Comments for credit card processing

Comment on Hypercom T7 Plus 1mb terminal end of life $145 by 3D Merchant admin Christine

3D Merchant admin Christine — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:54:18 +0000

End users are typically unaware of the different Hypercom t7p versions and the acceptability of them. I have a client that probably had about 40 units, all different versions, which is why I showed all three units.

You are correct, they are not PIN devices. The PIN pad is an add-on option that connects to the device, and PIN devices are specifically certified for PCI PED compliance. (Related article List of approved pin entry devices ie pinpad terminals http://3dmerchant.com/blog/merchant-processing-security/pci-compliance-merchant-processing-security/list-of-approved-pin-entry-devices-ie-pinpad-terminals/)

Although terminals are not specifically identified as compliant via any published list, the merchant use of them falls under PCI DSS standards. If the terminal hardware, firmware, and or application data is such that it does not enable a merchant to meet current PCI DSS standards, the processor will block the new terminal from being ‘boarded’.

Additionally, a processor may set it’s own standards for acceptable risk. For example, if an older terminal cannot be programmed to hide full card data, the processor may have a policy in place to not allow those terminals on their platform because of the high risk associated with it. Each processor has a list of acceptable terminals, though it’s not published to the public.

Related security: PA-DSS, payment application data security standards.

To correct the article, my clients are able to board the Hypercom T7Plus with 35 keys, in picture on the far right, on First Data and Chase Paymentech. The other ones they cannot.

Comment on Hypercom T7 Plus 1mb terminal end of life $145 by BGrafs

BGrafs — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:31:47 +0000

I’m confused as I have not found any evidence that the Hyper T7PLUS is PIN Transaction Security (PTS) validated or PCI compliant (which really isn’t possible since PCI compliance applies to an organizational level only, not at a device level).

Comment on Which SSL certificate should I choose? by 3D Merchant admin

3D Merchant admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:35:10 +0000

2012 PRICES on SSL certificates:
Verisign prices from the Verisign web site start at $399 and up per year.
Thawte starts at $149 per yer, and offers multi-year discounts.
Godaddy SSL certificates start at $69/yr, however I recommend the Premium SSL for $99.99/yr which is an SSL with EV. I really like that they give you a temporary free SSL while you wait for the EV which requires a longer validation period.

Comment on Visa Certifies Smartphones for Use as Visa Mobile Payments by 3D Merchant admin

3D Merchant admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:09:44 +0000

You can read about our gateway here http://3dmerchant.com/cenpos/.
We have a free app for iphone, ipad, and Droid. We currently testing NFC hardware with our gateway, which works at the POS on and on the web.

Comment on Visa Certifies Smartphones for Use as Visa Mobile Payments by Blake W.

Blake W. — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:48:25 +0000

I’m excited for this technology to settle in and become more popular, which I’m sure it will. It really is highly convenient for merchants anywhere even if they have traditional terminals. My only concern with this new technology is that the gateway applications that must be used are still a little on the pricy side. Hopefully competition will run it’s course and make them more affordable like conventional internet gateway providers. If anyone can recommend a cost effective and reliable gateway app for smartphone’s I would be grateful.

Comment on Are we allowed to ask donors to provide their CVV number in a mailing? by 3D Merchant admin

3D Merchant admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:48:11 +0000

Comment on The Future of Mobile Payments by 3D Merchant admin

3D Merchant admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:07:50 +0000

Just a month ago, sitting in our annual CenPOS internal training conference, we discussed the exact same subject- how “only when there is value for both the merchant and the consumer” will there be a big shift in payment methodology. While we cannot predict what will be the standard, the CenPOS vision fulfills this requirement regardless of the standard, whether using NFC, mobile, credit card or any other payment method.

In 2012 both merchants and consumers will be engaged with CenPOS, with significant benefits for each. Of utmost importance, security protection and ease of use for both parties will be expanded. It’s easy to for merchants to identify benefits of using CenPOS. But what about consumers? To date, they rarely know when they’ve completed a transaction with a CenPOS merchant, just like they don’t know if a merchant is using Payflow Pro or First Data. All that is about to change as we launch CenPOS consumer solutions. Subscribe to this blog and twitter for more details as we release them.

Comment on Virtual Terminal tokenization video demo for storing credit card by 3D Merchant admin

3D Merchant admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:49:01 +0000

Update: some gateways are now offering a way to store card data for variable billing. However, even the biggest name vendors are significantly behind our capabilities. Here’s some examples of huge advantages of our solution:
- Gym membership- the first transaction is swiped, but the others are automatically billed – these are card not present. With our solution, each transaction is optimized for the card present and card not present requirements.
If you send a card not present transaction via the standard retail card present gateway like our competitors, it will cost .20% to 1.2% extra, depending on the card, because the processor is expecting magnetic strip data that it will not get ( it cannot be stored). These are NON-QUALIFIED transactions. NONE of THE other solutions automatically optimize your transaction to QUALIFY for the best rate possible for any given card type, like ours.
- Have you ever had a customer who wanted to change their billing date to match their pay schedule? With the big name solutions, you cannot alter the payment schedule for recurring billing. With ours, you can. So if a customer needs to skip a payment, you can push back the billing period or even simply change the regular charge date for your customer convenience. (note – all changes should be agreed upon in writing to enforce any contract)

Comment on Can I block prepaid American Express Cards? by 3D Merchant admin

3D Merchant admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:37:32 +0000

To block prepaid for your recurring billing for non-American Express sales, please contact us.

Comment on First Data PCI Compliance fee by cspeedy

cspeedy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:24:11 +0000

HI Dana
I haven’t heard of a $189 fee or an increase yet from anyone else.
Something is amiss with what’s going on in your account.
When you pay your processor the fee, you login to Security Metrics and should not be charged another fee. It sounds like you’ve signed up at SM and are paying them. Therefore, the certification is not getting back to FD. When there is a mix up, contact your processor.
$19.99 is because the processor does not have a record of the completed certification.

If you’re switching, contact me for options. We can help.