May 25th, 2016 by Elma Jane
No one likes waiting in a checkout line, the faster your checkout line moves, the faster you are able to turn more sales. Quick checkout lines lead to increased sales and higher customer satisfaction .
Cut your line and increase your sales by:
Upgrading your POS – if you haven’t upgraded your POS, do it now. Choosing a modern POS that is simple and easy to use like the iCT250, offers a smart, effective and highest security payment experience designed for merchants and easier for employees to understand.
Multiple Checkout – multiple checkout counters may be necessary depending on the size of your store. In a high volume situation such as the holiday season, more opportunities for checkout may be beneficial.
Accept A Variety of Payments – having alternative forms of payment by accepting credit, debit, EMV/NFC and mobile wallets, will open the door for a variety of customers, but also allow the customer to pay the way they want in a most convenient way.
Train Employees – most importantly, train your employees on how to use your new POS system. Employees need to be the expert on POS so that they are able to assist customers who may need help conducting their transaction.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: credit, customer, debit, EMV, merchants, mobile, mobile wallets, nfc, payment, POS, sales, Security, transaction
May 23rd, 2016 by Elma Jane
Today, the information thieves want most from your customers is not their credit card numbers but their email addresses and account passwords. Criminals used stolen credentials to gain control of consumer accounts and open new accounts using their names to defraud merchants.
Data encryption and payment security are crucial for merchants, but so is helping customers keep their credentials secure. Encouraging customers to keep their information secure is a good thing.
Help customers practice good password habits – set up your system to require good passwords. Have account rules in place that require more secure passwords. ( a minimum number of characters and a mix of character types).
Remind customers what they can expect from your business – like your employee will never ask for customer account passwords or payment account information via email or no one from your company will call to ask for account passwords or credit-card information.
Offer security tips ahead of peak season – by reminding them ahead of time about account safety. Your business may receive a high volume of travel booking which means peak time for fraud attempts that need to be screened for fraud.
Keep your own fraud-prevention program updated – fraud prevention is an ongoing cost of doing business for merchants, but it doesn’t have to be too much expense. Working with your customers to keep their data and yours secure, will strengthen your business with them while protecting your business from fraud.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: credit card, customers, data, fraud, merchants, payment, payment security, Security, travel
May 18th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Terminals are ready, but the software isn’t – many merchants have EMV capable equipment, but has not been activated yet because it still needs to be certified.
The certification process includes security and compatibility tests.
For a small merchant, all you need to worry about is your equipment or software is EMV certified.
For software, developers, terminal manufacturers needs to get certification before they can deploy their products to merchants.
So many merchants who want to accept EMV, are now just waiting for their POS system to get necessary upgrades, which they can’t do until they’re certified.
Slower Checkout Time – common complaint by consumers. Dipping takes several seconds longer than swiping the card. There’s also a chance of forgetting your card because you have to leave your card inserted while waiting for the transaction to get approved.
The fastest Path to EMV – Depending on the nature of your business, the risk of landing yourself for credit card fraud is slim. The easiest way is to contact your merchant account provider and they will tell you what equipment and software you need and how much it will cost.
For our retail customers, we have the iCT250, the smart and compact desktop device designed for maximum efficiency. iCT250 offers a smart and effective payment experience on minimum counter space. Accept all electronic payment methods including EMV chip & PIN, magstripe and NFC/contactless.
For card-not-present, we have our payment gateway platform that accepts payments your way Online, In-Store and On the Go.
- E-commerce – manage your e-com business along with all of your other payment transactions in one, secure place.
- In-Store – accept payments in person with ease using your computer and a broad range of an optional device, like card readers and PIN pads.
- Back Office Mail & Phone – Process you mail and phone payments online. Converge is ideal for recurring and installment payments too.
- Mobile – Take payments on the go with an intuitive mobile app that’s compatible with most smartphones and tablets.
For more details give us a call at 888-996-2273 or check out our website for our products and services.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, e-commerce & m-commerce, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Internet Payment Gateway, Mail Order Telephone Order, Merchant Account Services News Articles, Mobile Payments, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale, Smartphone, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: card, card readers, Chip & PIN, consumers, contactless, credit card, customers, e-commerce, electronic payment, EMV, fraud, in-store, magstripe, merchant account, merchants, mobile, nfc, online, payment, payment gateway, PIN pads, POS, provider, Security, terminals, transaction
May 5th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Businesses or merchants accepting payments online needs an up-to-date and active security software that includes:
- FIREWALL PROTECTION – a software program that helps to screen out malware and hackers that try to reach you through the internet.
- ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAMS – Not all anti-virus program offers protection against all kinds of malware. Viruses are one type of malware. Spyware is another type of malware that can steal credit card information or your bank account.
Update:
- Keeping your operating systems, security software programs, and browser current can help secure your data information.
- Evaluate browser’s privacy settings, limit or disable cookies. Other cookies can be used maliciously and collect data information.
- Back up your data regularly. If your computer or device got compromised, you still have access to important files.
Need to set up an account give us a call at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security Tagged with: bank account, credit card, data, merchants, online, payments, Security
April 26th, 2016 by Elma Jane
The PCI-DSS is a security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card including Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, and JCB. It is designed to ensure that ALL companies that process credit card information maintain a secure environment.
PCI applies to organization or merchant, that has a Merchant ID (MID), regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts credit card.
Merchants will fall into one of the four merchant levels based on Visa transaction volume over a 12-month period.
| Merchant Level |
Description |
| 1 |
Any merchant — regardless of acceptance channel — processing over 6M Visa transactions per year. Any merchant that Visa, at its sole discretion, determines should meet the Level 1 merchant requirements to minimize risk to the Visa system. |
| 2 |
Any merchant — regardless of acceptance channel — processing 1M to 6M Visa transactions per year. |
| 3 |
Any merchant processing 20,000 to 1M Visa e-commerce transactions per year. |
| 4 |
Any merchant processing fewer than 20,000 Visa e-commerce transactions per year, and all other merchants — regardless of acceptance channel — processing up to 1M Visa transactions per year. |
Does is each location required to validate PCI Compliance for multiple business locations?
If a business locations process under the same Tax ID, then you are only required to validate once annually for all locations.
Penalties for non-compliance
The payment brands may fine an acquiring bank $5,000 to $100,000 per month for PCI compliance violations. The banks will pass this fine along until it eventually hits the merchant. The bank will also terminate your relationship or increase transaction fees.
PCI Compliance Manager
To help you achieve and report compliance, we have Trustwave PCI Compliance Manager. It’s an online portal that enables you to understand requirements that apply to your business, and guides you through your self-assessment, step by step.
If you have any questions regarding your PCI Compliance please call our office at 888-996-2273. We would be more than happy to help.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, Payment Card Industry PCI Security Tagged with: banks, credit cards, merchant, PCI-DSS, Security, transactions
April 12th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Bank Identification Number or (BIN) is the link between the customer and their credit, debit, prepaid or gift card.This help merchants identify the card, its owner, and the issuing bank. The first six digits are used to identify the issuing bank. These six digits are the Bank Identification Number (BIN).
What is a BIN LookUp and how can it help merchant?
The BIN and additional data about the card and the bank can be stored in a database since every card is associated with a bank. BIN lookup allows any merchant or institution doing card based transaction to check more about the transaction other than ensuring that the correct pin has been provided.
BIN LookUp gives the merchant added security and a number of benefits.
- Protection against fraud and reversals of payments. Bank institution allow merchants a limited number of reversals and fraud before stopping their card privileges, and each card chargeback costs you money.
- Permits a closer monitoring of the sales process. Who, what and where? Using these details you can service your customers better.
- You can also gain from using the BIN system if you issue your customers’ gift card or pre-loaded cards.
How Can BIN LookUp or Cardholder Bank LookUp Help Merchants?
Utilize the Cardholder Bank 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. Merchant Connect BIN lookup data is accurate, it is an added protection to your business, assets, and your financial transactions.
For your payments technology needs, give us a call at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: bank, cardholder, chargeback, credit, customer, database, debit, financial, fraud, gift Card, merchants, payments, prepaid, Security, transaction
April 11th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Card-not-present fraud is projected to worsen. However, 3D secure technology has made progress and is gaining more and more adoption.
How can e-Commerce merchants avoid CNP fraud?
Here are other ways to make card-not-present transaction safe:
Biometrics – Using Fingerprint Scans and Facial Recognition or Selfie. To validate the identity of the consumer.
Challenge Questions – Such as listing your father’s middle name or a fact known only to the consumer is an effectively added layer of security.
Location Data – Another way to fight against fraud is location data and the use of IP addresses to certify the location and identity of the consumer making the transaction.
Outsource Your Payment Platform – Payments pages hosted by a reputable payment service provider are much more secure.
One-time Passwords – During the checkout process, there will be a window to enter a one-time password which the consumer receives a text message on his/her mobile phone. The consumer enters the password within a short time frame to authenticate the transaction. This solution is especially effective against cyber criminals who steal credentials.
For your payment services needs, give us a call at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, e-commerce & m-commerce Tagged with: 3D Secure, biometrics, card-not-present, cnp, consumer, data, e-commerce, fraud, merchants, payment, Security, service provider, technology, transaction
April 7th, 2016 by Elma Jane
The EMV technology does improve security because EMV cards are more difficult to counterfeit. Since U.S. is using chip-and-signature cards not the one requiring a PIN, anybody can use an EMV chip card whether it might be a lost or a stolen card. EMV chips will not prevent the data breach from occurring, but it will make it harder for criminals to successfully profit from what they steal.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa Tagged with: cards, chip card, data, EMV, PIN, Security
March 23rd, 2016 by Elma Jane
A data breach can occur from inside a business just as much as it can externally. The one common element between both is “Opportunity.” It doesn’t matter whether a business is a multi-national corporation or a small single-location.
Attacks from criminals can range in sophistication. While the sophistication of some attacks may be low, experts note that criminals continue to evolve their techniques and now they are becoming more sophisticated than ever.
While large corporations may have millions of customer records, they also maintain the resources to protect their sensitive information from the average criminal. It may take weeks, months, or even years for a criminal to penetrate the defenses of one large corporation. This is why attacks on small business are becoming so attractive to criminals.
It all goes back to the “Opportunity.” The average small business lacks the resources to properly protect their business from the variety of attacks at the disposal of criminals. Or worse, they may believe their business is of no interest to criminals. The fact is, they are less secure than larger businesses. These are all issues for the average small business owner, and more importantly, their customers.
So what can a small business do to protect themselves from the growing threat of a data compromise?
- Background checks on employees.
- Have someone monitor the network activity.
- Protect business with proper network security protocols.
- Protect your payment’s environment by using a layered approach that includes EMV, encryption and tokenization to help prevent sensitive payment card data from being stolen.
These are all fairly simple and inexpensive ways for businesses to help protect themselves and their customers from being a victim of a costly data compromise.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: card, customer, data, data breach, EMV, encryption, payment, Security, tokenization
February 17th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Helping customers protect and safeguard their payment data is one of NTC’s top priorities. Experts agree that a layered approach is the most effective way to combat evolving security threats and unauthorized access to payment data.
Implementation of best practices and the latest protection technology is needed to ensure of cardholder data protection from increasingly complex and evolving security threats.
EMV is a good start to enhance data security with card authentication, cardholder verification, and transaction authorization. But a multi-layered security approach that includes encryption and tokenization provides complete data protection to both merchants and their customers.
EMV alone is not enough because EMV authenticates the validity of the card and the cardholder, but it does not secure the data. With encryption and tokenization without EMV, as a merchant, you are liable for fraudulent transactions. Encryption and tokenization are a process or system to protect sensitive cardholder data but do not authenticate the data.
EMV is a key component to a multi-layered security approach. It secures the payment transaction with enhanced functionality, by combining EMV, encryption and tokenization merchants can have a complete data protection that they need.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa Tagged with: card, cardholder, customers, data, data protection, data security, EMV, encryption, merchants, payment, payment transaction, Security, tokenization, transaction