Accept cards using i-Phone

Connected Pay offers flexibility to accept credit cards how you want.  If you own a business that is on the go, such as a contractor, artist, photographer, caterer, pet groomer, or home party sales, Payware Mobile might be your ideal method of acceptance.  It is easy to accept credit cards with your cell phone.  Connected Pay supports most Veriphone products.  If you don't have an i-Phone, take a look to see if your phone is supported.  Alternate handheld card readers.

The Simplicity And Flexibility Merchants Want

•       Simply slide on the card encryption sleeve to iPhone and start accepting credit card and signature-based debit card transactions

•       Works in conjunction with VeriFone’s hosted gateway service, PAYware Connect

•       Includes integrated capacitive stylus to allow for signature capture

•       Emails receipts to customers with customized layouts and fields to highlight special promotions

•       Geo-tagging with latitude and longitude points identifies transaction location to help with dispute resolution

•       View transaction history via iPhone or via the gateway portal

The Secure Way To Accept Payments On An iPhone

•       Secures customer data and significantly reduces liability risks for merchants

•       Provides end-to-end security with VeriShield Protect from the moment a card is swiped so sensitive, unencrypted cardholder data never enters iPhone

•       Lets account administrators activate, manage and even deactivate gateway access of iPhones that are lost or stolen

•       PA-DSS approved payment application

The Savings Merchants Demand

•       Saves time and reduces transaction fees with swiped, card present transactions

•       Eliminates manual entry errors and reduces deposit slips and manual receipts

•       Enables merchants to efficiently manage their business with extensive reporting via the gateway portal – such as transaction detail, post-settlement and transaction search 

What is PCI

Q: What is PCI?

When most people hear PCI they think of the PCI-DSS Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standards.

Below is a video produced by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Council.  Entertaining and informative.

Top security practices (web browsing)

When our customer service team trains our client's staff they notice vulnerabilities in the organization's IT environment.  Many of these organizations are smaller and don't think they are at risk, however, they are more at risk by failing to implement simple and often free practices into their daily work routine.  

Below is a listing of general recommendations our customer service team has provided:

• Set your anti-virus and anti-spyware software to auto-update. 
• Use an Internet firewall (hardware or software). 
• Don't click pop-ups and never download files from websites you don't trust. 
• When making online transactions, be sure web addresses begin with https (not http) and look for a key or padlock icon in your browser window. 
• Upgrade your Internet browser. Newer browser versions support advanced security features, such as phishing site detection and extended security certificates. 
• Don't surf to other sites while you're visiting a secure site; finish your work within the secure site, sign out and close your browser before you move on.

Connected Pay's team of CPA's can help prevent security issues you may encounter.  For more information on PCI Security Standards, or best practices for web browsing, click Operations Consulting.    

Since Jan 2010, we have shown merchants +$294,000 in savings on their processing fees compared to their previous vendor.  We provide merchant accounts, terminals, gateways, virtual terminals, and merchant account pricing negotiations.  Check out our testimonials from our happy clients!

 

Connected Pay and the BBB

Connected Pay recently became accredited with the Better Business Bureau.  This is exciting as we have reached our 1.5 yr mark!


Check out our report:
http://www.bbb.org/kansas-city/business-reviews/payment-processing-service/connected-pay-in-kansas-city-mo-99154712#complaint


If you have any comments please contact:
BBB of Greater Kansas City
8080 Ward Parkway, Suite 401
Kansas City, MO 64114

Phone 816-421-7800
Fax 816-472-5442

Office Hours
Monday-Friday 8:30AM to 4:30PM
(Inquiry Lines Open Monday-Friday 9AM to 4PM)

Small Business Security - Best Practices

So you are a small business.  You are busy doing numerous tasks and don't have time for everything, but fail to recognize the importance of the security measures below and you could lose everything. Here are some things to think about in regards to that valuable laptop and technology you use everyday and take for granted.  

BEST PRACTICES

No single set of rules will protect every business, but thoughtful owners and managers take steps like these:

Close security gaps: Laptops travel, and contractors and visitors connect to your network. Protect network endpoints, not just perimeter.

Integrate defenses: Combine antivirus, firewall, intrusion detection, and vulnerability management at endpoints – with encryption if they travel.

Patch software: Threats evolve – close vulnerabilities by quickly applying updates you recover from Microsoft and other software providers.

Update virus definitions: Threats evolve – make sure your antivirus software recognizes them, by keeping your virus definitions up to date.

Alert employees: Warn them about the risks of attachments and links in unexpected email, and downloaded software before it is scanned for viruses.

Don’t invite trouble: File-sharing programs and free downloads may install malicious code automatically. Stop them with training, policies, and software.

Strengthen passwords: Require passwords that mix letters and numbers – never names or dictionary words – and change them often.

Schedule backups: Implement and enforce backup schedules – and automate the process as much as possible.

Back up systems, too: Backups are only as good as your ability to use the information you recover, so back up systems and applications as well as files.

Keep backups offsite: Fire, flood, vandalism, and sabotage are facts. Be sure files and systems can survive loss of your facility, or even a regional disaster.

Test backups: Don’t wait until data recovery to discover a resource, process, or technical shortcoming – test the entire backup and recovery cycle.

Get help: Find a local IT partner who understands and can help with both your business and technical requirements, and whom you trust.

Many of these security features take some time to set up, but can be automated once established.  Set a calendar appointment or designate a partner or employee to take care of those items that need some human judgement.    

Thanks to Symantec for these great security measures.  

Update on CC processing rules

I. Executive Summary:

This posting examines the rules that govern merchant payment acceptance in regards to discounts and Surcharges.  Discounts for paying cash are allowed.  Surcharges are prohibited in 10 US States.  Visa and MasterCard discourage merchants from charging a surcharge.

II. Discounts:

1.    Visa Rules

a.    6.2 Visa merchants may not refuse to accept a Visa product that is properly presented for payment, for example, on the basis that the card is foreign-issued2, or co-branded with the merchant’s competitor's mark. Merchants may steer customers to an alternative method of payment, such as providing discounts for cash, but may not do so in a confusing manner that denies consumer choice. Merchants may also consider whether present circumstances create undue risk, for example if the sale involves high-value electronics, but the card signature panel is not signed, and the cardholder does not have any other identification.

b.    6.3 Visa merchants agree to accept Visa cards for payment of goods or services without charging any amount over the advertised price as a condition of Visa card acceptance, unless local law requires that merchants be permitted to engage in such practice.

Source: http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/visa-international-operating-regulations-core.pdf

2.     MasterCard Rules:

a.     A merchant must not directly or indirectly require any Cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any Merchant discount or an contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a Transaction.  A merchant may provide a discount its customers for cash payments.  A merchant is permitted to charge a fee (such as a bona fide commission, postage, expedited service or convenience fees, and the like) if the fee is imposed on all like transactions regardless of the form of payment used, or as the Corporation has expressly permitted in writing.  For purposes of this Rule

                                          i.    A surcharge is any fee charged in connection with a transaction that is not charged is another payment method is used.

                                         ii.    The Merchant discount is any fee a Merchant pays to an Acquirer so that the Acquirer will acquire the Transactions of the Merchant.

Source:  http://www.mastercard.com/us/merchant/support/rules.html

III. Surcharge Laws:

1.    10 States with No Surcharge Laws: In 10 states it is prohibited by law for retailers to charge consumers a fee for using a credit card (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas). Consumers who are subjected to checkout fees in states where they are protected by law may report the retailer to their state attorney general's office.

·         California

·         Colorado

·         Connecticut

·         Florida

·         Kansas

·         Maine

·         Massachusetts

·         New York

·         Oklahoma

·         Texas

Source:  http://usa.visa.com/merchants/operations/checkoutfees.html#10states

Financial Reform Passes...Now what

Updates on the financial reform bill:

On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the vigorously debated and much scrutinized Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 into law. For the payments industry, the law's key component is the Durbin Amendment, which, among other provisions, gives the Federal Reserve the power to cap interchange rates on debit card purchases at a level commensurate with the costs of processing those transactions.

Yet a number of questions loom about how, precisely, the amendment's different provisions will be defined and what the ramifications of its enforcement will be.

In her opening address at the Midwest Acquirers Association meeting held in Schaumburg, Ill., from July 21 to 23, Electronic Transactions Association President Holli Targan said the Fed isn't happy that this regulatory task has been foisted upon it because it doesn't know how the industry works.

Among the amendment's components is the stipulation that the Fed cap debit interchange at a level that's "reasonable and proportional" to the processing costs incurred by issuing banks, including costs that go toward fraud management. The cap will apply only to debit cards issued by banks with more than $10 billion in assets.

The law also requires that merchants be connected to at least two networks for debit processing, allowing them to route each debit purchase to the one with the lower interchange rate. Additionally, the law allows merchants to set minimum purchase amounts of up to $10 for the use of payment cards and to offer discounts to customers who use certain payment types over others, for example, cash instead of credit or debit, and debit instead of credit.

The new rules are scheduled to take effect 12 months after the bill's passage, which puts them on track for implementation in July 2011.    From http://www.greensheet.com