Mobile Payments Archives - Page 4 of 13 - Payment Processing News

Category: Mobile Payments

EMV
October 1st, 2015 by Elma Jane

The day the payments industry has pointed to for several years arrives today, a turning point in the U.S.‘s migration to EMV chip-and-PIN cards.

Rules set by Visa and MasterCard as of today, the liability for fraud carried out in physical stores with counterfeit cards belongs to the merchant if it has not yet upgraded its POS system to accept EMV-enabled chip cards. Banks will be issuing EMV Chip Cards.

An enormous change, as everyone learns to deal with the new technology that requires consumers to insert their cards and leave them in the store machines throughout a payment transaction, rather than swipe.

In a recent survey, less than a third of merchants overall have invested in EMV-compliant technology, and one study said 80 percent of small and midsize merchants have not upgraded their systems as of today’s liability shift.

Issuers are claiming to be more prepared than merchants, but according to the Smart Card Alliance, around 200 million chip cards have been issued to U.S. cardholders. That, however, is less than 17 percent of the approximately 1.2 billion payment cards in circulation.

What is clear is that today does not represent the end of the journey. The lack of preparedness at the physical point of sale, however, may be beneficial for card-not-present merchants.

Over the past few months, the mainstream media has awoken to the fact that implementing EMV does not mean fraud will disappear. Fraudsters quickly adapted to the difficulty of counterfeiting cards by attacking Card-Not-Present channels, where a chip has no effect.

In other markets, fraud migrated quite rapidly to card-not-present channels. It is necessary on e-commerce merchants to protect themselves with an array of tools, like device authentication, one-time passwords, randomized PIN pad and biometrics. Fraud mitigation tools like data analytics, address and CVV verification, 3D secure and tokenization. These services should be available from their merchant acquirer processor or gateway.

There should be a gradual reduction in card fraud over the next 12-18 months in spite of the delays in this country’s EMV migration. It’s going to take time for the technology to be adopted.

U.S. Merchants’ overall relative lack of preparedness for EMV may give e-commerce and mobile merchants time they didn’t think they would have to explore the options.

Sophisticated authentication technologies such as biometrics will help increase the security of card transactions. Device-based verification could be easily incorporated in an EMV transaction.

Banks have expressed interest more in using the phone as a biometrics. It’s all going to depend on what is the most convenient way to access your funds. The nice thing about biometrics is it’s meant to enable more convenience and stronger security.

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 29th, 2015 by Elma Jane

images images

There are three contenders competing for dominance in mobile payments.

NFC – or near-field communication, is a contactless data transfer system similar to RFID. When two NFC-enabled devices come into range, you can transfer data from one to the other (such as bringing a phone in range of a credit card terminal).

NFC is found in a lot of phones, especially the flagship devices from Samsung, LG, and Sony. Apple finally jumped into the NFC game in 2014, and Google relaunched its mobile payments service as Android Pay in 2015. Samsung also launched its own app, aptly named Samsung Pay, in 2015.

NFC is a safe method for payments. Sensitive data is stored in a secure element, either built into the SIM card of a phone or placed in a separate chip. In most cases, retailers never actually see your card or bank account data.

QR Codes – or quick-response codes, have the sort of ubiquity that NFC lacks. They work a bit like your standard bar codes, except that instead of relying on one-dimensional analog scanning, they are digital. That means that with a QR code reader app, your smartphone’s camera can be temporarily converted into a scanner. QR codes can embed way more information than your standard bar codes, which gives them the power to do things like open mobile sites, direct you to YouTube Videos, and even enable you to complete mobile payments.

iBeacon – is an Apple-developed technology that uses Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE, or sometimes also called Bluetooth Smart). Unlike the other two types of technology, it’s really still in the developmental stages. While it can be used for mobile payments, at the moment the biggest application for iBeacon is actually as proximity alert or geo-fence that can go where GPS doesn’t.

It works like this: iBeacon units are set up throughout a building (such as a department store). When someone with an iBeacon-enabled device comes into range of those beacons, they transmit information. Some of the ways this technology could be used would be to transmit mobile coupons or other special offers, to guide customers throughout the store by department, or even to help them find specific items on a shopping list.

NFC devices need to be within 8 inches (though 2 inches is really most effective). iBeacons, on the other hand, have a range of 50 meters, or about 165 feet.

For payments, iBeacons would work nearly the same as NFC: the phone would wirelessly transmit payment information to the terminal or beacon via Bluetooth.

It’s also worth noting that while iBeacons are Apple technology, they are not exclusive to iOS devices. The phone just needs to have Bluetooth Smart and the appropriate app.

Samsung announced its own version of the iBeacon, called Proximity, at its 2014 developer conference in November. it works the same way as iBeacons, but rather than going through an app, Proximity works directly with the phone’s hardware.

 

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Smartphone Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 22nd, 2015 by Elma Jane

Virtual Merchant/Virtual Merchant Mobile now called Converge, is a popular product offering solutions for retail stores, Non Face to Face businesses along with E-commerce/Internet sites. Converege can be access anywhere with internet. Users can download the application on their smartphone or tablet. Converge also gives users the convenience of sending an invoice to customers electronically with NTC e-Pay!

Converge ePay

For Retail store National Transaction offers the latest in EMV and NFC technologies. NTC customers can accept contactless payment with the same NFC technology used by Apple Pay, Google Wallet and SoftCard. NTC offers different solutions that cater to your business needs. For those already using a POS system, NTC integrates with most systems. NTC has you covered.

Terminal

 

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Electronic Payments, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

July 30th, 2015 by Elma Jane

Converge Powers Potential          Converge Logo

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.

converge graphics

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 23rd, 2015 by Elma Jane

11237919_953691038016869_6612538874204982877_n

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 10th, 2015 by Elma Jane

unnamed

 

Every Merchant in the country needs to upgrade their terminal. Are you ready for the October 1, 2015 Liability Shift?

Beginning October 1, 2015, all businesses that accept in-person payments must be able to take cards embedded with chips to avoid liability for fraud. The chips are more secure than magnetic stripes.

National Transaction brings the latest EMV and NFC technologies to Merchants.

NTC Clients will be able to accept contactless payment with the same NFC technology used by Apple Pay, Google Wallet and SoftCard. Additionally, the Ingenico terminals are EMV Enabled, delivering the latest in fraud prevention technology.

The new EMV enabled terminals are designed to accept EMV chip cards and magnetic stripe cards.

EMV (an acronym for Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®) is a global technology standard for payment cards.

What are the benefits of having an EMV terminal?

These next generation terminals can reduce your risk of accepting counterfeit cards, as chip and PIN transactions verify both the card and the cardholder.

Eliminate your card present fraud liability exposure associated with the October 1st, 2015* liability shift imposed by the card brands.

Improve customer service for your international cardholder customer. EMV cards are already the standard in over 80 countries.

Be on the lookout for more information about how to be chip card ready before OCTOBER.

*Businesses with Automated Fuel Dispensers (also called “Pay at the Pump”) acceptance methods have until October 2017 to comply with the new standard.

 

Untitled

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 7th, 2015 by Elma Jane

Cashless society is about to happen, hard to believe for some. We are all unable to decide on the edge of a new, cashless world where mobile payments reign supreme. If so, is this a bad thing? For some people yes, because for them change can be scary.

Every revolution needs a good crisis in order to grow its seed. The cashless revolution is the same. Current global financial conditions serves as the potential crisis, and truly the cashless revolution is upon us. Society is on the brink of great economic change, which will likely usher in a new era of worldwide, electronic currencies. The cashless society is coming.

Advances in mobile payment options as evidence of this impending cashless society, consider the practical benefits of mobile payments for the consumer. The most obvious is convenience. Many people prefer to swipe their smartphone atop a scanner to carrying around a stack of cash. Electronic payments are traceable, which is useful for tracking one’s spending and can add a sense of security. Also, carrying around large stacks of cash isn’t always feasible or safe.

Mobile payments also offer interested individuals a way to incorporate social media into their purchases; they can check-in to a site and tell all their friends about an exciting new product they bought, or announce their presence at a new coffee shop, all with that same initial swipe of an NFC-enabled phone. Add to this the many practical benefits of mobile payments as far as business owners are concerned, and it’s easy to see why so the technology is becoming so widespread.

And yet for all the benefits of mobile payments and point of sale technology, the two don’t necessarily exclude cash.  Other company focuses on blending cash transactions with POS. This allows technologically savvy businesses to incorporate POS and mobile payment technology into their business, without excluding potential customers who prefer to use cash.

We aren’t necessarily evolving towards a cashless society, but towards a society with a plethora of payment options. POS technology is all about options. Want to pay with a swipe of your credit card? Swipe your credit card. Want to tap your NFC-enabled phone against a console. Tap and go. Want to pull a crisp twenty-dollar bill from your wallet and walk away from the counter with milk and eggs in your hand and a handful of coins jingling in your pocket? Go for it.

The question is: Will we ever become a truly cashless society? Maybe, maybe not, but as mobile payments become increasingly common, cash may very well fall into the retro category.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

July 7th, 2015 by Elma Jane

The global brand MasterCard is in the process of launching a pilot program with the help of Google, BlackBerry, Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung to boost security for online payments using facial recognition systems.

About 500 customers are trialing for the new features, participants will provide feedback based on their experience. The company will continue to refine the product until ready to launch. MasterCard confirmed that it is planning to eventually release the new biometric security system publicly.

The payments company is also in the process of securing agreements with two major banking institutions. If all goes as planned, the undisclosed financial establishments will likely participate in the launching of the new security option.

When consumers shop on the Internet, their banks need ways to verify their identities. So this particular product seamlessly integrates biometrics into the overall payments experience, a security expert at MasterCard said.

The system does not actually save a photo of the user during the verification process. Instead, it creates a map of the individual’s face. Afterwards, the map is turned into code, which is sent to MasterCard for confirmation. The facial recognition feature only kicks in when an individual makes an online purchase.

During checkout, users will be prompted to confirm their identity using fingerprint scanning or facial detection.

To prevent criminals from using a photo to dupe the verification process, a user is required to blink once while having his or her face scanned. Technical specifications and mobile requirements for the security feature are still unknown.

With the test of facial recognition, MasterCard seemingly hopes to move away from password-based protocols by providing additional security options for consumers.

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Smartphone, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

May 7th, 2015 by Admin

Biometrics Market To Reach $14.9 Billion by 2024

The Biometrics market currently sits at $2 billion, by 2024, it will reach $14.9 billion, with a cumulative total revenue of $67.8 billion. This is being driven by new advancements in Biometrics Hardware and Software that are not only transforming payments, but also serving as frictionless alternatives to security in a myriad of use cases.

For consumer facing security, Biometrics can be deployed at a low price-point for high-volume authentication. Think an iris scan or finger swipe for quickly unlocking a mobile device like an iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S6.

The forecast goes over use cases that spans from Point-of-Sale transactions, to voter identification, making the case for Biometrics embedding itself into a vast number of aspects in everyday life.

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale, Smartphone Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

March 10th, 2015 by Elma Jane

If you can’t accept credit cards for your business, you are losing out on potential revenue. Most people don’t carry more than $20 in cash with them at a time, and people who use credit cards tend to spend more than their cash-carrying counterparts.

These days you can turn your smartphone or tablet into a credit card reader, but which service should you choose? What do you need to consider when deciding?

NTC is here to help you understand all the intricacies of taking credit card payments with your smartphone or credit card.

Credit card reader or Wedge are useful in a variety of industries and for businesses of all sizes. Arts and crafts business accepting credit card payments at conventions and other events. A pub that gives its servers credit card readers rather than having to pay for everything at the bar. POS systems with a mobile integration can swipe your card on the spot rather than taking credit cards over the phone when ordering delivery.

If you work in one of these fields it might be time to think about getting a wedge:

Arts and crafts vendors: Do you sell your wares at conventions, art shows, and other big events? You could be a book reseller, an artist, a jewelry maker, a clothing retailer, or even a makeup seller.

Food Service: Food trucks were among the earliest adopters of mobile card readers, but there is no shortage of restaurants that are using them now. There are companies both offer POS systems in addition to their mobile card readers, which is perfect for delivery services.

Service providers: If you don’t have a brick-and-mortar office or base of operation where customers visit you, or if you conduct your business in your customers’ homes (carpet cleaners, plumbers, lawn care, mobile dog groomers, exterminators, etc.), a credit card reader/wedge gives you flexibility as well as credibility, as well as added security.

 

Understanding the Costs of Accepting Credit Card Payments

In the traditional business model, to accept credit card payments you would have to set up a merchant account. A merchant account typically entails a detailed look at your credit history and business.

Credit card companies assess a small fee to merchants for processing payments. With merchant accounts and card readers, the cost is built in and deducted automatically, so you don’t have to worry about paying it yourself. With a merchant account, you typically get lower rates because of the decreased risk.

It’s not just the standard fees that you need to worry about when you want to accept credit card payments. There are costs hidden everywhere, so let’s address some of these issues:

Internet Availability                                                                                                                            Typically, smartphone and tablet card readers need some sort of Internet connectivity, via a cellular signal or Wi-Fi. Most smartphones these days are capable of becoming Wi-Fi hotspots, so you can create your own Wi-Fi. However, this option relies on your phone’s data plan. The more transactions you make, the more data you use.

Compatibility                                                                                                                                    You also need to make sure that your devices are compatible with the card reader. Check the list of compatible devices before you commit to one service over another.

Also note that you’re going to usually have to enable location services on your phone.

Card Compatibility, Manual Entry Fees, Location                                                                           There are card readers that seems to work best with a specific device. You’re typically going to pay more    for manually entering credit card numbers because of the greater risk – the card doesn’t have to physically    be present to complete the transaction.

Likewise, you’re usually going to pay more for accepting international cards, and you’re not always going to be able to accept payments outside the U.S.

Taxes and Tips                                                                                                                               Several mobile credit card readers will let you add sales tax to the base purchase without requiring you to calculate it, which is handy if you’re not fond of math or just want the transaction to go more quickly.

As an alternative, you can build the sales tax into the listed prices, which some of your customers might appreciate.

Finally, depending on your industry, you may want to check that the credit card reader you use allows your customers to add a tip.

Time to Get Your Money                                                                                                                   The final cost to consider for credit card readers is more of a convenience fee than anything — it’s the time before you can access your money.

If you’re in a high-risk industry or have a high volume of business, you are probably better off obtaining a merchant account and using one of their mobile solutions.

You’re also going to want to worry about refunds and chargebacks. If, for whatever reason, a consumer complains to his or her credit card company and there’s a chargeback.

 

Features to look For in Your Credit Card Reader                                                                      Features-wise, you can at least expect the basics to remain consistent across smartphone credit card readers: you can swipe cards, manually key them in, and issue receipts. It’s the little things that will ultimately set one service provider apart from the rest. Some of the things you may want to look out for include:

Record-Keeping for Cash and Checks                                                                                             Sure, you can manage your cash intake the old fashioned way and let your bank deal with checks. But some credit card readers, (which doesn’t actually require you to swipe cards, but more on that later) will let you create digital receipts for cash and check transactions as well.

POS Integration                                                                                                                              Depending on your needs, you might want to look for a service that has easy POS integration.

E-Commerce Integration                                                                                                                Likewise, look for easy integration with an online store, if you have one. Easy integration is ideal for centralizing your accounts.

 

Accounting Integration & More                                                                                                           Do you use an accounting service? If so, you might prefer the ability to transfer your data directly from your card swiping service to your accounting software. 

Invoicing                                                                                                                                              If you do custom orders, offer services, or provide goods to a business, you’re all too familiar with invoices. With some services, you can generate invoices through them and send them to clients via email. The biggest advantage to this is simply that you get your money quicker because there’s no need to cut a check and send it through snail mail.

Voids and Refunds                                                                                                                                It’s unfortunate, but you do need to make accommodations to process refunds and void transactions. Sometimes your finger slips on a key and you don’t notice until afterward, and sometimes the customer just changes their mind. Make sure that you understand how to use these features in whichever service you choose.

Card Reader Design                                                                                                                      Needless to say there is more than a bit of awkwardness trying to balance a phone with a 5.1-inch screen in your hand while also stabilizing the card reader while swiping the card. Especially when you’re working with limited table space. It’s worth looking at the card reader and the device it’s attached to and making sure that the design works for you.

Permissions for Multiple Users                                                                                                          Do you have several employees? The ability to give permissions to multiple users comes in handy here. With it, you can enable employees (or your friends) to accept payments without giving them full access to your account. This is great if you happen to have multiple booths at events, or if you send multiple employees out on location and each one needs to be able to accept payments.

Accepting credit card payments doesn’t have to be a terrifying prospect, even if you’re running just a small-time business. You can get a mobile credit card reader for free in many cases, and while you won’t pay the lower fees associated with traditional merchant accounts, the costs are still readily manageable. What you need to consider are the hidden costs — not necessarily in the service providers, but the ones that come from using a data connection, or requiring Wi-Fi. How soon you get your money should also be a top priority.

 

 

Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Smartphone, smartSD Cards Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,