Tag Archives: CenPOS

Vantiv US EMV certified terminal solutions

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Which US EMV certified terminals can be used with Vantiv today? Merchants have two choices, countertop terminal or multilane terminal. The latter is available only with CenPOS, a merchant centric end to end payment engine. On October 1, 2015, retail merchants that don’t support chip cards will be liable for counterfeit credit card fraud.

Vantiv announced a partnership with Ingenico in 2013, to distribute Ingenico EMV ready terminals. While Vantiv did not specifically state which terminals would be certified, the official PR from Ingenico includes, “The portfolio of Ingenico EMV certified devices includes iCT220 & iCT250 countertop terminals, and iWL220 wireless terminal.”

ict250 ingenico emv terminal

iCT250 ingenico emv terminal

To enable EMV at the merchant level, the following steps are needed:

  • Acquirer completes requirements to process EMV
  • Hardware (each terminal) certified to accept EMV
  • Hardware certified to acquirer
  • Gateway certifies hardware to acquirer (if applicable; required for all multi-lane terminals and integrated solutions)
  • Merchant account enabled for EMV

In May 2015, Vantiv announced, “Ingenico Group Adds Vantiv’s EMV-certified Application to Smart Terminals for Small- and Medium-sized Businesses“. Because every terminal is to individually certified, it’s unclear which terminals have been certified to date since they’re not specified, but the iCT250 is definitely on the list.

With CenPOS, Vantiv merchants can also use the Verifone MX 915, a multilane, signature capture terminal, and enable EMV immediately. To process transactions, merchants use a virtual terminal with a web browser and high speed internet, or optional integrated solution. Additional multi-lane terminal options will be available in the future, including the Ingenico ISC250.

verifone MX915 EMV terminal

Verifone MX915 multilane signature capture terminal

CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS’ secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant’s banking relationships. CenPOS is available globally. For additional information, contact Christine Speedy, 954-942-0483.

Authorize.net and level 3 processing for business to business

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The Authorize.net virtual terminal is expensive for business to business merchants, even though rates seem cheap. That’s because Authorize.net ® only supports level III data for certain integrated solutions, leaving B2B companies out of luck qualifying for the lowest interchange rates for corporate, business and purchasing cards.

Authorize.net Payment Gateway Rates

  • $49 set up
  • $25 /month
  • $.10 per transaction
  • $.10 daily batch
  • Additional services which used to be extra, are now free: Automated Recurring Billing, Advanced Fraud Detection Suite TM, Customer Information Manager (subscription management).

level 3 interchange ratesNot shown above: Data Rate III large ticket ($10,000 minimum) Level 1 rate is 1.20% and $40, up to Level 4, 1.51% and $40. MasterCard Cardholder Spending Requirements for Small Business Products: Business Level 1 – $0 to $24,999; Business Level 2 – $25,000 to $49,999; Business Level 3 – $50,000 to $99,999; Business Level 4 – $100,000 and greater.

The table below shows different rates possible for the same transaction. Using the Authorize.net virtual terminal, the best rate possible for a Level 1 Business card is usually 2.65%. While the Authorize.net virtual terminal supports Level II Data, to qualify for the Level II rate, it requires a valid sales tax amount, tax indicator and valid tax id. Sales tax must be between 0.1% and 30%. If tax exempt ($0 entered as tax amount or blank) will clear at Commercial Data Rate I. Most business to business companies do not have a sales tax amount.

The examples below include the interchange fees above and the payment gateway transaction fees for Authorize.net qualifying transactions at Data Rate I and CenPOS qualifying transactions at Data Rate III (also known as Data Rate 1 and Data Rate 3)

Authorize.net vs CenPOS payment gateway example for Level 1 card

$5,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $148.10 vs $108.20 CenPOS.*
$25,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $662.60 vs $365.20 CenPOS.*

Authorize.net vs CenPOS payment gateway example for Level 4 card

$5,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $132.60 vs $92.70 CenPOS.* CenPOS saves merchant 27%.
$25,000 sale, Authorize.net cost is $740.10 vs $442.70 CenPOS. CenPOS saves merchant 40%.

How does CenPOS help merchants qualify transactions for level 3 rates? There are multiple requirements to qualify for the level 3 rates. These include submitting level 3 data, valid authorization, and authorization and settlement amount must match, among others. CenPOS automates interchange management in compliance with card acceptance rules, making it light and easy for users to comply, while also removing employee decision making that can impact the cost of card acceptance.

CenPOS customers achieve similar results across all sales channels, including retail. CenPOS is compatible with all the major processors, so merchants do not need to change their financial partners. No special software is required; users can access via a secure web page, mobile device, or integrated solution. Contact CenPOS Authorized Reseller Christine Speedy today for a demo and free trial.

 

 

 

 

Bin Management – Shift4 vs CardSense vs CenPOS

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What is bin management software, or bin spinning? How does bin management differ from interchange optimization with least cost routing? Shift4’s Universal Transaction Gateway® (UTG®), Element’s CardSense™, and CenPOS’s end to end payment engine have different approaches to helping merchants reduce credit card processing fees. Bin management requires a hosted, server-based payment gateway.

Identifying BIN numbers is a challenge due to multiple resources to obtain and maintain the data, which is in a constant state of flux. Card issuers refer to the leading six digits on the card as an “issuer identification number (IIN)”, or “bank identification number (BIN)”. All BIN’s have a sponsor bank. Interchange fees, the bulk of credit card processing fees are related to the BIN. The BIN number identifies the card brand (Visa, MasterCard etc), card issuing bank, type of card (debit or credit), category of card (business, purchasing, prepaid, etc), and country of origin, in addition to other data. 

Is pin debit or signature debit cheaper? Cashiers were trained to ask “will that be credit or debit?” years ago when there was a significant cost differential between signature debit and pin debit. After the Durbin Amendment became law, about 70% of debit cards now carry the same cost of .05% and $.22 per transaction, but there’s still advantages to routing transactions:

  • Pin debit has a 14 day dispute period vs 120 days for signature debit
  • Dues and association fees are not applicable for pin debit
  • For cards that don’t fall under the big bank rules of fixed .05%, fees vary depending on the transaction routing; there’s a threshold where it’s cheaper to process as signature vs pin debit.

All three gateways enable merchants to manage the threshold and can communicate with a terminal to prompt the customer in the optimal way for the merchant.

Shift4 vs CardSense vs CenPOS retail debit card bin management

Element PS CardSense BIN management service allows merchants to differentiate between credit, PIN-debit, prepaid, and FSA/HSA cards, and then business management software then allows the merchant to decide how to process the transaction: as a PIN debit, prepaid debit or a healthcare card; merchants are directed to the API for POS integration. To use CardSense, merchants must have an Element PS merchant account, and an API is available to integrate to their POS.

Shift4 identifies card type as debit or credit, then based on merchant defined threshold, prompts the customer the preferred way – signature or pin- to process the debit transaction. To use Shift4 for retail, merchants can use the virtual terminal with any merchant account, or integrate with a POS system.

CenPOS identifies card type as debit or credit, then based on merchant defined threshold, prompts the customer the preferred way – signature or pin- to process the debit transaction; additionally, using proprietary least cost routing technology, CenPOS dynamically routes the transaction to the lowest cost debit network (Star, Pulse, Internlink etc), if applicable. To use CenPOS for retail, merchants use the virtual terminal with any merchant account, or integrated with a POS system.

Shift4 vs CardSense vs CenPOS retail credit card bin management

There’s no public information that Shift4 or CardSense offer additional bin management beyond debit. CenPOS retail bin management also supports all commercial cards, including corporate, purchasing, and business cards. CenPOS has uniquely certified their gateway for retail level III processing, significantly reducing interchange fees for eligible cards.  For example, a $7,500 building supply sale could be reduced from 2.65% + $.10 to 1.20% + $40.00. Unlike pin debit, which prompts customers for action, level III prompts cashiers for action, and dependent upon merchant rules, cannot be bypassed.

Cash management optimization

CenPOS’s patented optimization of payment processing encompasses many elements to help merchants mitigate risk and increase profit margins. CenPOS products use merchant preferences and transaction profiles to manage the expense of payment interchange and provide a method for electronically delivering coupons. Using this technology, businesses can accept any form of payment via websites, store fronts, call centers, and mobile applications to improve customer engagement and simplify reconciliation. The intelligent system closely manages the full lifecycle of each transaction and utilizes advanced risk management and proprietary transaction routing to reduce the total cost of payment acceptance.

In summary, bin management is a host-based solution to help merchants reduce merchant fees and mitigate dispute or ‘chargeback’ risk. It’s a step above countertop terminal capabilities, but limited in impact since debit fees became regulated. CenPOS’s cash management optimization of payment processing is a powerful system empowering merchants to control profit margins across all sales channels.

Disclaimer: Shift4 and Element PS information is based upon publicly available information as of this date. The CenPOS information herein is not all inclusive.

EMV chip terminal for Microsoft Dynamics RMS

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What are RMS user options for EMV terminals? Here’s four options for merchants to choose from while waiting for RMS integrated EMV terminal; as of August 24, 2015, there are no gateways driving US EMV certified terminals yet.

Which is best EMV terminal for RMS users to accept chip cards today?

emv smart card

EMV chip smart card.

Which option would you choose?

  1. Choose working virtual terminal and US EMV Verifone MX915 certified terminal with signature capture, hoping the gateway gets integrated into RMS later?  Or use it short term, and switch later if another option is integrated first?
  2. Choose a payment gateway that’s working on EMV certification and RMS integration with unknown ready date? hopefully will add 3-D Secure?
  3. Wait and see? The challenge is time. The closer it gets to Ocober 1, the harder it may be to procure terminals (shortages have been common all year), implement & train etc. Additionally, merchants may have stability challenges with gateways that are integrating terminals for the first time.
  4. Buy a countertop terminal with EMV certified pinpad, and use non-integrated? The units certified will vary by payment processor. This is probably the last choice, because it can never be integrated later.

Today, card issuers bear the fraud loss if they give merchants authorization to accept the payment for a counterfeit card at the point of sale. Merchants never know about this fraud because the processor/acquirer automatically manages the response. Starting October 1, this process no longer applies. If merchant doesn’t support EMV, but the card issuer does, the acquirer is liable and can immediately chargeback the merchant’s bank account via ACH. What’s the financial risk? Nobody knows, but an estimated 63% of card present fraud losses were covered by issuers in 2012.

UPDATE 2016: Contact us for Microsoft Dynamics RMS EMV certified solutions today!

PCCharge Replacement With EMV Certified Terminals

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What can merchants replace PCCharge with? How would it impact your business if PCCharge suddenly stopped working? October 1, 2015 is end of life and end of support, so planning replacement is critical. Because it’s also the same date as EMV liability shift, merchants will want to update to EMV and NFC compatible solutions to optimally serve customers.

Verifone PCCharge is Windows based software program which uses an internet connection to process transactions. It’s compatible with all acquirers (credit card processors), and the ‘wedge’ card reader is the most common retail set up. magtek mini card swiperThere are no similar EMV certified card readers certified to any processor currently.  Because EMV transactions require customers to hold onto their card for the transaction, no change is anticipated.

Option one is a cloud based solution called a virtual terminal. Unlike PC software, the gateway is always up to date; merchants login to a secure web page or to integrated POS software. All virtual terminals use an internet or cloud based payment gateway.

Payment Gateways quick facts:

  • Certified to each processor
  • Certified for functionality, including card brand, transaction type, level III processing, contactless (Applepay for example) and even industry (retail, restaurant)
  • EMV requires a special certification: each credit card terminal is certified to each processor
  • Functions vary widely. Some are very much like desktop terminals but with data now web accessible, and others are intelligent platforms with a variety of merchant efficiency, security, and profit optimization benefits.

Payment gateway overview:

Each processor has their own gateway. For example, First Data Global GatewaySM  e4 or Paymentech Orbital® Payment Gateway. There’s also independent or third party gateways. For example, CenPOS or Authorize.net. Third party gateways provide flexibility to change processors at will without disrupting operations, among other benefits. For all non-integrated solutions, the payment gateway manages the consumer facing terminal.

EMV Certified Terminal Confusion:

Semantics is a big problem surrounding EMV today. The hardware is first EMV level 1 and level 2 approved. Then the hardware has to be EMV certified to work with each processor. If there’s a gateway, the gateway has to certify each terminal to each processor. Marketing messages like ‘get you EMV ready’ and ‘EMV capable’ make it very unclear which solutions merchants can actually turn on and process an EMV transaction today vs get you capable to process in the future when certifications are complete. For this reason, merchants must be very specific in asking whether they can accept EMV transactions immediately for any solution purchased.

Payment gateways with certified US EMV terminals:

verifone MX915 EMV terminal

Verifone MX915 multilane signature capture terminal

  • CenPOS: Verifone MX 915, certified First Data, certified TSYS*, Chase Paymentech. Ingenico iSC 250. This article will get outdated fast. Contact us for the latest certifications.

As of 10/29/15 there are virtually no gateways with US EMV certified terminals other than CenPOS.

* TSYS provides flexible connectivity options for all the big acquirers. By certifying to TSYS, merchants can use the certified solution with First Data, Vantiv, NPC, Paymentech, Moneris, Global, Heartland, Elavon and others.

Option two is a countertop or desktop terminal:

Verifone VX520 VX805 EMV terminal

Verifone VX520 with VX805 EMV terminal

Because the EMV transaction requires more memory than in the past, older countertop terminals cannot support EMV, even with an added pinpad. First Data has their own proprietary equipment; Verifone is one of the most popular brands for use with all acquirers, including First Data. The Ingenico iCT220 and iCT250 are also add on peripherals. Countertop terminals, and most gateways, do not support level III processing, critical for business to business merchants to lower merchant fees.

In summary, merchants can replace PCCharge with a universal payment gateway with certified EMV terminal, with a proprietary payment gateway that has certified EMV terminal, or with a countertop terminal, often with a separate EMV peripheral. It’s very important to ask any equipment supplier if they unit is certified for use today vs in the future.

WHICH IS THE BEST EMV SOLUTION TO REPLACE PCCHARGE?

  1. For business to business, there is only one solution that meets all B2B business needs: CenPOS.
  2. For multi-location retail, and big ticket  or high risk sales (electronics, auto parts), CenPOS.
  3. For mom and pop retail, the VX520
  4. For restaurant, quickstop and grocery, I don’t know, I don’t have experience in those industries.

If your business processes more than $1M annually and you need help with EMV, contact us.