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Christine Speedy, far right with fellow volunteers helping bring financial literacy to kids in South Florida.

Now volunteering on Quora to educate USA employees on financial technology.

Christine Speedy, CenPOS global sales, training video shows merchants how to retrieve an original PCI Compliant credit card authorization form. The  form replaces sensitive payment information with the last 4 digits of the card only, and the random alpha numeric token ID that replaced the full card number. Print the form, send to your customer, get it signed and sent back.

This video uses ZOOM so you can enlarge or watch as is.

Unlike typical credit card authorization forms, there is no full card data or cvv security code, so it’s safe to store in a file drawer. The token ID canot be used outside the merchant CenPOS account.

About the author: Christine specializes in providing merchants with innovative technology to create efficiencies and ease the burden of PCI compliance. With a primary focus on “card not present” payment processing solutions for mid-size companies, including manufacturers and wholesale distributors, merchants improve PCI Compliance and streamline the payment experience for both their company and their customers. It’s fast, easy to use, and requires no capital investment to implement. For sales call Christine Speedy at 954-942-0483 or click here for more information.

Here’s my new photo for social media posts, a bit less stuffy than the corporate image I’ve been using. Feel free to use when you credit Christine Speedy in articles, thank you.

your blog host, Christine Speedy

2013 update of 2010 blog article Compare wireless payment solutions for silent auctions.  After the Durbin Amendment fixed debit card rates, the need for pin debit wireless, especially in the non-profit world which tends to have very low fraud risk, is virtually non-existent.

wireless terminals vs mobile payment solution comparison:

1. Wireless has a built-in receipt printer. Mobile sends receipts via email or wireless printer.
2. Wireless can sometimes dial out where a mobile hot spot doesn’t exist. This situation is becoming more rare as venues ensure mobile internet access to compete for event hosting.
3. Wireless terminal hardware costs range from $400 refurbished to $1000 new. Mobile swipe card readers range from free (with service) to $300, though most are in the $40-50 range. Wireless receipt printers start at $250 and up.
4. Wireless terminal printers are built-in. Wireless WIFI Thermal Printers for mobile devices are $165 to $800, with $250+ typical.
5. Wireless terminal networks are typically $20 hard cost per month per device, plus a wireless transaction fee.  Mobile swipe solutions may be standalone or scalable simply by purchasing more readers, with one fee regardless of the number of units.
6. Wireless terminals support pin debit which reduces dispute period from 120 to 14 days, usually not a significant benefit for fundraising due to low fraud. Merchants don’t pay MASTERCARD & VISA ASSESSMENT FEE  dues and assessments on pin debit, currently $.001100 BASIS PTS TIMES total debit volume. Mobile pin debit is in development infancy.

wireless terminals vs mobile payment solution other:

1. Wireless terminals require merchant account downloads. This can be tricky so terminals are not usually updated after deployed, which also rquires sending the unit out if pin debit encryption is needed. Mobile payment apps work in the cloud. Users may need to update apps from time to time, but processing is in the cloud so there is nothing related to download.
2. Some wireless terminals can store transactions and send later, for example, after connectivity is restored. Caution: PCI Compliance may be in question as recent related data breaches have occurred in 2012-2013.
3. Scalability. Cloud solutions provide unique scalability to temporarily add users and manage their permissions, and potentially integrate tightly with other payment sources such as online donor and event registration pages.

mobile card reader- universal for iphone, ipad, droid

The Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and Atlanta through their Payment Strategies and Retail Payments Risk Forum Groups have released a paper based on several meetings of the Mobile Payments Industry Workgroup over the last two years. This paper updates the original version issued in 2011 and reflects on the evolution of the mobile retail payments industry over the last two years, which has witnessed considerable changes including collaborative efforts across a diverse set of industry stakeholders despite a market still characterized by considerable fragmentation, increased channel and technology convergence, participation by new non-bank entrants, and continuous technological innovation and experimentation. The paper concludes that while the market is still nascent, progress is being made towards achieving benefits within this ecosystem such as improved security and fraud reduction, cost efficiencies, value-added services, revenue and monetization opportunities, and data privacy. As a result of changes in the mobile payments landscape, the MPIW has updated its original strategic principles and has carved out a long-term vision that embraces technological disruption and is committed to interoperability and ubiquity but realizes the need for a concerted effort to develop industry guidance and standards to ensure a secure and cost-efficient ecosystem.

U.S. Mobile Payments Landscape – Two Years Later

(pdf)

I was reading the copy on a popular merchant accounts for lawyers web site and there was so much false information, it’s amazing. Many law firms are fairly new to accepting credit cards, so maybe it’s easier to believe what’s written from a vendor that has an attorney for an owner. Below I clarify information about fees that I found misleading.

What are the costs associated with accepting credit cards? Fees include:

Discount Rate or Sales Discount:  Negotiable. This is the fee the Merchant/Acquiring Bank keeps for profit. For example, you call a credit card processor and open a merchant account. The credit card processing company you deal with charges a discount rate, which is itemized on better prices plans, but buried in other costs on more profitable price plans. How much profit is fair? Every business has overhead and needs to make a profit. What’s fair?  That’s negotiable, though some businesses may have internal rules for their sales force.  The fee can be a combination of a per transaction fee or percentage of transaction, and other itemized fees that include a combination of actual cost plus profit.

Interchange. Non-negotiable, but can be influenced.   Interchange is a fee paid between the merchant’s acquiring bank and the card issuers bank that serves to balance costs in the payments system. The rates depend on the card, the payment method (sometimes) and many other factors. It’s complex and every card has multiple interchange rates associated with them, except regulated debit.

On the best price plans, the merchant will typically have a discount rate and itemized interchange fees. On others, typical of small businesses, they’re combined into a merchant discount fee.

Merchant Discount fee: Negotiable. It is not simply the cost of moving money. It’s interchange plus profits (discount rate) bundled.   Quite simply, it’s easier for the merchant to understand and easier for the salesperson to explain. It’s never the best deal for the merchant, because to keep it simple, everything is rounded up to be sure all costs are covered.

Network Fees: Non-negotiable if on a pass through interchange price plan, which will be indicated on your merchant agreement. Non-negotiable examples include DISCOVER DATA USAGE FEE, MC NETWORK ACCESS AUTH FEE, M/C INTERNET AUTH FEE,MC ACQUIRER AVS BILLING. VI TRANSACTION INTEGRITY FEE,  and many others. These add up up but are still a minor part of what merchants pay overall.

REGULATORY PRODUCT FEE. Non-negotiable. Some processors are now charging this as an annual fee.

Other fees: Sometimes negotiable. These may be hard costs for vendor, as fees can vary by banking relationship, or they may be negotiable. AVS (address verification service, needed for card not present transactions, statement fee, authorization fee.

How do I know if I have a good offer on a merchant account? This is the $10 million dollar question. Here’s my critical requirements checklist for you:

1. Get a virtual terminal (works with swipe and mobile if needed).  Find out how long data can be searched for. They range from 6 months and up. Ideally 7 years access to data to match IRS audit needs.
2. Does it support expenses from operating account and deposits to second account?
3. How will the solution help you manage interchange fees, the largest component of accepting credit cards? This is where most solutions will fail and sales knowledge weaknesses become evident.
4. How will the solution help you reduce the burden of PCI Compliance, mandatory data security standards? (Hint: online pay page, client managed payment method storing and updating, fax authorization forms that replace sensitive payment data with a random alphanumeric ‘token’)
5. check out my videos, including 60 seconds to see if you have a great deal (for existing merchant accounts)

Protect your firm and protect your client relationships. Just because a merchant services provider specializes in legal credit card processing relationships does not mean they have the best solution for you. Without innovation and change, they’re just a company that had a great marketing years ago.

Last week I spoke with a cloud accounting and financial software solutions company executive regarding their vision for secure cloud payments. He indicated they’ve probably fielded over one hundred inquiries from payment gateways that them to integrate their gateway. With no perceived differentiation, the software company recently chose two they thought would satisfy their clients both with domestic and international needs for at least a few years. What critical characteristic is missing from these payment gateways for mid-size and larger accounting firms, professional services, and wholeseale distributors? Interchange Management.

The impact of failing to implement automated interchange management is .50% to 1% or more in direct incremental fees above the lowest qualified interchange rate. For a company with $150M in annual credit card processing, it equates to $150,000 in Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization in lost profit. Is a gateway with automated interchange management intelligence important? You’re darn right it is!

A payment gateway facilitates the transfer of money from the buyer’s account to the merchant’s account, including checks, and credit and debit cards. A payment gateway service authenticates and automates electronic payments from the shoppers account to the merchants account.

Most payment gateways remind me of computer programming back in the 80′s. They’re a simple script, but with added security, that pass whatever data you input. Remember the old adage, ‘garbage in, garbage out’? The result is the user who processes orders, often accounts receivable,  is pretty much in charge of what a merchant pays for accepting credit cards and the risks associated with acceptance. This is crazy. How much does a user really understand about interchange rates and rules?  If you’re not sure, here’s a simple test: How often do users review and or refer to the MasterCard Worldwide U.S. and Interregional Interchange Rates document? I bet 99.9% don’t even know what the document is.

A passive gateway sends require transaction information and whatever extra data is input by the user. In some cases, the gateway is set up to send additional data automatically. An intelligent gateway uses a combination of software rules and merchant defined rules to optimize a transaction for a desired result.

TRANSACTION EXAMPLE: A wholesale business to business distributor key enters an authorization via a virtual terminal for $10,000 on April 1. On April 18th, the merchant ships the product and collects the money

A) Passive Gateway, for example, authorize.net or Skipjack:  the user locates the original authorization and selects capture to receive the funds.  Because the authorization was only valid for 72 hours, the transaction is automatically downgraded by the card issuer to the highest ‘non-qualified’ interchange rate. Image shown: authorize.net virtual terminal partial page.

B) Intelligent gateway, for example, CENPOS: the system automatically prompted the user for all required fields to qualify the transaction for the lowest qualfiied interchange rate possible at the time of authorization. Recognizing the initial authorization is no longer valid, a new authorization is obtained, and the transaction is completed, with all data needed for the qualified rate.

Cenpos virtual terminal screenshot. Fields dynamically change automatically based on key entered or swiped card number

With gateway A, the user is in control of merchant fees. With gateway B, the software is in control, a far better solution that relying upon human education.

About CenPOS: CenPOS is an innovative payment processing network that streamlines the payment experience for both merchants and customers. It’s multi-channel support and SaaS model, has catapulted a shift in payment technology adoption in a variety of industries. CenPOS is fast, easy to use, and requires no capital investment to implement. For CenPOS sales call Christine at 954-942-0483 or click here for more information.

About the author: Christine specializes in providing merchants with innovative technology to manage the cost of accepting credit cards, without changing merchant accounts.  With a primary focus on “card not present” payment processing solutions for mid-size companies, including manufacturers and wholesale distributors,  merchants improve PCI Compliance and streamline the payment experience for both their company and their customers. It’s fast, easy to use, and requires no capital investment to implement. For sales call Christine at 954-942-0483 or click here for more information.

Spend management has it’s benefits, but do the consultants really know what’s the best credit card processing solution for your business? Spend management consultants often mistakenly focus on the very same financial issue as merchants: the merchant discount. The biggest savings are achieved with interchange management.

3 questions every business to business company should ask before changing merchant accounts or credit card processing technology:

1. How will your solution help me manage interchange qualification? (What specifically will it do to ensure that transactions achieve qualified instead of non-qualified interchange rates? Does it rely on employee training or does it handle it automatically?)
2. How often does the company roll out new innovations? (The payments industry is changing fast, will they be able to keep up? Is this company a market leader?)
3. How will your technology impact my PCI Compliance burden? (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards or PCI DSS)

I’ve talked to a bunch of spend management experts over the years. Rarely do they have the expertise to guide merchants to the best solutions. They can help you reduce costs, but don’t leave money on the table by only solving part of the problem.

About the author: Christine specializes in providing merchants with innovative technology to manage the cost of accepting credit cards, without changing merchant accounts.  With a primary focus on “card not present” payment processing solutions for mid-size companies, including manufacturers and wholesale distributors,  merchants improve PCI Compliance and streamline the payment experience for both their company and their customers. It’s fast, easy to use, and requires no capital investment to implement. For sales call Christine at 954-942-0483 or click here for more information.