Posted by Sharon Robb on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 @ 04:22 PM
Recent news that a group of restaurants are pushing a class action lawsuit against Radiant Systems - a Georgia POS vendor and it's Louisiana reseller for allegedly installing a non compliant POS payment processing program and POS equipment- brings culpability to the forefront.
The restaurants or merchants were notified by the card associations that their systems had been hacked and credit card information had been stolen. Apparently card data was allegedly being stored by the program - a breach of PCI DSS basics.
The big news is the card associations immediately penalized the merchants for the breach. They were not only fined, but charged for the forensic audits and a number of other costs associated with the fraud. Ouch. Could your business or restaurant sustain the financial drain as well as the reputation damage of such an event? Should it have to? (the essence of the suit is no - that's what the payment processor and POS vendor is for!).
Jury's out still - but either way - it's probably not an issue any size business that is processing credit cards can afford to be lackadaisical about. Restaurants are typically level III or IV merchants when it comes to compliance - a PCI DSS level with it's fair share of inherent risk.
Merchants should ensure all of the integral parts of their payment processes are PCI DSS compliant - today's pain could be tomorrows relief!
Posted by Sharon Robb on Tue, Aug 04, 2009 @ 08:37 AM
New Payment Gateway has it All.
Okay, so maybe this news isn't going to catapault you into nirvana or some "state of zen" or anything - but we guarantee enlightenment! (plus pictures of credit card terminals and stuff are so boring).
A new integrated solution for low cost credit card processing AND single point of entry for credit card and check transactions with the most commonly used financial accounting software for businesses we serve - Quickbooks - and XBS has it.
This is pretty powerful when you think about it, all made possible through our new payment gateway.
Consider THESE benefits -and remember - previously the merchant had two options, process cards directly with Quickbooks (high processing rates) or use an outside merchant account with lower rates - but have to manually update quickbooks after submitting a transaction.
- Use your low cost XBS merchant account from directly within Quickbooks for all credit card and check transactions. This is a far superior option to the processing solution provided by Quickbooks itself.
- Apply payments to open invoices.
- Integrate your mobile, internet, POS and recurring transactions directly into Quickbooks.
- Supports Matgek readers for SWIPED rates (the cost continues to get lower!) and yes, we sell'em.
- Secure.
- One merchant account for ALL sales channels.
- Easy set up and implementation.
- All of the detailed reporting features that come with Quickbooks for your processing transactions!
- No more double entry labor or errors - increased efficiency.
Technology is a beautiful thing and increasing efficiency by decreasing manual labor and its costs AND processing costs is tough to pass up (silly is on the tip of my tongue - fingers? - but I'll let you decide). Actually - isn't it a much sought after strategy in best business practices?
This isn't too tough to sort through. Call us. We'll get you set up with a profitable merchant account on a payment gateway that can be totally integrated with your Quickbooks software. Yeeha! or should we say ohmmm...
Posted by Sharon Robb on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 @ 08:59 AM
Was the Merchant Plight Ignored in the 2009 Credit Card Act?
In May when the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 was signed into law some folks were disappointed by the Act's lack of attention to the subject of interchange. Senator Dodd, one of the bill's creators noted that the issue of interchange is convoluted and would have sunk the bill - and we agree - one step at a time.
Originally the bill had several provisions that would have supposedly provided some interchange fee relief to merchants such as allowing merchants to offer discounts for cash, check or debit card purchases (this provision was excluded from the act).
What the Act did include was a requirement that the GAO (Government Accounting Office) conduct an in depth study of interchange - due this fall. A number of analysts seem to agree - eventually government will get involved in regulating interchange, something merchants have been pushing for for some time.
Bruce Cundiff - a research director at Javelin Strategy & Research Inc goes further than Dodd and notes that not only is interchange a complex system but that upsetting the balance could have unintended negative consequences for all players - including card issuers, merchants and consumers. Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post put together a thoughtful article on the privilege of paying with plastic and we at XBS agree with her reservations, that at this stage of the game our customers will forgo the convenience of paying with cards - doubtful.
A study will be a good thing of course. Interestingly enough the GAO did a study last year that touted the benefits the federal government had experienced by accepting cards at various government agencies (fewer bad checks, reduced theft). The study also noted that other countries who had successfully capped interchange fees did not necessarily show that the savings were passed along to the consumer by merchants as is often alluded to.
So what gives? Is interchange fair? I've got free checking for both my business and personal checking account so you do have to wonder - how are issuing banks meant to make money? are they allowed to make money? who decides how much is too much? Why are interchange and processing costs not considered a fair cost of doing business - much like utilities, rent, payroll, marketing and advertising? It's confusing.
We are surprised to read that interchange fees are still referred to as hidden fees by the Merchants Payments Coalition since both VISA and MasterCard now publish these fees on their sites. Do consumers REALLY want to know? We have merchants who don't even want to know!
XBS still recommends the merchants best option for fair costs in payment processing is interchange cost plus pricing while the brouhaha continues. Remember, this pricing method gives the merchant price transparency (merchant is given the wholesale cost of the transaction) which is a pretty nice feature. I can't think of anything I buy, anywhere from anyone - that provides me this advantage.
We'll take a look at some of the proposed legislation in the upcoming months - and how it may or may not benefit those involved - which is all of us. In the meantime, please contact us for a no cost evaluation of your processing statement and an explanation of how our pricing recommendations can benefit your company.
Posted by Sharon Robb on Tue, Jun 02, 2009 @ 09:56 AM
A Simple Solution for a Costly Downgrade.
Merchants are constantly seeking ways to avoid expensive downgraded credit card transactions - natch. We all need to lower the cost of doing business. There's a variety of ways to keep costs down and this one is the easiest that I can think of.
Program your terminal to batch and settle transactions daily. Period.
If you check the host of merchant provider blogs across any and all search engines you'll see every 24 hrs - in some cases every 48 hrs. Processors and banks operate differently so we suggest leaving the guesswork out of it and daily batching for all merchants. In fact that's how XBS programs our client terminals. Terminals programmed to auto batch will only do so if there were transactions - so there will be no batch fee on transactionless days (let's hope there aren't too many of those!)
If the merchant does NOT batch as recommended by VISA/MasterCard - the result can be costly. In tiered pricing models the transaction typically downgrades to non-qualified - the most expensive transaction rate you can possibly pay. In interchange cost plus models (highly recommended by merchant advocates and XBS as the most cost effective pricing available to all merchants) the transaction goes to ERF (Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee) and the wholesale cost of the transaction rises.
Why the cost increase? Time is money folks. The longer the time between the transaction or purchase and your batching - the increased risk in fund collection. No kidding. What if your customer has a meal at your restaurant on May 31st and you batch out on June 3rd? What if the customer card expires on June 1? what if the customer loses the card and cancels it? how about your own cash flow - isn't that important? isn't improving cash flow one of the reasons you pursued card acceptance to begin with??
Merchant knowledge of the significance of timely batching to transaction costs in credit card processing and/or a trusted provider is all that is required to avoid these downgrades.
We educate our merchants AND provide cost effective terminal programming at no charge for our clients - maybe you just need XBS?
Posted by Sharon Robb on Thu, May 21, 2009 @ 08:42 AM
Maybe if We Don't Tell'em They'll Pay with Cash
Why don't all merchants advertise credit card acceptance and customer payment options? I'm not talking about the local department store or Best Buy, they KNOW it's important, smart and necessary. I'm talking about the plumber, antique dealer, handyman, painter and fruit stand guy?
Almost every merchant account provider advertises what is common knowledge in this industry - credit card acceptance increases sales and cash flow - nice benefits to tout in these days and times. Lately I've noticed though, that some merchants keep card acceptance to themselves - informing the prospective customer only when asked.
Some merchants I know are just hoping and praying that the customer will pay cash - "gimme that green" - because they just don't want to pay processing costs (i.e. - this is what we call...the cost of doing business). Some I guess just don't grasp the need or significance - you know, let the customer do all the work.
Is it significant?
Well let's take me for example - my husband says I buy a lot so I could be considered a "good prospective customer".
Cash. Average amount in purse? $3.00 - and some of that is loose change. I just don't carry it since the advent of debit cards. Disappears too quick - tough to track - it makes me sad to part with it.
When shopping in unusual places? I gravitate towards the antique dealer with the MasterCard/Visa sign on his table (now that's a vendor!) Pulllleaase don't make me have to ask - in that case I may just walk on by - too much work!
I use Angie's list for service vendors and simply skip those that don't list card acceptance. Move right on to the next A rated vendor because there are plenty I assure you (speaking of which what happened to the company service profile on the list - I didn't see any vendors with customer payment methods listed this am - did Angie change company profiles? - say it ain't so! - stay tuned).
I can't begin to tell you how many times we here at XBS here this from our prospective clients - why should I advertise or, take cards? Nobody ever asks me if they can use one.
Of course not! That's because I didn't even stop in.