Verifone VX terminal reboot: urgent update

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All Verifone VX terminals must be updated by June 25, 2019 or merchants risk problems where the terminal is stuck in a reboot and cannot accept credit cards. Verifone posted an advisory on their support web site June 3. Hopefully owners will be notified by their acquirers before they have hard failure. The VX series is very popular so it could be problematic if many thousands of VX terminal owners try and download the update at the same time.

Action is required for all customers using VX (all VX) or e-Series Devices (limited to e315, e315m and e355) on any version of CommServer prior to 544 or 5441 who have not downloaded the recovery utility. This action is for both customers who have successfully recovered their devices from a reboot loop, those who may be in a reboot loop, and those that did not experience issues at all on or around May 25, 2019. Read the entire alert on the Verifone support web page here.

The advisory impacts all Verifone VX terminals, so per my search, that would include the VX 520, VX 680, VX 805, and VX 670. Are you in need of a new or replacement terminal?

The Christine Speedy difference. Find out what terminal is best for your credit card processing situation. Call someone who knows the rules and can help you optimize for the lowest interchange rate qualification. Terminal choice matters! B2B expert. 954-942-0483, 9-5 ET.

Cannabis Payment Processing

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Recreational shop and medical marijuana dispensaries both face challenges because major banks and the federal government present financial roadblocks. Cannabis is a controlled substance on a federal level, so many financial organizations make it extremely difficult for businesses selling marijuana products to safeguard their profits. This article provides the tips you need to maximize profits while mitigating risk.

Cannabis Payment Processing Current Laws

Cannabis is still part of the Controlled Substances Act, so major banks typically won’t process payments for businesses participating in federally prohibited activities, including cannabis and any cannabis-related activities, regardless of state laws. Banks put themselves at risk of being seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which is a risk the big financial institutions won’t take. Independent banks are more flexible and willing to cooperate with those related to the legal cannabis market.

In 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) issued guidance to financial institutions for providing financial services to marijuana related businesses. Banks can provide services to legal cannabis companies, provided they comply fully with anti money-laundering regulations. Regardless, most of the big banks choose to stay clear of the industry. While it’s technically legal for a bank to support a legal marijuana business, many simply choose not to because it’s not worth the risk of more federal government oversight.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act creates protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers for such businesses, and for other purposes. This bill has moved forward under the premise that the American people have already spoken about legalizing marijuana and the government must enable the commerce required to support it. It’s winding its way through Congress, with a major step forward in March 2019; the House Committee on Financial Services voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee. Track the progress of H.R. 1595 SAFE Banking Act here.

The bill prohibits a federal banking regulator from: (1) terminating or limiting the deposit insurance or share insurance of a depository institution solely because the institution provides financial services to a legitimate marijuana-related business; (2) prohibiting or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering financial services to such a business; (3) recommending, incentivizing, or encouraging a depository institution not to offer financial services to an account holder solely because the account holder is affiliated with such a business; or (4) taking any adverse or corrective supervisory action on a loan made to a person solely because the person either owns such a business or owns real estate or equipment leased to such a business.

Cash Only Risks and How to Avoid Them

Cash is great until it isn’t. Gobs of cash require lots of security. Businesses are at higher risk of internal theft, and higher risk of robberies. Any cannabis payment processing solution must include tools to mitigate risk of internal theft. At a minimum, that means a cash drawer that opens and closes based on transaction need, and full tracking by employee of cash sales. With the imminent change in banking laws, businesses need a solution that supports cash and credit cards, in addition to other payment methods.

Accepting Credit Cards for Cannabis

Can merchants accept credit cards for marijuana? No. Any company offering cannabis credit card processing is doing some type of hack that could get your business services shut down instantly if the card networks are fully informed of the activity. It’s only a matter of time and how will that disrupt daily operations? For example, here’s the stated rule in Visa Core Rules, April 2019:

An Acquirer must ensure that a Merchant, Marketplace, Payment Facilitator, Sponsored Merchant, or Staged Digital Wallet Operator does not accept Visa Cards for, or display a Visa-Owned Mark on a website and/or application that is used in relation to, the purchase or trade of photographs, video imagery, computer-generated images, cartoons, simulation, products that claim or imply a similar efficacy as prescription drugs, controlled substances, or recreational/street drugs, irrespective of claims of legality or any other media or activities including, but not limited to, activities listed in Section X.

Tips for Legal Payment Processing in 2019

  • Branded re-loadable stored value cards are the simplest way to provide customers with a cashless experience.
  • Accepting cash, have a solution you can remotely audit, including by cashier details. For example, some lower cost solutions let you delete transactions after the sale; that’s not acceptable. A cloud solution that enables businesses to view all transaction types across multiple locations in or near real-time is best.
  • Be ready to accept EMV chip and pin. New laws are likely to be enacted. With a plug an play solution, add an EMV terminal either standalone or integrated. Note, semi-integrated has inherently greater risk of data breach.
  • Choose a cloud solution that supports all current and future sales channels. This means a payment gateway for in-store and online. Get your advice from a payment professional, not a developer as only the former has the financial expertise to help you understand consequences of choices.
  • Maximize customer fraud protection with in-store EMV chip and pin plus 3-D Secure for online purchases; both shift fraud liability, ‘it wasn’t me, I didn’t authorize’ to the issuer.
  • If you want to surcharge for credit cards to offset the fees, then only choose a solution that supports the proper rules, including the surcharge amount as a separate line item on the receipt.

In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before the flood gates open for cannabis credit card processing, Congress moves slowly, but there’s enough money and American will to get this done sooner or later. In the interim, a cloud solution that supports other payment methods, with full cashier transparency, and will support future needs like EMV chip and pin, is the best payment processing solution.

The Christine Speedy difference. Don’t get suckered by misleading guidance. Call someone who knows the rules. 954-942-0483, 9-5 ET.

2018 OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE REPORT

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The 2018 Report to the Nations by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is the most comprehensive and widely quoted source of occupational fraud data in the world. Based on information from real fraud cases as reported by global CFE’s the occupational fraud is a resource for those interested in how occupational fraud is committed, how it is detected, who commits it, and how organizations can protect themselves from it.

Get the report FREE 2018 Fraud Report here. I recommend reading the case studies. The stories and methods may change, but ‘trusted’ employees as perpetrators is common both in the reports any my real life experiences.

Looking for solutions to mitigate employee fraud risk? Call for free consultation.

The Christine Speedy difference. Fraud is growing internally and externally. Learn about tools to help your company mitigate risk. Call 954-942-0483, 9-5 ET.

7 Reasons Your B2B Business Should Accept American Express

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Many business to business merchants don’t accept American Express because of the real or perceived high cost of merchant fees and risk of dispute losses vs. the negative impact on profit margins. Here’s a fresh look at the reality of accepting American Express cards in 2019, including as compared to other card brands.

Top Reasons To Accept Accept American Express

  1. Average higher order. Your best customers are also using American Express for corporate purchasing. You may be losing business by not accepting the cards. For example, an actual merchant 1.7X higher average order than other cards.
  2. Higher annual spend. For example, an actual merchant has 3.0 X higher annual spend from American Express buyers than other cards.
  3. Merchants can completely offset the cost of acceptance, usually by surcharging as explained in this article Credit card surcharge rules and laws 2019.
  4. Amex SafeKey provides card not present fraud liability shift as do other card brands. If merchants support it for customer initiated payments, whether online pay portal, invoice click and pay, or ecommerce, they’re protected from friendly fraud ‘it wasn’t me, I didn’t authorize it’ chargeback losses. Rather than defend the chargeback, prevent it from happening and fighting to get your money back.
  5. Customers can take advantage of your early pay discounts and also use the The Pay Over Time option from American Express to extend their cash flow. You get paid on time to improve your cash flow, and customers extend their credit with someone else to manage their cash flow.
  6. Free business promotion. It depends on your business, but in some cases, especially small businesses, American Express does a lot to promote your business online and via other methods. How valuable is that?
  7. Rates may be lower than you think. Fees have broadened into more categories by card type over the years so it’s not just one rate for everything. You may be able to negotiate if you’re a very large business. The biggest expense for other card brands is interchange; if not managed properly, fees may be the same or higher than American Express depending on the card type.
  8. The Christine Speedy difference. Managing credit card fees is critical, and so is understanding the nuances of credit card processing that impacts all merchant fees. The reality is most players in the payments and consulting industries are not familiar with rules that impact your profit and risk. Call 954-942-0483, 9-5 ET for expert advice about all things credit card processing.