Novera Payment Solutions

Cybercrime is a serious and ongoing threat to businesses. Your business files may be at great risk if a hacker gains access to your PC or network. Keeping a computer free of viruses and your network protected should be a number one priority. Not only is it important to protect your personal and business data, it's essential for PCI compliance.

Here are 11 ways that you can protect yourself and business data stored on your computer:

1. It is critical you have an up-to-date antivirus software and anti-malware software. While this will not protect you from everything, it's better than having nothing at all.
    
2. Make sure you have all of the latest updates for your computer's operating system. You can set Windows to automatically download and install updates.
   
   
3. Be mindful of the websites you are browsing. Generally, if it looks suspicious, it is.
   
   
4. Do not save your passwords list as a file on your computer. Keep this handy elsewhere. Also, do not use the same password for each website. For very important accounts, create a randomly generated password as this greatly increases its security.
   
   
5. You can set your computer to password lock itself when it goes to sleep. This is important to keep others from accessing your account if you step away.
   
   
6. Backup your data often. There are many ways you can backup data whether it be on a thumb drive, an external hard drive, or a cloud based solution such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
   
   
7. Keep your personal data off of your work computer. If you want to have access to these files, leave them on a thumb drive or external hard drive.
   
   
8. If using a laptop, never leave it in a location where it’s easily visible. This increases the risk for it to be stolen. 
   
   
9. When browsing email, be careful of the links and attachments you open. Unless they are from a known source, it's better to not open them until you are able to scan the email for threats.
   
   
10. Clear your internet cookies regularly. These files are generally where web-based viruses are stored. This can be done weekly or monthly and will typically prevent any malicious files or programs from infecting your computer.
    
    
11. Limit access to files to ONLY those who need it. This can prevent unauthorized access and keep your data safe.

How PCI Compliance Fits In

Merchants who are PCI Compliant have security controls to prevent, detect, and react to breaches. PCI Compliance is not optional for merchants ... it's a requirement for all businesses who accept credit cards. Failure to meet the requirements can be extremely costly for business owners if they ever fall victim to a breach on their system.

The standards are set by PCI Security Standard Council. Their website is extensive and has more information than you could ever want to know about becoming PCI Compliant and maintaining the standard for your business.  https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/

At Novera Payment Solutions we work hard to take to take the headache out of PCI Compliance for you.  Give us a call ... not only can we possibly save you money over your current credit card processing solution with our flat fee merchant account, but we will guide you through PCI Compliance maze and make it simple to get up and running!

It's that time again! Novera Payment Solutions is pleased to offer our popular "Understanding Credit Card Processing" webinar. With just one week left to register, you'll want to reserve your spot today.

If you answer, "yes" to any of the statements below, this webinar will be an excellent use of your time.

1. Are you confused by the complicated statements that you receive from your current credit card processor?
2. Do you need help understanding the difference between "Qualified", "Mid-Qualified", and "Non-Qualified"?
3. Do you need assistance ensuring that you are meeting PCI compliance requirements?
4. Are you paying more than you thought you would for your credit card processing fees?
5. Do you have to wait multiple days after batching transactions to see the payment deposited in your account?

REGISTER TODAY!

Join us in an educational webinar on January 12, 2015 @ 2:00 PM EST designed to help you understand the in's and out's of the credit card processing industry. This FREE webinar will be 45 minutes or less and we guarantee you will learn practical information to help you make better choices when shopping around for credit card processing services.

As an attendee of this webinar you will gain the following:

• Ability to understand Visa/MC/Disc true underlying cost which in turn will help you negotiate better pricing
• Knowledge on how to make sure you are getting a truly fair deal for payment processing services
• Awareness of the latest in technology available in the market place today
• Tips for keeping processing costs down
• Best practices for keeping cardholder data secure, including EMV and maintaining PCI compliance.

With QuickBooks® being the number one small business accounting software in the country, there is no doubt that thousands, if not millions of businesses, are overpaying for their credit card processing service.

The Intuit® credit card processing service is built in to QuickBooks®, making it easy and convenient for merchants to sign up for their service. This convenience can also come with a large price tag.

Intuit® features a tiered pricing model, enticing businesses into the service with seemingly low rates for qualified transactions. What they fail to disclose is that MOST transactions don't fall under that category. The hidden fees and excessive surcharges can end up costing businesses more than they bargained for when they signed up for the service.

We took a few screen grabs from the QuickBooks® payments website to illustrate the point. Take a look at their published rate chart below.

Seems simple enough ... low rates per transaction. Pay a monthly fee to get even lower rates.  What they don't disclose in the table is that these rates apply only to "qualified" transactions.  You have to scroll to the bottom of the page for more information and click on the "Important pricing terms" link.

Note the "additional pricing information" in the fine print.

Let's check it out. When you click on it, this is what you get.

So now we actually see the word "qualified" in the price table related to the discount rates. Note that there is an additional surcharge for non-qualified transactions. Is the discount rate higher too? Probably, but we can't tell from this price table.

There's more.

Another screen grab from the QuickBooks® payments website.

If you happen to have a non US issued card transaction, there are addtional fees tacked on.

And still there's more! See the screen grab below.

Now we have the miscellaneous fees added in, including an PCI service fee of $100 for merchants who process more than 100 transactions each year ... which presumably is just about everyone.  Also notice in the table below, you may be subject to termination fees. You have to refer to three different sections of their 56 page merchant agreement to learn about that.

But we were still curious about what they mean by "qualified" transactions ... is the merchant going to pay even higher fees for other transactions? So we had to dig further on the website.  We finally found a reference to this in their 56 page merchant agreement on page 29.

So they finally define "qualified" here. But note, anything that doesn't meet the "qualified" definition, is charged at the "non-qualified rate which is HIGHER than the mid-qualified rate." And the mid-qualified rate is higher than the qualified rate!

Nowhere on the website were we able to find the discount rate percentages associated with mid and non-qualified transactions.

This is a classic bait and switch technique to get merchants to sign up for an over-priced credit card processing solution by way of convenience.

The good news is that there are now plug-ins available for QuickBooks® that give merchants choices when it comes to who they use for their merchant processing solution.

Novera Payment Solutions offers a completely transparent approach to credit card processing. Our innovative cost plus flat fee merchant account solution saves you money. You know up front exactly what the fees are so you are not surprised with hidden costs and excessive surcharges.

Contact us for a free QuickBooks® consultation. There's absolutely no obligation. We'll show how the Novera Solutions flat fee advantage can save you money over your current QuickBooks® integrated payments solution. Our QuickBooks® credit card processing plug-in, combined with our cost plus flat fee merchant account solution, makes the transition quick, easy, and cost saving for your bottom line!

If you are looking for a new payments processor as a partner for your merchant account reseller business, look no further! Novera Payment Solutions offers the cadillac of partnerships through our World Expresspay ISO / MSP and Agent program.

ISO & AGENT PROGRAM

Our unique approach to merchant account sales allows us to partner with one of the most respected clients in the world (WorldPay) . Today our WorldPay ISO and Agent Program provides all the tools necessary to create your own path for the future.

Residual ownership is included with the most aggressive compensation plan available, remarkable agent & merchant support. Let’s not forget the technology you would expect from a world class organization. All our ISO and Agents are trained by a dedicated expert to quickly interact with WorldPay’s MSP support team for the fastest turn arouind available.

WorldPay Revenue Enhancing Programs

• Debit, Credit, Check Service, Gift, Loyalty

• Interchange Pass Thru Pricing
• 80% Plus residual sharing
• 3.5 Cent I.P.
• 5.0 Cent Dial Up

• 1.0 Cent High Volume Merchant I.P.

• 2.0 Cent High Volume Merchant Dial Up
• Amex OPT Blue Direct Settlement Program
• Monthly & Quarterly Upfront incentive Dollars

Supported Product Groups

• Over 1600 Certified VAR/Gateway Options
• Dedicated ISV Software Vendor Program
• Integrated POS & Terminal Products
• Mobile Payments

• E-Comm

• Direct API & Gateway Capability
• Quickbooks Integration

Additional Services & Support

• No Liability or Risk
• 24/7 Merchant Support
• Dedicated ISO/Agent Relationship Team
• Web Based Order Entry and Tracking
• Residual Reporting/CRM Portal
• Inbound Marketing Support & Lead Generation
• Online Resource and Training Materials
• Use Your Own Leasing Program
• Use Your Own Cash Advance Program

We also offer two additional opportunities through our software vendors program and our referral partners program.

Process credit cards and checks for invoices seamlessly in QuickBooks®

Did you know Novera specializes in Integration for QuickBooks® payment processing for credit and debit cards, ACH (Automated Clearing House), EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer), and Electronic Check conversion using a powerful and secure Payment Gateway and Secure Vault Software. 

The Advantages of QuickBooks Integrated Credit Card Payments Are Many!

1. No need for "double entry"
   You can now process recurring credit card payments set on a monthly schedule. No more need to ever perform double entry in two systems. Our solution also offers you the ability to take advantage of our revolutionary FLAT FIXED FEE merchant account pricing model.

2. Easy to Setup and Start Using Right Away
   Our QuickBooks® online credit card processing solution is easy to use and is up and running within minutes. It is guaranteed compatibility for automated integration within QuickBooks®, so you can eliminate old outdated, unreliable, standalone credit card terminals.  If your business has customers present needing to make payments in real time, then a simple USB mag-swipe reader can be attached in seconds for “card swiped” transactions.

3. 100% Secure
   Our solution is 100% secure, and PCI and PADSS certified. When transactions are sent from the software to the payment gateway it passes all data through a secure socket layer (SSL) to ensure all data is encrypted and cannot be compromised. Neither QuickBooks® nor Novera itself ever store any cardholder data; data is securely stored in a “Secure Vault”. This is what makes the software PCI and PADSS compliant so you never have to worry about your payment processing being up to the standards of the cards brands MasterCard/Visa/Disc.

4. Flat Fixed Free Credit Card Processing
   In addition to an easy to use turnkey solution for QuickBooks® users, Novera Payment Solutions has also developed a simple, transparent pricing model utilizing a “FLAT FIXED FEE” for merchant services.

Novera Payment Solutions QuickBooks Resources

• InstantAccept: A quicker way to use QuickBooks
• Keyboard Shortcuts for QuickBooks Power Users
• Integrated QuickBooks® Credit Card Processing Using the QBplugin
• 5 Surprising Things You Can Do with QuickBooks
• 6 Advantages of Using QuickBooks for Your Business
• 6 Actions You Can Take to Help Prevent Chargebacks
• Charging Credit Card Fees to Your Customers
• Do You Understand What It Really Costs to Accept Credit Cards?

The Novera Advantage

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry, and we specialize in QuickBooks credit card payments integration. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative and transparent flat fee merchant account pricing models for QuickBooks users.

Request a Complimentary QuickBooks Consultation Today!

QuickBooks Online is tried and tested for small business accounting. Brought to you by Intuit, makers of the No.1 best-selling small business accounting software in North America, QuickBooks Online continues to be a top choice for business owners with over 4.5 million users worldwide.

6.5 Benefits That Might Make You Switch to QuickBooks Online

1. QuickBooks Online gives you the ability to access your business accounting anywhere you have an internet connection, from your smart phone, tablet, laptop, or a desktop computer.

2. QuickBooks Online saves you time on your accounts. With easy access to all your figures, reports, invoices, customer details and more, it's easy to find the information you need - instantly, and from anywhere!

3. QuickBooks Online automates your accounting. Unlike using pen and paper, it's harder to make mistakes because QuickBooks Online does all the calculations for you. You can drop the custom spreadsheets and complex formulas ... there's no need for them anymore.

4. All your records are in one place with QuickBooks Online. This includes your customer records, contacts, and supplier details, as well as all your financials. Did we mention QuickBooks Online is searchable too? This makes all of your data easy to find and access.

5. Takes care of everyday tasks with no hassle. With QuickBooks Online you can automate daily and recurring tasks, like generating quotes, creating invoices, creating reports, or viewing your business cash flow.

6. Track every sale and all expenses in one place that is accessible from anywhere. Enter the details of sales and expenses as they happen so you have accurate cash flow information at your fingertips.

6.5  Accept credit card payments with QuickBooks Online. And guess what? You aren't tied to the premium Intuit QuickBooks credit card processing rates. With Novera Payment Solutions' innovative QuickBooks Plugins, you can take advantage of our lower flat fee merchant account rates and save considerable money on your credit card processing through QuickBooks.

The Novera Advantage

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping your business improve its bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative and transparent flat fee merchant account pricing models. If you want to accept credit card payments through QuickBooks, you are no longer tied to Intuit's costly merchant account program.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for QuickBooks credit card processing and our InstantAccept plugin!

Our powerful InstantAccept plugin saves your busineses an incredible amount of time and money in reduced labor. When you pair that with Novera's innovative and transparent merchant account pricing model, it's even better!

As a business owner, you know it's essential in this day and age that you not only accept credit cards, but that you also accept debit cards, e-checks, and mobile payments. It's simply expected by your consumers.

Unfortunately, there is a wealth of bad and misleading information online today. Business owners can easily comparison shop for the best merchant account rates using Google, however there are so many nefarious companies pitching credit card processing solutions with bait and switch tactics, it's easy to be lured into a merchant processing contract that ends up costing you more than you ever expected and doesn't deliver all the service promised.

Novera Payment Solution Offers a Refreshing Approach to Credit Card Processing

Novera Solutions takes a completely different approach to merchant processing solutions. You won't get a bait and switch scheme here. Some of the things that make us different, heads and shoulders above the rest, in fact, include:

• We offer straight talk about why a merchant account including our “flat fee advantage” can be one of the best business decisions you’ll ever make.
• We offer complete payment integration with major accounting software applications (including QuickBooks credit card payment integration). Our API will allow you to support every type of transaction you could ask for.
• We take the mystery out of PCI compliance, and help ensure that you meet all requirements to keep your customer card holder data secure.
• We offer many levels of reporting for your convenience. If you are looking for drill down reporting on a specific merchant transaction or high level residual reporting for your agent or reseller business, we have got you covered.
• Our marketing department designs and delivers high quality marketing slicks so you can inform your customers about payment options.
• We provide complete support and guidance from merchant account conversion and boarding all the way through 24/7 365 WorldPay customer support.
• Novera can provide you with the ability to accept credit card payments online. Our Virtual terminal can allow you to set up recurring payments, one time charges... this even includes check or ACH.
• We have a programs that make sure your profits really are going to the bottom line. Including our Gift & Loyalty program that can be used to cross brand and promote additional locations. 

Learn Everything You Need to Know About In's & Out's of Credit Card Processing

Please join us in a FREE educational webinar  designed to help you understand the in's and out's of the credit card processing industry. We offer these webinars quarterly! This valuable free webinar will be 45 minutes or less and we guarantee you will learn practical information to help you make better choices when shopping around for processing services.

As an attendee of this webinar you will gain the following:

• Ability to understand Visa/MC/Disc. true underlying cost which in turn will help you negotiate better pricing
• Knowledge on how to make sure you are getting a truly fair deal for payment processing services
• Awareness of the latest in technology available in the market place today
• Tips for keeping processing costs down
• Best practices for keeping cardholder data secure and maintaining PCI compliance

Get the Date of Our Next FREE Webinar and Register Online

A good privacy policy is critical for online merchants. If you accept credit cards through your website, you are collecting personal information from your website users. Your online privacy policy informs users about how that information is stored and used.

If you are a QuickBooks Documents user, the Intuit website offers a free privacy policy generator that helps ensure you include all the essential components to protect your business and inform your customers.

It's very easy to use and they offer a PDF or MicroSoft Word version once you've completed the privacy policy generator. The final product is downloadable from your QuickBooks Documents account.

Steps the create your privacy policy:

1. Go to the Intuit QuickBooks priavy policy generator page.
2. Select the state in which your business resides.
3. Provide your company name.
4. Enter your website address.
5. Select all of the personally identifable information that your website collects from the list options available.
6. Select whether you use the personal information to market to the customer after it is collected.
7. Select whether the website collects log data from the user. In most cases, the answer to this question is "yes". For example, this data might include IP address, browser type, etc. Most web servers collect this data for use in reporting website statistics and analytics.
8. Select whether you want to include a statement about the users responsibility for protecting their own account information.
9. Select whether the website uses cookies. (Most do!)
10. Select whether the website uses clear GIFs, web bugs, beacons or tags. If you aren't sure, check with your webmaster. This is a technique often used to statistical data about the web page.
11. Select whether the website offers third party services (an affiliate program might be an exmaple of a third party service for an ecommerce site).
12. Select whether the website will comply with government and law enforcement officials in order to comply with the law.
13. Login to your QuickBook Documents account to download your new privacy policy.

The screen grab below shows page one of a sample privacy policy that we generated in about 20 minutes (of course, we blocked out the company name). The actual document is approximately 4 pages long and addresses all the major components that an ecommerce privacy policy should include.  It should be noted that the Intuit QuickBooks Privacy Policy generator is not intended to replace legal advice from your business attorney. As will any business documents you create and make available for public use, you should consider having your attorney review them before use.

The Novera Advantage

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative and transparent flat fee merchant account pricing models for QuickBooks users.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing and our QBPlugin for QuickBooks!

Our powerful QBPlugin saves your busineses an incredible amount of time and money in reduced labor. When you pair that with Novera's innovative and transparent merchant account pricing model, it's even better!

Small Business Saturday is on November 29, this year ... is your business ready to participate?  The goal of Small Business Saturday is to help small businesses do more business!

Founded in 2010 by American Express, Small Business Saturday was started to help businesses get more customers. The day is meant to encourage people to shop at local small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, instead of the Big Box stores. The day has grown into a powerful movement, and more people are taking part than ever before.

American Express is asking small businesses to join a movement that's made history and help make the fifth year of Small Business Saturday the biggest one yet.  There are three ways you can help!

1. Rally Your Neighborhood

   Organize a celebration to get your community to Shop Small on the day. American Express has created a great resource with event ideas that you can download. These are events that other communities have successfully run on Small Business Saturday to get local businesses to participate. Ideas include passsport runs, family days, fun runs, and kick off breakfasts!  Download your free copy here.

2. Promote Your Business

   Invite customers to shop at your business by creating free, personalized marketing materials. Get a digital banner, signage, and more to help attract a crowd of customers. American Express makes these available to you via their website. You can list your business as a participant on the Small Business Saturday website, create branded printable signage to remind people Small Business Satuday is coming, and drive traffic to your website using free online ads from American Express. All of these resources are available here.

3. Shop Small On The Day

   You are a business owner, but you are also a consumer.  American Express encourages you to check out events and small businesses in your neighborhood that you can visit on the day. They have several recommendations for fun things you can do to support your local businesses.  When you visit a business on Small Business Saturday, take a photo at the business and post it on social media ... tie it to the movement by using hashtag #shopsmall. You can visit the American Express website to see a list of businesses who have signed up to participate, but keep in mind, if they aren't on the website, they might not even know about it!  It's up to all of us to spread the word!

Everyone loves Black Friday and they flock to big box stores for the incredible deals they can get. The idea of Small Business Saturday is to raise awareness of the importance of local small businesses, support them, and ultimately drive business to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  #SHOPSMALL

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative and trasparent flat fee merchant account pricing models. We are confident we can save your business money on credit card processing fees!

Save money on your credit card processing fees this holiday season.  
Contact us today for a free quote!