August 29th, 2017 by Elma Jane
Running an e-commerce website, travel agency, retail store or any other business that requires payment processing can be overwhelming.
You’ve got to monitor your transactions, ensure security to your customers, and generate reports. That’s a lot of work. However, with NTC payment solutions, you can streamline the whole payment process and stay on top of your operations.
With the right service, it allows you to get paid faster, offer loyalty programs, and process payments on the go. Depending on your business, you want to pick the right solution that best suit your needs.
Let’s explore some of the options you can consider.
With the right software, you can gain control of your business from inventory and order management to refunds and returns. No matter how you have set up your point of sale system, having the right software can make a great difference.
You want a software that lets you add other functionality, such as loyalty cards, sales exchanges, layaways, discounts, etc. This allows you to experience seamless customer management, inventory management, and retail accounting.
With the advancement in technology, you can access your point of sale system right on your iOS or Android device. This technology can replace your bar code scanners and cash registers to improve your in-store payment processing. There are also card readers that you can connect to your phone to start processing payments.
National Transaction can provide hardware, software, and support for any point of sale and other merchant solutions that your business needs.
To speak with our Payment Consultant Call Now 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: card readers, e-commerce, Loyalty Programs, merchant, payment processing, point of sale system, Security, technology, transactions, travel
June 8th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Near field communication technology (NFC) is on the rise, and consumers can use NFC not just for making payments.
Top ways consumers can use NFC (Near field communications):
NFC Access Keys – can also be used as your access to certain buildings or hotels.
NFC Boarding Pass – are used in airports to expedite the boarding process. No more keeping track of that printed boarding pass!
File Sharing – on certain Android phones, consumers can share songs, contacts and files from phone to phone with a simple tap.
Retail – Paying in stores simply requires a wave of the customer’s smartphone. This provides speedier transactions, but also provides merchants the opportunity to offer their customers loyalty points and rewards.
NFC Ticketing – speeds up subway boarding time by allowing consumers to use their phones at the reader.
Vending Machines – NFC-enabled vending machines will allow customers to simply tap and go.
With the growing list of NFC technology uses, merchants should be prepared for the adoption. Upgrade your terminal to be NFC-enabled give us a call at 888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Near Field Communication Tagged with: consumers, customer’s smartphone, merchants, Near Field Communication, nfc, payments, retail, rewards, technology, terminal, transactions
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
January 23rd, 2015 by Elma Jane
Technology and software are among the most important investments a company can make, especially when it comes to security. Growing demand for IT services and security solutions prove that business owners know the threats that are out there and want to do something to guard themselves against cybercriminals.
With a well-rounded security solution a business might purchased, and with all the recommended features a business might need, was the investment really worth it? Security solutions provider Trustwave, found that organizations of all sizes are wasting their security dollars and none more so than small businesses.
Small businesses spent an average of $157 per user on security software, compared with $73 per user in larger companies. Nearly 30 percent of that investment ended up underutilized or never used due to non- or misuse of security controls and features. And yet, companies still increased their spending by 44 percent.
Why did businesses end up letting their security software go partially to waste, despite significant increases in IT spending?
Many organizations cited a lack of resources: Either IT staff was too busy to implement their security solutions properly, or didn’t have the manpower to do so.
With the alarming number of high-profile corporate breaches, businesses of all sizes are aware that they need to invest in top-of-the-line solutions. IT professionals expect a 43 percent increase in their use of cloud-based or managed security services. But the financial constraints many small companies face can prove to be an obstacle to proper security.
A few IT-related tips to help save money, which can then be reallocated toward the technological and staffing resources needed to protect a business.
Monitor software usage and eliminate solutions that aren’t being used. Seek out products that are designed for small business. Some companies offer free or discounted versions of their product to very small companies. Track any IT/software purchases to ensure you’re within your budget.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: breaches, Security, security software, services, software, solutions provider, technology
September 4th, 2014 by Elma Jane
The move to mobile point of sale (mobile POS) is radically changing the face of customer interactions and payments, as both customers and merchants grow increasingly comfortable with the concept of mobile payments. In the current, crowded marketplace most mobile payment solutions are not compatible with each other. Instead of unifying the payment experience they create islands separated by technology or usage that are tailored to individual providers in the market. Multiple devices are currently needed in-store to process different payment types and the challenge is how they can make payments unified in such a way that only one device is needed in store.
The use of cash by customers also adds a level of complication to the mobile POS story. The removal of IDM terminals, removal of customer queues and ability for customers to simply walk up and pay an assistant or to leave a store and have their bank card automatically debited certainly suits the expectations of customers today, however a large number of customers still use traditional cash methods to pay for goods and services. A number of stores that have gone down the route of implementing mobile POS now have a problem dealing with cash because the wandering shop assistants and personal shoppers can only accept card or web-based payment options. The future for mobile POS has potential to be bright, a dominant player will have to emerge in the market. This will break down the technology barriers and usage barriers between different players. The success to mobile POS lies in the payment process being truly unified with one device in one place and very seamless workflow. This will be very complicated thing to achieve, there have been a lot of attempts and a lot of false starts in the history of mobile POS. MPOS will be the future. Five years from now people will be amazed that they did transactions with landlines. NO child will ever see a telephone with a cord attached. Never a popcorn on top of the stove since we developed microwave ovens. Technology changes, and we are slow to adopt new stuff. Once we change we don’t know how we did without it.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale, Smartphone Tagged with: bank, card, cash, customer, devices, IDM terminals, Merchant's, mobile, mobile point of sale, MPOS, payment solutions, payment types, payments, point of sale, POS, provider's, services, technology, terminals, web-based payment
July 22nd, 2014 by Elma Jane
Facebook has begun testing a buy button which lets users purchase products advertised on the social network. Meanwhile, Twitter is also stepping up its commerce game, acquiring payments outfit CardSpring.
Facebook users on desktop or mobile can now click a buy call-to-action button on ads and page posts to purchase a product directly from a business, without leaving the social network. Users can pay with a card that Facebook already has on file or enter new details and save them for future use or have them forgotten. No payment details are shared with advertisers. So far, the system is only being tested with a few small and medium-sized businesses in the US.
Separately, Twitter is also looking to strengthen its commerce credentials, buying CardSpring for an undisclosed fee. CardSpring provides an API designed to make it easy for developers to link digital applications to payment cards. It is expected that CardSpring’s technology will help merchants offer discounts in tweets, with customers entering their card details so that when they make a purchase at a later date, the saving is automatically applied.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: api, card, card details, CardSpring, customers, desktop, digital applications, discounts, link, Merchant's, mobile, network, payment cards, payments, product, purchase, technology, twitter
June 30th, 2014 by Elma Jane
The best way to grow your business is to grow your customer base, but finding the time to round up new customers can be a challenge. What time-strapped business owners need is a strategy that lets them attract more customers without logging in more hours at work.
Here are steps that will allow any small business to set up a marketing system in a hurry.
Address specific concerns – Businesses also have to have a component in place that tracks customers who don’t opt in for a free consultation or other service right away. If someone does not sign up to discuss your services, then you need to prepare a series of messages that addresses their specific concerns, along with the call to action that repeats the offer of the free consultation. If repeated messages don’t inspire a customer to buy what you’re selling, you still get to add another name to your weekly newsletter or list of potential leads, which you can come back to later. To make follow-up messages and further communications most effective, using a tone that is a mix of personal and professional. In other words, don’t be too formal, but do make sure you explain why your business is worth patronizing.
Get to know your customers – Most of us who have been in our respective businesses for any length of time know the fears, hopes, dreams and aspirations of our clients. If you don’t do a great job of communicating benefits to prospective clients based on what you know they want, then your prospects won’t be willing to spend even a dollar. Knowing what concerns and challenges your prospects face should be at the heart of your business marketing strategy. Once you have this information, you can use technology, sales and marketing software for small business to create a powerful and intelligent marketing funnel system.
Prepare effective content – Once your prospective customers have completed your short survey, they’ll be entitled to the information they came to your site to receive. To effectively engage these customers, preparing a video based on each of the answers customers might have chosen during the survey. What kind of video you produce is up to you, but there are two main types: “The talking head and the narrated PowerPoint”. As you might guess, the talking head video is preferable, since it enables prospects to get a sense for who you are as a person. Next to seeing you live, it’s the next best thing. When it’s done right, it’s very effective. If you’re uncomfortable in front of the camera, you might want to opt for a narrated PowerPoint or Keynote for Mac users presentation. It’s not quite as effective in building rapport as the talking head video, but prospects will pick up a lot of your personality simply by hearing your voice. Regardless of which format you use. Keeping each video under 10 minutes and using the opportunity to really provide prospects with valuable information like a useful tip, perspective or idea. At the end of the video should be a call to action to go to a specific page on your website that offers a free consultation.
Start with a survey – Any marketing funnel begins with the challenge of how you get people to enter it, adding that small business owners can attract prospective clients by offering worthwhile information that their customers want access to, preferably in the form of videos, articles or other easily digested media. Once a prospect opts into receiving free content, it’s the businesses turn to find out more about who that customer is and what they need. One way to do this is to ask visitors to your website to complete a simple one-question survey. The survey you build should be based on the three to four biggest challenges you know your customers face, which is why step one “getting to know your customers” is so important. To create a survey that will point prospective customers in the right direction, you have to ask the right questions.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: customer, customer base, free consultation, Keynote, leads, marketing software, marketing system, newsletter, PowerPoint, prospects, software, survey, technology, website
June 20th, 2014 by Elma Jane
A recent survey said, 82 percent of e-commerce merchants who currently do not employ a consumer authentication solution are afraid that such solutions will scare off online shoppers, but with more and more fraud expected to migrate online in the coming years, the payments industry needs to do a better job of informing merchants why authentication in the card-not-present realm is crucial to data security.
While a majority of payment service companies employ some type of 3-D Secure online authentication, and most large merchants do likewise, the rest of the merchant population, especially in North America, apparently do not. 55 percent of merchants surveyed, a majority of which are U.S.-based, do not use online authentication, noting that North America is the only world region where less than half of merchants use the technology. The reason so many U.S. merchants eschew consumer authentication is they see it as a sales killer.
The main reason appears to be fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about how consumer authentication will impact sales conversion and user experience, 43 percent of merchant respondents are FUD-preoccupied, with 20 percent concerned about the effect of the technology on sales conversion, 13 percent worried about changing the user experience and 10 percent simply want nothing to do with consumer authentication. Beyond the FUD concerns, there is also a very real perception with merchants and service providers that integration is long and difficult, adding that 21 percent of merchants who do not employ authentication, citing the time and/or cost of integration as the barrier.
End to FUD
The solution to merchant adoption of some form of 3-D Secure technology is apparently education. Many FUD concerns are related to a hangover effect caused by bad experiences with previous iterations of consumer authentication. But the report provides evidence that the FUD factor can be overcome because of the happiness factor that authentication-using merchants express. 81 percent of merchant respondents showing satisfaction with the solutions they have employed.
The report said nearly half of merchants surveyed said authentication had no effect on sales conversion, either positive or negative; however, almost 20 percent believe it has had a positive effect on sales. The positive result seems to be related to merchants who use authentication selectively, on specific transactions rather than on all of them. Additionally, the technology results in many merchants experiencing lower numbers of chargebacks. Amongst merchants, 59 percent overall say the authentication program brought a decrease in chargebacks and this is true for more than half of merchants from each geographic region.
FYI on FUD
The adoption is very low because not many people understand it. Online verification does retard the checkout process as a second screen pops up that consumers must navigate in order to proceed with the purchase. However, these barriers can be overcome with education and simply getting people comfortable with the technology. If we had this solution from day one on all e-commerce sites today nobody would be complaining because people would be used to doing it. It is a question of achieving ubiquity rather than taking a piecemeal approach to implementation. It is a matter of if you do it at one place or every place. If you have to do it at only one location that makes that site really secure. If all sites ask the same question, you get used to it.
Consumer authentication is also something that requires buy-in from issuers, acquirers and merchants. It is a participation solution where the issuer and the acquirer have to be participating in it. If you are an e-commerce site and you are certified with Verified by Visa the card brands proprietary version of 3-D Secure, if the card issuer has not embraced that, then the security will not happen.
Increasing number and frequency of breaches is slowly eroding consumers’ trust in the safety of e-commerce It’s not good for the whole ecosystem. At some point people will come back and say, this is too risky to do online transactions with cards. Before that point is reached, businesses should improve their online defenses, and consumer authentication is central to that defense. With the U.S. payments infrastructure in the process of transitioning to the Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) chip card standard at the physical POS, fraud in the United States will sharpen its focus on the less secure online channel. EMV will do a lot of good in terms of card present security, but it does not do anything for card-not-present environments. So how are we going to contain the online fraud? We have to go to a 3-D Secure type solution
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: 3-D Secure online authentication, card, card present security, card-not-present, chargebacks, chip, chip card, consumer, data security, e-commerce, e-commerce merchants, EMV, Europay/MasterCard/Visa, fraud, Merchant's, online authentication, online channel, online fraud, online shoppers, online transactions, payment service, payments industry, POS, sales conversion, technology, Verified, visa
May 30th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Southwest Airlines is now accepting mobile boarding passes at 28 total U.S. airport locations, its newest convenience feature that enables fliers to pass security and board an aircraft simply by waving their mobile device.
Following a tiered rollout from last year, the paperless boarding system requires minimal user action. Passengers check in via the Southwest mobile site or branded app and choose to view their boarding pass. The image will open in a new browser and can be saved to a device’s photo gallery upon request.
Mobile apps are critical touch points in the customer journey. Native and hybrid apps are continuing to dramatically increase the ability to deploy and optimize digital strategy. If you’re customizing the experience on mobile Web only, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
Long awaited arrival
New airline initiatives are offering a level of customer service that has never before been possible, and is transforming the experience of traveling to create a new barometer on which carriers will be judged.
Southwest offers two ways to attain an e-boarding pass: have one sent directly to a mobile device though electronic mail or text message when checking in online, or use the airline’s app to check in and have the pass appear with the option to save a replica to the photo gallery. When ready for boarding, passengers present their screen at both security checkpoints and gate entrance to be scanned by staff. In addition to mobile boarding pass support, the app also now includes upcoming trip cards that display flight information such as boarding position, gate location and access to flight tools such mobile check-in from the home screen.
IT takes flight
An industry wide Airline IT Trends Survey shows that more than 90 percent of airlines are increasing their investment in mobile capabilities to ease the hassles of getting through the airport and improve the in-flight experience. American, Delta, Continental and United are the biggest adopters of e-boarding support, offering the service from at least 75 airports. Mobile boarding passes are the preferred method for frequent fliers, as business execs and the like are constantly engaged with their handhelds. Paper passes also become more likely to be lost or wrinkled.
Another advantage of the electronic offering is that some travelers may not have access to a printer, and so a mobile boarding pass relieves the frustration of waiting on line at a kiosk. Of course there are also obvious drawbacks that may hinder the proposed convenience factor, one being that a mobile device may malfunction or run out of battery, resulting in a delayed trip or even a missed flight.
Mobile passes may also present a challenge if multiple people are traveling under one reservation. U.S. Airways and Continental restrict the service to one person per reservation. Other airliners allow each group member to check in line and have a separate pass sent to appropriate phones. While certain cons defeat the purpose of going mobile for efficiency reasons, the benefits offer peace of mind as airline carriers continue to improve the technology.
The option helps deliver more personalized and relevant experiences to on-the-go consumers leveraging a unified customer profile to collect, own and act on data not only on mobile apps, but also across kiosks and other platforms. This approach to mobile apps uniquely sets marketers free in terms of customization and delivery of the experience, and has delivered great results.
Posted in Smartphone Tagged with: airline carriers, airports, American, app, boarding pass, cards, carriers, consumers, Continental, customer service, data, Delta, digital, e-boarding pass, electronic mail, hybrid apps, mobile, Mobile Apps, mobile boarding, mobile device, Mobile passes, mobile site, mobile Web, phones, platforms, Security, technology, tools, U.S. Airways and Continental
January 13th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Most of the world has already migrated to EMV chip technology. EMV, as commentators have noted, affects not only hardware and software, but every card payment system, device and application. Looking ahead to the 2015 liability shift, stakeholders who have not made the switch should consider these benefits of EMV.
Rather than focusing on any potential expenses, however, stakeholders should instead consider the important elements they have to gain.
EMV is here.
Benefits of EMV:
Global interoperability – Since most of the world has migrated to EMV, U.S. banks can that transition gain the ability to have their cards used with full EMV security anywhere in the world. Further, merchants benefit from this global interoperability as it allows them to process transactions coming into the U.S. from foreign travelers in the same way as domestic transactions.
Higher security – The latest data indicates that 78 percent of all counterfeit card fraud originates in areas where EMV has not yet been widely implemented, and even the most ardent detractors of EMV admit that EMV is very secure.
All stakeholders, gain a higher level of security than was available through magnetic-stripe technology.
Roadmap to mobile – POS terminals that support contactless EMV will in turn enable mobile EMV on NFC at merchants, meaning merchants can take advantages of all manner of popular payment methods, as well as the latest loyalty, location-based and couponing capabilities of mobile.
Posted in Credit card Processing, Credit Card Security, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Near Field Communication, Point of Sale, Smartphone Tagged with: card, card fraud, card payment system, chip, contactless emv, counterfeit, couponing, EMV, interoperability, magnetic stripe, Merchant's, mobile, nfc, payment methods, POS terminals, secure, Security, technology, transactions, transition, travelers
