Novera Payment Solutions

If your business accepts credit cards, you may think you already know everything that you need to know. But here are 10 facts that you may not be aware of. Being armed with this information can save your business money and improve your bottom line.

1. You can now require a $10 minimum purchase for credit card use. Visa and MasterCard used to prohibit this, but the Durbin Amendment now allows it. This is NOT true for debit cards, however.
   
   
2. Credit card processing fees are tax deductible and it's typically a sizable deduction for businesses that accept cards. As tax season approaches, don't forget to take this deduction!
   
   
3. Using your local bank does not save you money on credit card processing. Most local banks outsource credit card processing services to third party sales teams who work for larger processors. By using your local bank you are likely paying more than if you went direct to the processor since it's adding another layer to the pot.
   
   
4. There is only one part of your credit card processing cost that is negotiable and that is the processor's markup over interchange and assessments. Interchange and assessment are the same for all credit card processors. This is why Novera's fixed flat fee merchant account pricing structure is so attractive to businesses. It saves them money and there are no surprises.
   
   
5. You can now pass credit card processing fees through to customers. This change occured in 2013. Whether you SHOULD, however, is another topic altogether.
   
   
6. Make sure you don't find yourself on the "TMF". The terminated merchant file is essentially the credit card processing blacklist. A credit card processor can add you to the TMF if they suspect you of misusing your merchant account for fraudulent purposes. If your business or name is on this list, it can cause you to have to pay higher rates or make it difficult for you to get a merchant account in the future.
   
   
7. Credit card processors monitor your chargeback ratio closely. Pay attention to the number of chargebacks you receive ... if your percentage of chargebacks to total transactions is too high, your merchant account can be cancelled or unsettled funds withheld.
   
   
8. Not using AVS (address verification service) can cost you money. Visa, MasterCard and Discover require the customer's billing address be entered for all card-not-present transactions. If you don't provide it, it will result in a downgraded transaction (resulting in higher fees).
   
   
9. Business owners foot the bill for cardholder reward programs. The banks pass the cost of their cardholder reward programs to businesses through higher interchange fees on reward-based cards.
   
   
10. Tiered merchant account pricing costs you more. You know you have a tiered pricing structure when your processor quotes three different rates: qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified. They suck you in with a super low "qualified" rate ... but what they fail to tell you is that most of your transactions will actually fall into the non-qualified higher rate. Novera Payment Solutions' fixed flat fee merchant program takes the mystery out tiered pricing by offering a single flat rate to save you money.

Get some straight talk and learn why a merchant account including our “flat fee advantage” can be one of the best business decisions you’ll ever make. We are happy to offer a FREE savings analysis to show you how Novera Payment Solutions can save you significant money on your credit card processing fees.

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.

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.

What is an EMV Credit Card?

In light of several recent major data breaches, you may have heard the term "EMV credit card" used in news reports. When it was created, EMV stood for Europay, MasterCard and Visa. It is a global standard for credit cards equipped with computer chips, as well as technology used to authenticate chip-card transactions. Simply put, this technology better protects consumers and makes it more difficult for people to counterfeit cards and commit fraudulent activities.

According to EMV Connection, today EMVCo manages, maintains and enhances the EMV specifications. EMVCo is jointly owned by American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay, and Visa, and includes other organizations from the payments industry participating as technical and business associates. Information on the specifications and organization is available at http://www.emvco.com.

What Makes EMV Cards Different

When you look at your credit card, if you see a small metallic square, that's a computer chip and it is what makes the card an EMV card. The basic difference between traditional credit cards with magnetic stripes and EMV cards with computer chips is that the magnetic strip cards hold static data and the computer chipped EMV cards hold dynamic data.

If the magnetic stripe card is compromised, the data can be used over and over again because it doesn't change. This makes it easy for fraudsters to profit from stolen card holder data. For the EMV card computer chip, with each transaction, a unique transaction code is generated and cannot be used again. That means if the credit card data is stolen from a single sale or transaction, the next time it is used, the card would simply be denied because the transaction code is no longer valid. This makes it much more difficult for nefarious people to profit from stolen card holder data.

What Does this Mean to Me?

For merchants and financial institutions, the switch to EMV means adding new in-store technology and internal processing systems, as well as complying with new liability regulations. For consumers, the switch to EMV means receiving and activating new credit cards and learning new payment processes.

The fundamental difference in the way the cards are used is with the magnetic stripe the consumer swipes the card through a terminal for the data to be read. With the new EMV cards, the consumer will "dip" the card in a terminal slot and wait for it to be processed. It is a little slower than the magnetic stripe swipe, so consumers will need to get accustomed to it. Technology also exists called "contactless card reading" where the consumer taps the card against a terminal scanner to be read. However this "contactless" technology is not as prevalent in the United States as of today.

When is the EMV Shift Going to Happen?

The shift to EMV technology has already started. This first issuance of EMV cards will have both technologies, magnetic stripe and the computer chip, but will ultimately transition to the computer chip only. The deadline set by major U.S. credit card issuers MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express is October 1, 2015. That doesn't mean that EVERYONE is going to be transitioned by then, but what it does mean is that the fraud burden shifts on that date. Any parties not EMV-ready by October 2015 may face much higher costs in the event of a large data breach. Basically the liability will shift to whoever is the least EMV-compliant party in a fraudulent transaction.

Are You Ready for EMV?

Novera Payment Solutions will continue to publish blogs on this topic because it's important for you as a merchant to be aware of your requirements and your potential liabilities. If you have questions about EMV, please don't hesitate to contact us. Our job is make the transition as easy as possible for merchants.

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.