The sales associates at retail outlets following proper security guidelines is a good start to protecting against fraud this holiday season. But what if you are an online business, or the magnetic strip on a card does not work? In Part 1 of this topic, we talked about proper procedure for accepting cards in a card present […]
Viruses come in all different forms, from the common cold to life threatening plagues. Computers are no different. Hackers try to break into banks at least once a day. RSA, a security division of EMC, is a premier provider of security solutions for Fortune 500 companies. Since February 2006, RSA has been tracking the Windows Sinowal […]
Over the past couple of weeks I have run into many merchants that feel ripped off by their merchant sales representative with regards to their merchant account fees. Time and time again I hear “I just didn’t know what to ask for.” Like with any other purchase for your business, it is important to learn […]
When starting a business, most business owners hope to quickly grow. After all, more customers mean more revenue. But if you aren’t prepared, expanding could put your business at risk. Obviously, having enough inventory, staff and equipment is critical to expanding operations. One area that many merchants overlook is processing credit card transactions. You have […]
I would say that the merchant services industry is competitive, and even cut throat in some cases. Many merchants have been taken advantage of by credit card processors’ ads of low teaser rates and costly equipment. I was working on a very large merchant account this past week and felt that the proposal we put […]
Shopping Cart Features and Security When starting a new business, most merchants generally focus on the features of their shopping cart and how the website itself looks. We pick our colors and how much items cost. We look for how the customer will enter their order, or how we will track shipping. The most important […]
VISA and MasterCard Rules and Regulations Many merchant violations of the VISA and MasterCard rules don’t even know they have committed a violation. Most stores don’t have any procedural information about how to process a credit card sale as part of their employee training other than hitting the “sale” button, and why should they? Are […]
Preventing Chargebacks, How to Do It! Even if you manage to keep your chargebacks below the 1/2 – 1% threshold, any chargeback claims – whether remedied or not – take up precious time researching what happened. I’m sure there are other ways you’d rather spend your time (like focusing on new sales). The best way to […]
To keep your chargeback ratio in check you have to take a proactive role. You can actually prevent chargebacks from escalating – and counting towards your monthly allotment. The most common categories for chargebacks include point-of-sale errors, customer disputes, and fraud – and within these categories are a multitude of possible reasons. Understanding the reasons provides insight […]
Should you have an imprinter on hand? Most businesses seem to think that an old fashioned knuckle buster is not needed. Most merchants don’t want to purchase a manual imprinter, but this decision can end up costing them more in the long run. There are situations in which a credit card imprint is required for […]
