What does a merchant need to accept Apple Pay?

Apple announced that starting next month you will be able to use Apple Pay to make payments at some stores. When this blog was written Apple claims that it will be able to be accepted at 220,000 stores and counting. According to the Small Business Administration there are around 30 million businesses, granted not all need to process credit cards but many do. The amount that accepts Apple Pay is a very small slice of the total of all businesses. 

Why is this? For a merchant to be able to accept Apple Pay as a form of payment they need to have two things in place. The first thing they will need is a NFC (near field communication) enabled scanner that would allow their system to read the phone. The second piece to this puzzle is that the merchant needs to have a credit card processing company who supports Apple Pay.

Let’s first look at the issue of equipment. For a little history lesson contact-less payment first came around in the late 90’s with the most notable being Exxon Mobil’s “Speedpass” contactless payment system. Speedpass is a bit different than Apple Pay. Speedpass is a key-fab that the customer would be issued by Exxon Mobil which was read by the pump when they would make payment. This did not integrate in to the credit card processing company as it was an internal process. In the 2000’s issuing banks started issuing cards that were able to be read by contactless readers. The problem was that the merchants did not have the equipment to read the cards. This type of card is often found today and the popularity of them with bank issuers has risen and dipped over the years. As of today only about 10% of merchants have the capability of accepting cards that include NFC technology (Including Apple Pay). For example, Best Buy once had contactless readers in the stores but had decided to turn them off in 2011 due to the cost of supporting the platform. Total Merchant Services offered contactless payment system included with our free terminal placement program but discontinued the program due to lack of popularity. 

The second hurdle you must overcome is that the processor you are dealing with will have to have the capability of processing Apple Pay as a form payment. At this time Apple has partnered up with many of the large banks that back the major processors in the United States. The top six banks that Apple is working with are American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo. At this time it is not known as to what other banks will be involved and what processors who are sponsored by the top six will be able to process Apple Pay. 

In wrap up, the past attempts to get the merchants set up to accept contact-less payment were not very successful. The push before was made by card processors and card issuers. This time around it is being pushed by a large and ultimately influential company, Apple that may result in more merchants adopting some form of NFC technology to enable them to accept the Apple Pay as a form of payment. I am sure that eventually credit cards will be replaced by another device / chip or something else. However only time will tell where we will end up.

Total Merchant Services now offers the Ingenico iCT220 that supports NFC & EMV for free along with our services. If you would like to upgrade so that your business can process contact-less payment and smart cards feel free to reach out to me at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825.

Lower American Express Processing Costs

Total Merchant Services is excited to announce that now we are able to lower your processing costs on your Amex processing! We can now offer your business custom pricing on American Express card processing. There are very few merchant services companies that are able to lower any of your American Express processing costs. Total Merchant Services can now lower the costs based on a variety of factors such as your business type and American Express transaction average. By taking advantage of this program we can save you a substantial amount on your American Express processing along with providing your business one of our free equipment options on a month to month agreement. 

Before we were able to offer this special pricing on American Express cards we were only able to establish a direct American Express merchant account when you set up your account with us. With this type of set-up you would be assigned American Express standard fees that can be up to a 3.50% and also carry a monthly service fee. Now we are able to offer the special pricing with no additional monthly cost as well as access all of the back-end transactions so that you have a one point contact for all of your credit card processing needs. We will also combine all four card types American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover in to one deposit in to your bank account so that you can more easily track your cash flow. All processing for all credit card types will be on one statement once you set up with your merchant account with Total Merchant Services.

To have your American Express merchant services statement reviewed to see how much Total Merchant Services can save your company on the Amex transactions contact Chris today at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825. I look forward to helping your business retain its hard earned revenue. 

Introducing Groovv | Part Point of Sale | Part Business Growing Tool

Woodland Hills, CA (PRWEB) April 09, 2014

Total Merchant Services, a leader in payment processing services, announced today the launch of Groovv, a new, powerfully simple suite of products and marketing solutions that helps retail and restaurant businesses grow, become more efficient and more profitable. With the introduction of Groovv, Total Merchant Services emerges with an unrivaled technology platform that integrates key business management solutions with point of sale, payment processing, data, and marketing. Backed by Totals unparalleled merchant and sales partner support programs, Groovv is being unveiled at the Electronic Transaction Association (ETA) Show in Las Vegas, running April 8-10 at the Mandalay Bay.

Just as Total revolutionized the credit card processing industry 18 years ago by being the first company to offer a free placement program, we are reinventing ourselves now with Groovv. With an unyielding focus on support, we are transforming ourselves from a credit card processor to a small business solutions provider with innovative, scalable and secure products and services that help small businesses succeed, states CEO Joe Kaplan.

Shelley Plomske, VP of Product at Total Merchant Services, adds, with the introduction of Groovv, Total is supporting businesses in ways they never have seen before. We understand the needs of small business owners and the sales partners who work with them to deliver the tools that make running their business easier, more efficient and more profitable. Most importantly, we’ve designed Groovv to be very easy to set up and simple to use.

In addition, not only does this innovative suite of products make it easy for sales partners to sell, but Total builds on its history of introducing free placement by giving them a suite of free options for merchants, which should open more doors so they can close more deals.

Groovv’s suite of offerings includes:

        Groovv Register: powered by the technology formerly known as Registroid (acquired by Total in September 2013), provides a point of sale solution for small to medium retail merchants. Operating on Android-based devices, Groovv Register empowers merchants to grow and manage their business with software options and multiple hardware bundles that can be customized to merchants specific needs.

        Groovv Offers: formerly Fanminder Offers (acquired by Total in January 2013), allows merchants to create and manage promotions by using customized templates via a web interface to send discounts through mobile devices, social media, email lists and websites. Groovv Offers also helps merchants build a database of customer contact information, with simple online forms and import tools.

        Groovv API: is a powerful, reliable and secure integration platform that provides third party developers with a way to integrate payments, customer data, and online marketing services (i.e. Groovv Offers). Merchants will have real-time access to their data presented in a way that is easily consumable and aids in managing their business more effectively. 

Customers choose Total and stay with us because our products are so compelling and easy to use that they can’t imagine running their business without us, adds Plomske. We believe that Groovv will provide a new way for merchants to operate, and an exciting opportunity for our partners to sell small business solutions like never before.

For more information on how the Groovv suite of  products can improve your business contact Chris Judy of Total Merchant Services at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825 today!

Does my business need an EMV smart card terminal?

 

EMV smart cards are a hot topic in the US right now due to the data breaches that we have been seeing here. This blog is going to cover the history of EMV, what EMV stands for, and where it is going in the United States.

What is EMV?

The term EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, who are the three pioneers in the chip based smart card also known as integrated circuit cards (IC Card) or chip cards. The concept of smart cards is not new to the world as it has been around since the EMV version 2.0 was released in 1995. Since its initial release there have been many updates and currently is at EMV version 4.3. EMV smart cards are already in vast use in many countries including Europe, China, Brazil as well as others. 

EMV smart cards carry two main benefits over standard credit cards. The two benefits are the improved security that has a direct correlation with reduced fraud and the ability to have a finer control of “offline” credit card transactions. There are more cardholder verification methods (CVMs) supported by the EMV smart card over the standard magnetic strip card increasing overall security and making offline transactions more accessible. The CVM features for EMV smart cards are signature, offline plaintext PIN, offline enciphered PIN, offline plaintext PIN and signature, offline enciphered PIN and signature, offline PIN, no CVM required, and fail CVM processing. By default the cards are “chip and PIN” requiring when possible to have the chip read and the PIN entered by the customer. This of course is the most secure way that a smart card transaction can be handled. 

When will you be required to have an EMV smart card ready terminal?

Due to the increase in security that the EMV smart card provides the United States is moving toward converting cards and terminals over to be EMV enabled. The card companies (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and so on) implement the smart cards and greatly encourage their use by setting a ‘liability shift’ date. What does a liability shift mean when it comes to EMV smart cards? It means as of the date that is set, for each card brand of the liability shift, the merchant becomes liable for any fraud that stems from transaction systems that are not EMV capable. 

This date has come and gone in the European Union as of January of 2005. Here in the US the liability shift dates for merchants have been set.  American Express, Discover, Maestro, MasterCard, and Visa have announced that liability shift for point of sale terminals as of October 2015. The pay at the pump liability shift has been extended two additional years to October of 2017 with the exception of MasterCard where pay at the pump liability shift is set for October 2016.

To ensure that your business is ready for the EMV smart cards you may want to consider getting an EMV smart card ready terminal in your business. We offer both the Hypercom T4220 & Hypercom M4230 EMV smart card capable terminals free along with our month to month agreement. 

If you have any questions or would like information on getting an EMV smart card terminal contact me, Chris Judy, at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825 or complete an inquiry form on my website www.totalmerchantservices.pro.

Merchant Services Explained – The Basics

Do you have a new business and need to set up to process credit cards? If so then you probably understand that you will need to get merchant services for your business by setting up a merchant account. What you may not fully yet understand is exactly how the merchant account works. If you have been processing credit cards for some time now you probably will not benefit from reading this post about merchant accounts since this outline will very basic. However, if you are new to credit card processing and need a merchant account read-on.

A merchant account acts as an intermediary between the credit card issuer’s account and the merchant’s actual bank account. The merchant account compiles the monies that are processed in a given day and moves that money in to the merchant’s bank account. When the merchant swipes a credit card through their credit card terminal the processing company (a.k.a. Merchant Service Provider) checks with the issuing bank to see if the funds are available. When it is found that the monies are in the account they are put on hold. At the end of the day the terminal will either close itself out or be manually closed by the merchant in a process called batching. The merchant account then will move the money from each of the issuing bank accounts over to the merchant’s bank account in one lump “daily batch” total that equals the amount processed; this takes 1-2 business days.

This process will repeat throughout the month as the merchant handles transactions through their merchant account. At the beginning of the following month the Merchant Services Provider takes the processing fees out for the previous months credit card processing. There is a second option on how the fees are taken from the merchant’s bank account called daily discount. In this type of merchant account the base fees come off of the top of the batch before they are deposited in the merchants account. This type of merchant account is preferred in some cases of very large sales, however most merchants prefer that the fees come out the following month due to accounting reasons.

I hope that in being new to merchant services that you have found this basic explanation helpful. If you have any additional questions or need assistance with getting set up to accept credit cards with your own merchant account contact Chris at 800.51.TOTAL / 800.518.6825 or visit www.totalmerchantservices.pro.