Effective January 27, 2013 merchants in the U.S. region and U.S. territories have the option of adding a surcharge to Visa and MasterCard credit cards. Yet despite the media hype over these recent changes allowing merchants to charge up to a 4% surcharge on credit card transactions, the reality is few merchants are expected to implement additional fees at the point of sale.
Most merchants will likely take a wait and see approach before contemplating adding surcharges, letting their closest competitors try it first.
Another issue is that new application software to support surcharges has not yet been widely developed. One of the many stipulations if a merchant chooses to implement surcharge fees is that they must use a payment application which supports the following mandated POS … more
According to a report from comScore at the end of last year, there are more than 123 million smartphone users in the United States. With the increase in functionality of these devices, it is easy to see why executives in many industries have looked for ways to incorporate them into business operations. The payment industry has been no different.The study also found that the use of mobile devices to shop is growing by double digits with no signs of slowing down. This can be seen by the sheer amount of peripherals on the market that turn a smartphone into a mobile cash register.A recent CIO article features interviews with executives of several mobile payment providers to understand why companies should look into adopting mobile devices as a payment tool. One of the industry experts … more
Nearly every industry has been affected by the increased functionality of mobile devices over the last few years. On top of that, there have been numerous reports during that same time frame that have proclaimed smartphones and tablets as "the next big thing" in a given market.One of these industries has been the mobile payment market and the concept of mCommerce. Despite the numerous proclamations, a new report shows that consumers worldwide are more confident in this form of payment than ever before. Released by mobile advertising company BuzzCity, the study shows that even with the security issues, customers what to go mobile.According to the report, last year, 27 percent of respondents admitted to having fears over payment security. This year those concerns fell to only 3 percent. Dr. … 
In Boston, it was recently announced that in the Spring and Summer, there will be 56 total food trucks, which is nearly four times the amount that were in existence in 2011. The city will see several local restaurants trying out a mobile version for the first time as well as some outsiders trying out the Hub. For residents, the influx of food options is great, especially if the owners have adopted a mCommerce solution so the busy clientele can pay with a mobile device.In many instances, the small and midsize business market has been the breeding ground for these kinds of mobile payment solutions, and it is easy to understand why. A food truck may provide the best grilled cheese, organic smoothie or pizza, but if they don't accept credit they are missing out on a large market.This is where … 
Over the last few years, the cash register system has seen more competition than ever before because of the advancements in mobile technology. Many businesses that had been cash only - like food trucks or small mom and pop shops - can now embrace a new POS system that centers on smartphones and tablets.A recent article from TabTimes, features a profile of the start-up tablet POS terminal company Leaf. In the piece, Leaf CEO Aron Schwarzkopf was interviewed and admitted that designing a point-of-sale system based entirely around a tablet was not met with much enthusiasm."When we, as a small company, told our investors we saw an opportunity in building a commercial tablet, everybody wanted to kill me,” said Schwarzkopf. “No-one in the founding team had any experience in building hardware … 
One of the more interesting discussions in retail circles is about the future of the POS terminal. For years, the place where customers made payments didn't change - a counter with a cash register. While the technology did advance - adding devices like a credit card reader - the general concept did not. However, the introduction of mobile technology is offering a new solution that could have a large impact in the next year.A recent guest column for Retail Info Systems News by Jay Graham - the vice president of tech solutions at Randstad Technologies - dove into a number of different trends that will affect the point of sales industry in 2013. Several of his predictions, like social media integration, customized marketing and increased customer loyalty programs, will not change how … 
One of the major mobile payment story lines from 2012 was the iPhone 5 and what it didn't have - a near field communication (NFC) chip. The rumor mill was rampant with speculation that the hardware would incorporate an NFC chip when it was officially unveiled. Unfortunately for fans of the innovative feature, the September 12 press event came and Apple introduced PassBook - a payment application - and no NFC adoption.This was the final blow in what was a rough few months for the technology. The Google Wallet, which used the NFC, failed to gain much traction with consumers while alternative payment options like LevelUp and QR codes and cloud-based solutions through PayPal and Square gained momentum.A recent article from Barron's examined the mobile payment industries and, more specifically, … 
The payment industry in the United States has been much slower to adopt recent technologies than the rest of the world. A perfect example of this is the deployment of the EMV standard. In many markets like Europe and Canada, EMV and near field communication (NFC) chips have been deployed in a number of payment, ATM and credit/debit card solutions, however, the U.S. has been a slow adopter.Some experts have pointed to the rise of smartphones and the fact that the technology was not included in the iPhone 5 as reasons why it will not take off stateside. Others believe a rollout is inevitable.The debate may be changing if a recent announcement from MasterCard goes the company's way. According to a press release, the company is making some of its proprietary technology solutions available to … 
The use of mobile devices as a POS terminal is a growing trend in the retail and small business world. For some time, Apple's retail stores have been using iPods and a specially designed application to act as mobile cash registers. Other major outlets like JC Penney and Urban Outfitters have announced and started to implement plans to fully switch to this kind of solution also.Many small and midsized businesses have also adopted some form of mobile payment solution. Whether its the Square system - a tiny plug in for a smartphone that allows the user to process credit and debit card payments - or a Verifone terminal. However, as with any payment solution, security remains a problem.Ensuring PCI compliance and avoiding card fraud from skimming are concerns for businesses in any market. … 
The way that merchants can accept payments seems to be growing at an exponential rate. Cash and credit has been joined by mobile applications, EMV systems and near field communications (NFC) technology. While the solutions are by no means brand new, according to one expert they have reached the tipping point or infiltrating the mainstream.
In a recent guest column for Computer Business Review, Pat Carroll, the CEO of ValidSoft - a mobile payment fraud prevention company - gave his outlook on what the payments industry can expect in the next year. According to Carroll, as consumers become more comfortable with mobile devices, the shift toward mobile payment options is going to be quicker than many experts are predicting.
"2013 is going to be the year of mobile payments more generally, … 
In New York City last week, Retail's Big Show 2013 - the National Retail Federation (NRF) convention and EXPO - was held, which features many innovations on display that could play a part in future payment features. One of the major areas of conversation on the showroom floor was the impact of mobile payments.According to recent Forrester Research forecasts, the U.S. mobile payment industry will reach $90 billion in 2017. That is a increase of 48 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from the $12.8 billion that was spend in 2012.Denee Carrington - the main author of the report - recapped the survey in a recent Forbes article. She laid out some of the trends that will play a major role in the growth of mobile payments in the next four years."Mobile proximity payments are currently the … 
