv technology, magnetic stripe cards, merchants, payment system, point of sale, POS, processors, terminal

Converge Payment Platform

Converge Powers Potential          

Over the next several weeks, we’ll focus on a series of topics to hopefully provide a better understanding of the payment capabilities

Converge can bring you customers. In this article, we’ll zoom in on the card-present product enhancements of Converge first, including bringing EMV and mobile wallet capabilities to in-person payments, and ultimately VirtualMerchant Mobile later this year.

New Peripherals Added to Converge – Ingenico iSC250 and Star                                 Micronics TSP650II Printer

Ingenico iSC250 Signature-Capture PIN Pad – is a signature-capture PIN pad offering the ability to accept PIN-based transactions, like debit card and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), as well as EMV chip card and mobile wallet payments.

The iSC250 will initially ship EMV-capable meaning it’s physically configured with a slot to accept an EMV chip card, but it does not yet have the EMV application to process a chip card transaction.

A simple download process later in the year will allow customers to accept chip cards. The good news is customers can accept NFC contactless payments right away, including Apple Pay and Google Wallet.

Key features of the Ingenico iSC250 include:

• EMV-capable smart card reader to support EMV chip cards; EMV-enabled with a download later in the year
• NFC-enabled for contactless cards and Apple Pay and Google Wallet mobile wallets
• Magnetic stripe capture for all standard mag stripe cards
• Encryption technology to help secure cardholder data at point of entry and throughout the payment network
• Signature Area Display for signature capture with electronic stylus
• Bright color 4.3″ display and backlit key pad for ease of use

Star Micronics TSP650III:

In addition to the new iSC250PIN pad, a new USB printer were also added to the lineup of Converge supported peripherals, the Star Micronics TSP650II receipt printer. Now customers have two options for thermal receipt printing!

ConvergeConnect Makes Device Setup a Snap

A new peripheral and device management software called ConvergeConnect to make it easier for your customers to setup their devices quickly as well as add additional peripherals as their business needs grow. It will be the go-forward device management application, and we’ll be able to bring more and more EMV and NFC devices to market faster, giving our customers even more in-store payment processing options.

Legacy peripherals, like magnetic stripe card readers, check imagers and the Epson ReadyPrint T20 printer will continue to be managed using the Device Assistant.

Customers may have to use both ConvergeConnect and Device Assistant depending on their peripheral configuration.

A new Peripheral Device Installation and Setup Guide was developed to help customers install and manage their peripherals for both applications.

Converge Mobile with EMV on the Horizon

Work continues on the new VirtualMerchant Mobile app to be branded as Converge Mobile, and releasing the Ingenico iCMP in the third quarter. The Ingenico iCMP accepts EMV and NFC transactions, including contactless cards and mobile wallets, like Apple Pay. Stay tuned as more information becomes available.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication Tagged with: card-present product, cardholder, chip card, contactless payments, data, debit card, EBT, Electronic Benefit Transfer, EMV, mag stripe cards, mobile wallet, nfc, NFC transactions, payment network, payments, PIN pad, PIN-based transactions, smart card reader, VirtualMerchant Mobile

ASTA GLOBAL CONVENTION

The annual ASTA Global Convention is set to take place in                                               Washington, D.C., August 29 to September 2, 2015.

A conference that is designed for all travel merchants, whether they are home, office or storefront-based.

American Society Of Travel Agents (ASTA) plays such a vital role in government lobbying and regulation, travel agent awareness and education.

This year’s convention will feature a full roster of speakers, educational seminars, networking events and local sightseeing.

ASTA Global Convention will feature pre-convention events including the chance to see a Washington Nationals baseball game, special tours of Washington, D.C. and the annual ASTA Advocacy Dinner.

The convention will take place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel near Georgetown. Hotel rates start at $169, booking with the dedicated room block ends August 7.

ASTA registration rate will increase on August 1 by $25.

For more information or to register, click on ASTA Global Convention.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: merchants, travel, travel merchants

Are New Payment Methods Worth the Investment for Merchants?

The digital payments landscape is changing at a rapid pace. Consumers are finally adopting digital wallets, like Apple Pay and Android Pay.

The deadline for merchants to become EMV compliant, the global standard that covers the processing of credit and debit card payments using a card that contains a microprocessor chip, is quickly approaching.

Today’s consumers show an increasing desire to use new payment methods because they’re convenient. However, this presents a challenge to merchants, as many have not made the switch to the modern technology required to accept these methods since they’re generally hard-wired to resist technology changes.

Merchants must evolve with technology or they’ll find themselves unable to compete and in danger of losing customers.

Looking long term, the benefits of adopting new payment technology will outweigh the cost of transitioning. The fact is that new payment technology will reduce fraud risk due to counterfeit cards, provide greater insight into shoppers with sophisticated data and will ultimately lower costs for merchants over time.

The value merchants will get out of new payment methods: 

Security

Investing in new payment technology will help reduce the risk of fraud. EMV, as an example. Beginning in October 2015, merchants and the financial institutions that have made investments in EMV will be protected from financial fraud liability for card-present fraud losses for both counterfeit, lost, stolen and non-receipt fraud.

EMV is already a standard in Europe, where fraud is on the decline. In turn, American credit card issuers are being pressured to replace easily hacked magnetic strips on cards with more secure “chip-and-PIN” technology. Europe has been using Chip, and Chip & Pin for years.

There’s nothing that can guarantee 100 percent security, but when EMV is coupled with other payment innovations, like tokenization that separate the customer’s identity from the payment, much of the cost and risk of identity theft is eliminated. If hackers get access to the token, all they get is information from one transaction. They don’t have access to credit card numbers or banking accounts, so the damage that can be done is minimal.

As card fraud rises, there’s a strong case to upgrade to a payment system that works with a smartphone or tablet and accepts both EMV chip cards and tokens.

Insight into Customer Behavior

In addition to added security, upgrading to new payment technology opens up a door to greater customer insights, improved consumer engagement and enables merchants to grow revenue by providing customers with receipts, rewards, points and coupons. By collecting marketing data at the point of sale a business can save on that data that they only dreamed of buying.

Investment Outweighs the Cost

New technology does have upfront costs, but merchants need to think about it as an investment that will grow top-line revenue. Beware of providers offering free hardware. Business can benefit by doing some research on the actual cost of the hardware.

By increasing security, merchants are further enabling mobile and emerging technologies, which will make shopping easier.

Customers will also be more confident in using their cards.

As an added bonus to merchants, most EMV-enabled POS equipment will include contactless technology, allowing merchants to accept contactless and mobile payments. This will result in a quicker check-out experience so merchants can handle more transactions.

Faster customer checkout.                                               

The best system for is the one that makes the merchant as efficient and profitable as possible, as well as improves the customer checkout experience.

Retail climate is competitive, merchants have two choices:

Do nothing or embrace the fact that payments are changing. Transitions from old systems to new ones require work and risk, but merchants who use modern technology are investing in the future and will certainly outperform those who choose to do nothing.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale Tagged with: American credit card, card, card present, chip, Chip and PIN, contactless technology, credit, data, debit card, digital payments, Digital wallets, EMV, EMV compliant, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, merchants, Mobile Payments, payment innovations, payment methods, payment technology, payments, point of sale, POS, provider's, smartphone, tablet, token, tokenization, transaction

Turn Around Strip Down

Turn Around Strip Down

There was a bit of confusion at a supermarket. When this senior was ready to pay for his groceries, the cashier said, Strip Down facing me.

Making a mental note to complain about excessive security running amok, the senior did just as the lady cashier had instructed.

When the hysterical shrieking and alarms finally subsided, he found out that the lady cashier was referring to his credit card, to turn around the card, strip down and swipe it.

The senior have been asked to shop elsewhere in the future.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: card, credit card, swipe

What Your Business Can Gain from Accepting Credit Cards with NTC

If you own a business, you should consider opening a merchant account. If you accept credit cards for transactions, you will take your business to a higher level, increase your revenue, and gain new customers. Most people nowadays use credit cards and debit cards to pay for their purchases, so no business should go without processing card payments. Electronic, Credit card processing payments are a must-have for any kind of business including Internet businesses.

If you accept several forms of payments, you will provide your customers with multiple options and you will enhance their experiences. If you do not accept credit cards, the people who prefer to pay for their purchases with credit cards and debit cards will go somewhere else, and you will lose the transaction. So many benefits are attached with merchant accounts and millions of small business owners have found success with them. If you have a merchant account, you will be able to accept Discover, MasterCard, Visa, and American Express from your customers.

With National Transaction, securing Electronic, Credit card payment processing service instore, online and on the go are easy to acquire. It will boost your income, so it is worth the investment. You can apply online for a merchant account, the applications will only take you a few minutes to complete, and you will find out if you have been approved for a merchant account in a day or so.

A credit card processing service will also protect your business and valued customers against fraud. Customers feel safe using credit cards because they know that if their cards get stolen, they can cancel them, dispute the purchases, and get their money back. Your customers will feel safe when they make purchases. Some consumers will not purchase from a company that does not accept credit/debit card.

National Transaction offers advanced payment processing solutions like Currency Conversion, EBT and Debit Cards Processing, E-commerce Gateways, Electronic Check and ACH Transfers, Gift Loyalty Card Programs, Loans and Advances, Mobile Processing and MediPaid, you will definitely benefit from opening a merchant account. National Transaction offers Free CRM and we can even help promote your business through Social Media Sites. We offer a very competitive rate and Customer/Technical Support to our Partners because we answer our phone.

Merchant accounts are a necessity for any kind of business, so don’t wait. Sign up for a merchant account right now and discover what your business can gain from accepting credit cards! With 73 percent of American households owning a credit card, it’s easy to think that everyday credit card usage is a way of life.

Give us a call 888-996-2273 or check our website www.nationaltransaction.com

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: ACH Transfers, Advances, card payments, credit card processing, credit cards, crm, Currency Conversion, debit cards, Debit Cards Processing, e-commerce, EBT, Electronic Check, gateways, Gift Loyalty Card, loans, MediPaid, merchant account, Mobile Processing, payments, transactions