Archives

• Slowly transitioning to mobile payments?

  • Interchange

  May 27, 2015

  

  In the natural evolution of payment processing, mobile payments look to some like a final frontier. However, adoption will be slower than the media hype over mobile payment platforms over the next several years.

  Satisfaction with payment cards will wane over time. Most businesses have had long and fruitful experiences with traditional payment platforms. Since estimates of mobile payment usership are low, many entrepreneurs are taking a wait and see approach to adopting new mobile payments by monitoring their own customer base and inquiries which they understand are unique to them and their market.

  Yet, as these same businesses look to adopt EMV standards in face-to-face payment environments, adding the ability to accept mobile will certainly be top of mind. 

  For card-not-present … more

• How do your unbanked employees access funds?

  • Merchant Questions

  May 26, 2015

  

  Your company might have had spotty luck with its direct-deposit program. Some employees enrolled right away, while others forgot to complete all the necessary forms. Some may prefer to cash a physical paycheck while others fall into the "unbanked" category, effectively operating outside the financial system. According to the FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, nearly one-third of American households fall under that last category, making it challenging for employers and employees to exchange funds. 

  Paycards set up a clear solution to the problem: Mandating direct deposit. This allows employees with checking accounts to link their information to your payroll system, and those who are "unbanked" to enroll in a paycard program that provides them an easy way … more

• Finding the right payment model for your clientele

  • Best Practices

  May 18, 2015

  

  One of the best ways to identify payment processing models that are appropriate for your business is to learn from your customers. For leaders at supermarket chain Whole Foods, this has meant listening to their sought-after millennial demographic for direction about adopting Apple Pay and other digital payment options. 

  "We are, through the use of technology, building out and extending ourselves where our customers are whether it's through Instacart for home delivery, which we're doing more than any other grocery store in America now," Co-CEO Walter Robb said during the company's earnings call. "And we're really just getting started whether it's through affinity, which builds a personal connection to customers who will allow to customize their relationship with us [or] … more

• Finding the right payment processing provider for your enterprise

  • Best Practices

  May 14, 2015

  

  This week, Nerd Wallet conducted a cost-benefit analysis of expanding enterprises to include payment card processing systems. While few industries rely on cash-only models of doing business in 2015, some holdouts may not be sold on the benefit of accepting card payments. 

  Some of the benefits included broader reach to new customer bases, ease and convenience, reduced trips to banks to make cash deposits and streamlined accounting. Emily Starbuck Crone also noted that in competitive industries, giving customers the option to pay with their cards can help businesses gain an advantage. She cited a vendor at a farmer's market as an example: In the past, these have been largely cash-based enterprises, but some customers might not have the physical currency to make a purchase. … more

• April blog roundup: Data security, mobile payments, Congressional oversight

  • Best Practices

  May 11, 2015

  

  From mobile payments to data security, April was an active month in the payment processing space. In case you missed it, here are some of the topics we covered on the Vantage Viewpoint blog last month:

  Not all businesses require EMV terminals: Does yours?

  Key takeaway: Just because a company doesn't require a new EMV terminal doesn't mean there aren't steps it can take to protect itself and its customers.

  3 mistakes when selecting a payment processor

  Key takeaway: With a host of regulatory and compliance considerations to make as well as cost and convenience, a third party service provider can help decision makers find the ideal solution.

  Hospitality industry routinely the target of breaches

  Key takeaway: All participants in the hospitality industry can be susceptible to … more

• Forrester: Don't expect full EMV migration until 2020

  • Interchange

  May 08, 2015

  

  A new study by Forrester Research estimates that chip-and-pin signature technologies won't be "broadly adopted" in the U.S. until 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal. The findings temper misconceptions that the October EMV deadline will create sweeping and immediate change in the payment card industry. Instead, those transitions should be expected to happen incrementally over the next five years, at least. 

  Steven Norton of the Journal explains that instead of effecting a seismic shift in the way retailers process payments, the EMV deadline will do more to influence liability in the event of security compromises. He also cautions observers against the notion that chip-and-pin authentication will eliminate vulnerabilities in payment processing. 

  "But the switch to EMV … more

• 93 percent of retailers say customers want more payment options

  • Best Practices

  May 05, 2015

  

  In 2015, convenience is a primary driver of innovation. In the payment processing space, providing customers with options for purchasing goods or services can improve their experience and open your business up to new customers. According to a survey by market research firm Ovum called "2015 Global Payments Insight," a customer-focused approach to omnichannel payment processing is catching on among retailers. 

  "While half of the retailers recognized in their responses that the customer is king, and the key driver to increase their payments investment, many are still hesitant to invest in technologies they are wary of," explains PYMNTS. "It's worth noting that 93 percent of retailers surveyed said they believe consumers want access to a broad selection of payments tools — … more

• EMV shift could change hackers' focus to CNP transactions

  • Interchange

  May 05, 2015

  

  The 2015 EMV deadline arrives in October and many experts have speculated about how the widespread implementation will change the nature of cyberattacks. On this blog, we've discussed predictions that hackers will use all of their old tricks up until the EMV deadline in order to capitalize on the closing window of opportunity. However, Ian Murphy of RetailDive suggests the adoption of EMV systems will cause hackers to focus on card-not-present (CNP) transactions. 

  "CNP fraud is expected to more than double from a total of $2.9 billion in 2014 to $6.4 billion in 2018," explains Murphy. "And as an EMV transition proceeds in the United States, fraud will shift from card-present transactions to other types of card payments that so far lack stringent protocols for authentication, says … more

• Penetration tests should be sophisticated and controlled

  • Best Practices

  May 01, 2015

  

  Earlier this year, we discussed the importance of conducting penetration tests. Recently, PYMNTS spoke to Graham Steel, CEO of Cryptosense, a company that creates software for testing vulnerabilities in secure systems. According to the site, Cryptosense focuses on back-end security gaps in PINs, security keys and other forms of encoded information. 

  "What we usually find are just little mistakes, little configuration errors or small things that are being done wrong," said Steel. "The things we find wrong are often easy and simple but they are hidden among all the other functions that are found in payments back office application. They are shallow, but they are hard to find because of all the other layers."

  One of the best ways to ensure that your system … more

by Ty Hardison

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