Are you handling Credit Card Payments? Let us help you become PCI compliant!

While we are all working towards making our businesses run as smoothly and safely as possible, one of things you may have overlooked is making sure you client’s financial information is as safe and secure as possible.

Credit Card information is a critical piece of information that you need to be aware of protecting. It is not hard to do so but you need to put the right protection in place to help you do this.

We find many small businesses still using simple home routers or just your Internet Provider’s modem for your connection to the Internet. That is just not the right piece of equipment to do this. You need to call one of our security experts to provide suggestions on how you can easily create a secure environment for your business.

We suggest Sophos Security products primarily to do this for you. The first line of defense is to put in place a business class firewall that will provide the following protection:

• ·         Intrusion Protection for those trying to break into your network and detection of outbound traffic that needs to be secure and managed
• ·         Control address, port, protocol and specific application traffic and behavior patterns.
• ·         Perform NAT (Network Address Translation)
• ·         Detect and block spoofed IP Addresses
• ·         Inspect data traffic for malicious activities

While this is a good first step in creating a protected environment, it is not the only one you need.

Again, contact one of our security specialists that can provide you with a complete analysis and recommendation for your business.

Card fraud now hits nearly one third of consumers worldwide

Naked Security reports:  Card fraud now hits nearly one third of consumers worldwide

Imagine folded, chopped, and mutilated plastic up to the sky: that’s the pile being generated by cardholder fraud these days.

I’ll let ACI Worldwide and Aite Group quantify the pile just a bit:

Of all cardholders – debit, credit, and prepaid – 30% have experienced card fraud in the past five years.

That’s the #1 takeaway from their latest biennial survey of cardholders in 20 countries worldwide.

If that topline figure isn’t bad enough, 17% of debit and credit card holders say they’ve fallen victim multiple times over that period – up from 13% in the 2014 survey.

Many of the costs to individuals and institutions are pretty obvious: reimbursements of fraudulent transactions, potentially damaged credit ratings, card replacement and security costs. Unsurprisingly, card fraud also contributes to costly customer churn: worldwide, one-fifth of consumers “changed financial institutions due to dissatisfaction after experiencing fraud.”

But, as the survey’s authors note, financial institutions face an additional cost that might not be obvious to the casual observer: worldwide, 40% of consumers use the compromised account less frequently after the fraud.

Read More

CNET article about $2M gas station card-skimming scheme

Interesting article about 13 individuals being indicted for theft, fraud and laundering from devices that they installed inside gas pumps in New York state. This appears to be another version of the skimmer device that was inserted into ATM’s to do the same thing.

If you are interested in reading the article here…

This just brings to mind that you have to be extremely vigilant in tracking charges to your credit cards even from sources that you would normally consider safe.

"By using skimming devices planted inside gas station pumps, these defendants are accused of fueling the fastest growing crime in the country," Vance said in a statement. "Cybercriminals and identity thieves are not limited to any geographic region, working throughout the world behind computers. In this case, the defendants are charged with stealing personal identifying information from victims in southern states, using forged bank cards on the East Coast, and withdrawing stolen proceeds on the West Coast."

Bitcoin-funded debit/credit cards are on their way, expect them in 6-8 weeks

Honestly, I haven’t run into Bitcoin except to clear it off of servers as a form of Malware. According to TweakTown, Charlie Shrem, BitInstant co-founder revealed in an IRC chat that his company is 6 to 8 weeks away from launching a Bitcoin-funded international debit/credit card. Stating that it will be issued by two unnamed major banks, one international and the other domestic.

The Bitcoin-funded card will act like any normal debit or credit card account, and should be accepted wherever MasterCard is accepted, which is virtually anywhere. The first 1,000 Bitcoin debit/credit cards will be issued for free, but after the first 1,000, the cards will set you back around $10 per card.

Shrem also revealed that each card will sport a QR code on the front that can be scanned to complete transactions that are under $1,000 and a printed address on the rear featuring the user's Bitcoin Address. Future Bitcoin-funded card owners should expect to pay a 1% fee to fund the card, and a $1.50 ATM withdrawal fee.

Intuit’s Mobile iOS Credit Card Processing System

Last year in Jude a wrote a quick post on Square’s updated Credit Card Processing System and now Intuit is adding its product into ring with less cost and a more substantial reading device.

They have an updated free app on iTunes for both the iPhone and the iPad that provides easy processing of credit card payments to your account.

---FEATURES---

• Receive a free card reader compatible with your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
• Avoid start-up costs, a long-term contract, and cancellation fees
• 2.7% per card reader swiped transaction rate with pay-as-you-go pricing plan
• Customers sign with their finger and a receipt can be sent by text or e-mail, so you can be paperless
• Access your GoPayment account on your Mac or PC and accept, refund, and review credit card payments online
• All transactions are secure and encrypted, unlike some card readers
• Add up to 50 users to your account so multiple people can accept payments for your business
• We’ve made it easier for you to get started by not requiring bank account information. The money you make with GoPayment can be deposited into your Intuit GoPayment Prepaid Visa® Card account. You can conveniently access and manage your money online at www.gopayment.com, or use the GoPayment Card anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted – in stores, online, and at ATMs
• GoPayment integrates with QuickBooks, making it easier to manage your finances
• From Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks, Quicken, and TurboTax

The app will run on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later
*You can also sign up at www.gopayment.com. If you would like to sign up for the High volume plan, you must do so on the website.
**Intuit GoPayment offers 2 pricing plans with the following rates to meet your individual needs:
Pay-as-you-go:
Swipe: 2.7%
Key-enter and non-qualified: 3.7%
High volume (option to pay $12.95/month for lower per-transaction rates):
Swipe: 1.7%
Key-enter: 2.7%
Non-qualified rate: 3.7%

---GET STARTED---

• Download the Free GoPayment Credit Card Processing App
• Complete the in-app application*
• Check your email for your approval notification, and then start accepting payments!

Once you’re approved, you can start accepting credit cards right away by key entering credit card info into the app.
Your free card reader will ship the next business day.
If you want to see GoPayment in action before you sign up, select the Test Drive button.

If you decide that this product is for you, then one of the things that jumped out at me right away is that the quantities field only seems to accept whole numbers. This can be a problem especially if you are selling by weight or if you are like me you are selling time. Another problem that you might have is that it only accepts one sales tax field. So if you are in a county that requires you to collect both a state and county sales tax you will need to make some kind of adjustment for that. Of course if you are not roaming around this is not an issue. If you are moving around it might be hard to track who you need to send the tax you have collected to the correct entities.

Otherwise, the interface seems to be simple and straight forward and if you don’t have the concerns about the limitations I stated above then it might be a good fit for you. The charge rates for processing are a little lower then Square’s and Intuit is a big player in the entry level accounting industry.

Compatible Devices

See all devices

Square updates iOS app, intros iPad-based Register

New version of Square’s mobile payment software is available for download. Version 2.0 has an expanded iPad specific feature set that Square is referring to as the Square Register. These new features allow sellers to customize their systems with product photos, prices, sortable categories, and create variations of specific items, accept cash payments, let regular customers set up tabs, publish their menus, and share daily specials.

The Square Register allows you to setup and inventory system that allows you to manage your inventory stock as well as provide reports that will show you your sales patterns and inventory levels. It will allow you to swipe a customer’s card, have them sign for the payment directly on the screen and send them an email or text message receipt. The customer can even add a tip as they sign.

You can even setup menus and share daily specials with your customers. A great way to setup a mobile payment system that can be used just about anywhere you have an internet connection on you iPhone or iPad.

The Credit Card reader is free and plugs into the audio jack port. Works with Android, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Each payment cost you 2.75% fee for processing the payment which funds with automatic daily deposits the next day to your bank account. Click here for information on security of the transactions.