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Staring April 1st, 2018, merchants will have the option of bypassing cardholder’s signature for credit or debit card purchases in the U.S. and Canada (globally for Amex). In the “No More Signatures” announcement, the major card brands have unanimously agreed to remove this requirement as they align with the world’s shift to digital payments. This will allow for faster, more convenient check outs without impacting the security or safety of EMV chip technology and tokenization, which are superior fraud prevention methods.

Removing the signature requirement is optional. However, it does require that merchants utilize EMV terminals to delete this process. Some state jurisd...

Visa to introduce new Visa Claims Resolution (VCR) 04.13.18

Customer disputes are a laborious ordeal to say the least. The entire process can last months without a guaranteed outcome in your favor. In some cases, a dispute can be re-opened even after winning the initial decision in your favor. Most merchants don’t want to bother with the processes because of the length of time involved to present a case, and the potential fees involved if the card brands take the dispute to arbitration.

The EMV Chip solution has helped to decrease fraudulent claims, but card brands such as Visa are still seeing a rise in the number of card transactions. As they increase, so have the cost and processing t...

Since 2010 American Express (Amex) has helped increase foot traffic to small businesses across the country by providing American Express card holders incentives to go out and shop on the designated day. This year, it's November 25th (Saturday). Amex card holders now receive double points when they shop at small businesses.

Over 1.3 million businesses participated in 2015, resulting in approximately $16.2 billion in consumer spending by 95 million consumers. That is impressive participation growth from 2013, and this year is expected to increase.

Nearly every credit card processor is on board in supporting this American Express "holiday". It's a great way to celebrate communities in a unique w...

The Clover POS by First Data is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing system on the market. With it's sleek design, and multi-functional capabilities, it's no wonder why many merchants are accepting it into their businesses. Let's be honest too, virtually every bank First Data has it's hand's in is pushing it to their business clientele.

*Major Financial (Bank) Institutions currently offering the Clover POS include Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America, Chase Bank, Suntrust to name a few - not to mention ISO reseller channels.

Currently, merchants that own the Clover POS in any of it's solutions can be categorized in 2 groups; The Lovers, and the Haters. As slick as this POS is, it's not ...

The #1 mistake a merchant will make when signing up for a merchant service account is not paying attention to the details of the agreement. The lowest rate seems to be the driving factor in choosing a credit card processing company, and once it sounds good business owners sign away.

Did you know FEES are how the processors make up for the extremely low incentive rate? Pay attention to the fees that are listed in the contract, and try to eliminate as many of the junk fees as possible.

Here's a fee to pay particular attention to - PCI Non-Compliance.

The PCI Non-Compliance Fee is likely the most expensive, unnecessary monthly fee administered to merchant service accounts. While PCI Compliance is ...

The U.S. economy is growing, and with that more and more small & medium size businesses (SMEs) are in need of new credit card processing capabilities. It's no secret that many merchants have had a negative experience or at least perception of the credit card processing industry. A small sample of merchants were recently asked about their experience when establishing merchant services for their business. Whether the merchant service account was sold through a bank or independent sales organization, it appeared that a majority of business owners had similar thoughts when it came to shopping for competitive rates.

We focus on 12 of the most common reasons business owners were reluctant to switch...

In most cases the merchant service statement is designed to confuse merchants with complicated statistics that seem to require algebra skills to decipher any meaningful data. Credit card processors have a variety of formats to choose from when it comes to generating these statements. Some statements are simplified with summary data, whereas others can be 20 plus pages detailing every transaction.

Reviewing a merchant service statement, let alone getting the will to open one that has come in the mail is daunting to say the least. In fact, a majority of business owners rarely take the time to analyze their current fees. With the exception of a hand full of complex statement formats, merchants c...

A unique niche in the Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) sector is Large Ticket payment processing otherwise known as Level-3 processing. Merchants that have the technology capable of passing purchasing information to the processor often see significant interchange decreases that yield nearly 40% in savings!

Why are you just learning about this now?

Chances are if you setup your merchant services account with your bank or a random salesman that solicited your credit card processing, then they were either not knowledgeable enough to inform you about Level-3, or they simply didn't want to tell you about it to keep your savings in their pocket. Regardless of the reason,...

As a restaurant owner you are likely calculating your cost-per-plate to the penny. It's important to know your profit margins in an industry that relies heavily on volume sales to survive. And if you're a decent size restaurant with a staff to cater to your patrons, you're also likely calculating your labor through payroll.

It's all in the pudding

There are many ways to reduce the cost of running your business. However, many restaurant owners don't take advantage of the payroll FICA tax credit. There are hundreds of dollars to be saved on each employee every year IF tips are reported correctly to the IRS.

The credit , formally known as the "Credit for Employer Social Security and Medicare Taxes...

Starting April 15th, 2017 for the first time Heartland Payment Systems will start charging its merchants for PCI Compliance. To clarify, the additional fee above it's Service and Regulatory Mandate (SRM) fee will cost merchants $8.50 per month to report to the card brands (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express) using ControlScan, a third party company that implements the Payment Card Industry (PCI) questionnaire.

Value Benefit

Heartland merchants who are verified to be PCI compliant through ControlScan receive a $500k breach warranty (up to $100k per IP address). The additional cost includes assistance and consulting on becoming PCI compliant. Heartland still offers its Heartland S...