December 18th, 2015 by Elma Jane
A leading provider of mobile point of sale and mobile payment technology, published today the EMV Migration Tracker.
Many merchants have deployed EMV capable terminals while cardholders have received cards with EMV chips, but not much data has been published about the real world use of EMV chip card technology in the U.S. Most published statistics rely on surveys or forecasts rather than real transactional data.
The EMV Migration Tracker shows new data and insights since the October 1 liability shift, including:
- Over 50% of all cards in use now have EMV chips on them. From October to November, the percent grew 5% as banks and card issuers accelerated their rollout of new chip cards.
- Over 83% of American Express cards have EMV chips, while Discover lags at 40%
- Over 63% of the cards used in Hawaii have EMV chips, but Mississippi sees just 11% penetration of chip cards.
While EMV chip card technology has been implemented in Europe years ago, the rollout of EMV in the U.S is just beginning. The rollout came earlier this year with the October 1 liability shift in card present transaction, meaning that merchants who have not upgraded their POS system can become liable for counterfeit card fraud losses that occur at their stores. This is an early step in an ongoing process that the Payments Security Task Force predicts will lead to 98 percent of U.S. credit and debit cards containing EMV chips by the end of 2017.
http://www.finextra.com/news/announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=62506
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: American Express, banks, card issuers, card present, card technology, cardholders, chip cards, credit, data, debit, Discover, EMV, EMV chips, merchants, mobile payment, mobile point of sale, payment technology, point of sale, POS, provider
December 17th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Mobile Payments – It is bound to see more actions with tech giants Apple, Google and Samsung in mobile payment trends. We will also see new technologies like smartwatches, bracelets and rings that will give us the ability to provide payment options.
NFC – Near Field Communication, another familiar face among the payment trends. NFC, however, goes way beyond making payments using smartphones. These speed up POS payment processing quickly and easily without requiring a PIN or signature. While there are other POS payment methods, such as QR codes, NFC will come out on top. Merchants should ensure they have an overview of the current Point-of-Sale options and should, if needed, upgrade to the latest technology.
Security: Tokenization and biometric authentication will have a strong influence on the payment industry.
Tokenization – when applied to data security, is an extremely interesting method of securing credit card data. As the credit card numbers are substituted by tokens that has no value, then no harm can be done if tokens are stolen, which makes tokenization a secure process.
There are several new inventions when it comes to payment processing authentication such as password, PIN, and fingerprint methods. But they are weak so two-factor authentication is increasingly used to improve security.
Biometrics Authentication – like finger print scan, facial recognition, voice recognition, and pulse recognition are set to become increasingly significant. This will increase both security and convenience.
International E-Commerce – It’s important that merchants offer shoppers their preferred local payment method. Merchants who are looking for e-commerce success will need to create an international strategy. Merchants should also consider checking with their payment service providers. Providers know their way around to alternative payment methods.
Cash on the Retreat – Cashless Society? Some countries in Europe are certainly cutting down on the usage of cash. In Sweden, it is now almost impossible to use cash to pay for bus tickets. Acceptable payment methods include customer cards, credit cards, and payments via smartphone apps. Traditional cash-based bakeries no longer exist and instead, now display signs requesting that customers use cashless payment methods for even the smallest amounts. The situation in Denmark is similar; the government is currently debating whether or not to release smaller retailers from the obligation of having to accept cash as a payment method. Cash is on the retreat, and alternative payment methods are advancing. However, cash is still on the list.
Real-Time Payments (Instant Payments) – The European Central Bank (ECB) will bring instant payments strongly in the near future. Instant or real-time payments are a trend which will be with us for a long time to come.
Regulatory Changes – The first Payment Services Directive (PSD) from 2007 is still currently implemented domestically. After a tough two-year negotiation period, the EU has now, finally, agreed on a second payment services directive (PSD2). The European Banking Authority (EBA) is set to develop more detailed guidelines and regulatory standards for various industries. Payment industries should begin preparing themselves now for implementation, doing this will allow them to be ready for the appropriate steps necessary in 2016/2017.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: Apple, biometric, credit card, data security, e-commerce, google, merchants, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, nfc, payment industry, payment methods, payment options, payment processing, payment service providers, payment services, payment trends, payments, PIN, point of sale, POS, qr codes, real-time payments, Samsung, tokenization
December 11th, 2015 by Elma Jane
The use of in-store mobile payments increased in the US this year, from 5% in 2014 to 18% in 2015, research reveals, with approximately one in five consumers using their phone to make a payment at the point of sale.
The most popular uses of mobile payments in the US:
Public Parking (19%)
Gas Station Purchases (18%)
Coffee Shops and Fast Food Dining (17%)
Paying for Groceries (16%)
Public Transportation (16%)
Paying for a Taxi (16%)
Paying for restaurant bills (15%)
Checking out of a Hotel and Paying the Bill (13%)
Shopping for Clothing (12%)
Shopping in General on the High Street or in the Mall (10%)
Other (7%)
US consumers aged between 25 – 34 were seen as driving the largest portion of mobile payment activity at 36%, with those aged from 45-74 accounting for less than 10% of activity.
Half of the survey’s 2,000 respondents in the US cited security concerns as the main reason for not using mobile devices for in-store payments, while consumers place the greatest trust in traditional financial institutions like banks (49%) for provision of payment services.
Mobile technology is now moving beyond simply being a mode of communication and advancing towards the era of the always-connected consumer, says US telecommunications sector leader at Deloitte.
http://www.nfcworld.com/2015/12/11/340588/store-mobile-payments-increase-four-fold-across-us/
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale Tagged with: banks, financial institutions, Mobile Payments, payment services, payments, point of sale
December 10th, 2015 by Elma Jane
WALMART LAUNCHES QR CODE MOBILE PAYMENTS SERVICE
Customers at US retail giant Walmart will soon be able to pay for purchases by scanning a QR code at the point of sale using Walmart Pay. Walmart Pay will be integrated into the Walmart app, the retailer’s own mobile payment service introduced in selected stores this month, with a nationwide launch expected in the first half of next year.
With this launch, Walmart becomes the only retailer to offer its own payment solution that works with any iOS or Android device, at any checkout lane, and with any major credit, debit, prepaid or Walmart gift card all through the Walmart mobile app.
Walmart Pay will allow for the integration of other mobile wallets in the future.
http://www.nfcworld.com/2015/12/10/340527/walmart-launches-qr-code-mobile-payments-service-in-the-us/
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale Tagged with: credit, debit, gift Card, mobile payment, mobile payment service, mobile wallets, payment service, payment solution, point of sale, prepaid
December 4th, 2015 by Elma Jane
The payments world continues to reinvent itself almost daily, predictions have now become reality. Demand for mobile payments are growing, with the increasing mobile internet penetration that enables the users to process Mobile Point-of-Sale (MPOS) and close the sales process quickly. Moreover, the rising adoption of tablets and smartphones across the globe allows the retailers and merchants to integrate MPOS into their payment systems.
Mobile presents a tremendous opportunity for merchants today. The usage of cloud-based solutions is expected to fuel the MPOS market. These solutions enable merchants to access customer information and product data across multiple platforms. Large amount of data would require highly compatible Mobile Point-of-Sale (MPOS) that will capture information such as payment preferences, and buying behavior to fuel the market. MPOS would also enable merchants to store a large amount of data that can be accessed from anywhere across the globe by authorized personnel. The value that this channel can provide is very powerful creating new business opportunities.
Interested in Electronic Payments give us a call now at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale Tagged with: merchants, mobile, mobile internet, mobile point of sale, MPOS, payments, point of sale
December 3rd, 2015 by Elma Jane
Industry professionals agree that mobile payments technology has surpassed e-commerce as the trend in the daily spending behavior of modern retail customers.
E-commerce’s impact on consumer spending has actually decreased, but it seems that the ability to pay with mobile devices has finally swayed consumers away from their computers.
The payments outlook has changed rapidly with the increasing availability of mobile technologies to the average retail consumer within the last year. Products like Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay have totally altered the landscape of payment options.
Small Businesses will have to adapt in order to keep up with the rapid pace of technological developments. The evolution of payments technologies not only alters how consumers spend their money, but how that money is processed during a transaction.
There are still some concerns over cyber risks and data security, which led 58 percent of surveyed professionals to agree that point-of-sale debit and credit card transactions were still the safest form of payment, while mobile payments garnered 20 percent of support. But hypothetical worries over security aren’t real enough to slow mobile payments’ momentum moving forward.
Mobile payments transaction value is expected to hit $8.71 billion by the end of 2015. That figure will triple to $27.05 billion in comparison to 2016, according to new research; as a bigger base of consumers begin to use their phones for point-of-sale transactions and a wider range of merchants begin to accept mobile payments. By 2019, essentially all mobile payment transactions will be done on smartphones.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mobile Payments, Point of Sale Tagged with: credit card, credit card transactions, debit, e-commerce, merchants, Mobile Payments, payments technologies, point of sale
November 17th, 2015 by Elma Jane
Within the payment processing industry, Merchant accounts are categorized according to how they process their transactions.
There are two primary merchant account categories:
Swiped (Card Present) and Keyed (Card-Not-Present).
Swiped or Card-Present Transactions: Are those in which both the card and the cardholder are present at the time the payment is processed, they physically swipe their customers credit card through a terminal or point-of-sale system.
The sub-categories within this group include:
Retail Merchants – Normally conduct their business in an actual storefront or office space. They primarily use counter-top terminals or Point-of-Sale systems. Restaurant Merchants – Requires a special set-up that allows for tips to be added to the final sale amount by settling the transaction with an adjusted price that will include the tip amount.
Wireless / Mobile Merchants – They use wireless terminals or mobile phones to run these transactions in Real-Time. Have the ability to accept credit cards transactions wherever they are located out on the road.
Hotel / Lodging Merchant – Will authorize a customer’s credit card for a certain sale amount.
Card-Present Transactions also include grocery stores, department stores, movie theaters, etc. Card acceptance settings where cardholders use unattended point-of-sale (POS) terminals, such as gas stations, are also defined as card-present transactions.
Keyed-In or Card-Not-Present Transactions: Whenever the transaction is completed and the cardholder (or his or her credit card) is not physically present to hand to the seller.
The sub-categories within this group include:
Mail Order / Telephone Order (MOTO) – The customers card information is gathered via over the phone, fax, email or internet and then manually key-entered into a terminal or payment gateway software. Once the transaction is approved and completed, the product is then shipped to the customer for delivery.
eCommerce / Internet – Conduct ALL of their business over the internet through a web site. So all credit card transactions are processed online via a payment gateway in real-time. The payment gateway is integrated into the web sites shopping cart. The cardholders card is charged instantly.
Travel Merchants is one example of Keyed or Card-Not-Present Transactions.
Start processing credit card payments today whether Swiped or Keyed.
Give us a call now at 888-996-2273 so more details!
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mail Order Telephone Order, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale, Smartphone, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: Card Not Present transactions, card present, card-not-present, card-present transactions, cardholder, credit card, credit card payments, credit card transaction, ecommerce, keyed, Lodging Merchant, mail order, merchant accounts, merchants, mobile merchants, moto, payment gateway, payment processing, point of sale, POS terminals, Restaurant Merchants, Retail Merchants, shopping cart, swiped, telephone order, terminal, transactions, travel merchants
November 13th, 2015 by Elma Jane
It’s important for merchants to understand the basic of how a credit card terminal works. It is the channel through which the process flows and the merchants can choose the right one for their processing needs, whether they use a point-of-sale (POS) countertop model, a cardreader that attaches to a smartphone or mobile device, a sleek handheld version for wireless processing or a virtual terminal for e-commerce transactions.
A credit card terminal’s function is to retrieve the account data stored on the payment card’s EMV microchip or a magnetic stripe and pass it along to the payment processing company (also known as merchant account provider).
For card-not-present (CNP) – mail order, telephone order and online transactions – the merchant enters the information manually using a keypad on the terminal, or the e-commerce shopper enters it on the website’s payment page. The back half of the process remains the same.
The actual data transmission goes from the terminal through a phoneline or Internet connection to a Payment Processing Company, which routes it to the bank that issued the credit card for authorization.
In card-present transactions where the card and cardholder are physically present, the card is connected to the reader housed in the POS terminal. The data is captured and transmitted electronically to the merchant account provider, who handles the authorization process with the issuing bank and credit card networks.
A POS retail terminal with a phone or Internet connection works best in a traditional retail setting that deals exclusively in card present transactions. For a business with a mobile sales, a mobile credit card processing option like Virtual Merchant Converge Mobile relies on a downloadable app to transform a smartphone or tablet into a credit card terminal equipped with a USB cardreader.
Wireless Terminals are compact, allowing you to accept credit cards in the field without relying on a phone connection. If you process debit cards, you’ll need a PIN pad in addition to your terminal so cardholders can enter their personal identification number to complete the sale.
Selecting the right terminal for your credit card processing needs depends largely on the type of business you run and the sorts of transactions you process. Terminals are highly specialized and provide different services. At National Transaction we offer a broad range of terminals with NFC (near field communication) Capability to accept Apple Pay, Android Pay and other NFC/Contactless payment transactions at your business. An informed business decision benefits your bottom line. Start accepting credit cards today with National Transaction.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit card Processing, e-commerce & m-commerce, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale Tagged with: Android Pay, Apple Pay, card-not-present, card-present transactions, cardholder, cardreader, cnp, contactless payment, Converge Mobile, credit card, credit card networks, credit card terminal, debit cards, e-commerce, EMV, magnetic stripe, mail order, merchant account provider, merchants, microchip, mobile credit card processing, mobile device, Near Field Communication, nfc, online transactions, payment processing company, PIN pad, point of sale, POS, POS terminal, smartphone, telephone order, virtual merchant, virtual terminal, wireless processing
October 29th, 2015 by Elma Jane
What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crimes in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data.
Basic categories of identity theft:
Account Takeover Fraud – is one of the two basic forms of financial identity theft, it occurs when a fraudster obtains and uses a victim’s personal information to take control of existing bank or credit card accounts and carries out unauthorized transactions right at a point of sale or access individual accounts online. Victims are often the first to detect account takeover when they discover charges on monthly statements they did not authorize or funds depleted from existing accounts.
Business or commercial identity theft – entails using a business’ name to obtain credit or even billing a business’ clients for products and services. Business identity theft can go on for years undetected.
Criminal identity theft – occurs when an imposter gives another person’s name and personal information such as drivers’ license, date of birth, or Social Security Number to a law enforcement officer during an investigation or upon arrest.
Identity cloning – some people use identity theft and identity cloning interchangeably, but definitely are not the same thing. True identity clones pretends to be you, they want to assume your identity. They want to become YOU.
Medical identity theft – occurs when someone steals your personal information (like name, Social Security Number or MediCare Number) to obtain medical care in your name. Medical identity theft can damage your credit rating.
New Account Fraud – means using another’s personal identifying information to obtain products and services. New credit card accounts is the most prevalent form of new account fraud. Because the thief is likely to use a different mailing address, the victim never sees the bill for the new account. When this type of fraud involves a credit card, once the new plastic is issued, the criminal turns it into cash very quickly. Victims may also be denied credit as a result of applying for loans.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: bank, credit, credit card, data, fraud, medical, Medicare, point of sale, transactions
October 26th, 2015 by Elma Jane
End Of Life (EOL) terminals are terminals that are no longer produced by the manufacturer, but are still commonly in use today, some of these terminals may be considered obsolete.
If you’re a merchant having trouble with your Hypercom/Equinox 4200 series terminals and they have stopped working or you’re receiving an error message such as Security Error please call your service provider to discuss available options. This is an industry-wide outage that potentially affects all Hypercom/Equinox users.
Now’s a great time to upgrade If you haven’t already, you will need to adopt point-of-sale devices with NFC/contactless readers where you can accept Apple Pay, Android Pay and other contactless device in your business. National Transaction Terminals are EMV/NFC/Contactless readers capable! Give us a call now! at 888-996-2273 or visit our website www.nationaltransaction.com
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: Android Pay, Apple Pay, contactless readers, EMV, Equinox, hypercom, merchant, nfc, point of sale, terminal