Samsung Pay

“Since its introduction last year, Samsung Pay has changed the way people pay and use their smartphones”

Greg Blackman/Samsung Pay

A key advantage Samsung Pay has over its Apple counterpart is the fact that it works with older card readers by emulating the magnetic stripe on the back of cards. That means merchants don’t need to upgrade or change their current terminals – a hurdle that will likely put off smaller vendors.

Furthermore, this year Samsung Pay will start expanding on a global scale beginning with China in March, followed by Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the U.K. later in the year. Additionally, Canada will be added to the new launch road-map.

Apple Pay

Meanwhile Apple Pay, and to a larger extent Apple, has been taking some hits in recent months. First, it was deposed by Google’s parent company as the world’s biggest company. Then it became clear that the company’s iPhones, which account for 60 per cent of the revenue, were facing a slowdown in sales causing its share to drop by 8 per cent in a year to February.

More recently, the firm announced that Apple Pay would go live in China on 18 February. While a massive coup if it can pull it off, it looks to be an uphill battle. The American company allegedly blinked first in negotiations with Chinese banks, which led to a deal being secured that will see the company earn just half of what it earns in the US for every Apple Pay transaction in China, according to The Cult of Mac.

 

China is an important market for Apple, but in payments the firm is trying to break into a market where one company has a powerful monopoly over consumers’ digital spending, with Alipay commanding a formidable share of the market. Meanwhile, Apple’s technology is different.  Upon the actual launch, reports emerged that showed it didn’t go as planned. Due to the vast amount of people signing up to the service, Apple’s servers simply crashed. Not an encouraging start.

However, none of this is as significant as the problem that Apple still hasn’t resolved in its established markets: people are simply not using Apple Pay. In Australia, that’s pretty much because the major banks are very much against it, instead preferring to use their own services. In the US, only one in five people who have an iPhone that supports Apple Pay actually even tried the service. Of the people who use the service, over half (56 per cent) actually said they don’t use it more than once a week.

But all of these are no more than guesstimates as Apple itself is keeping mum on the matter. But since that is all we have, one more can’t hurt: whereas Samsung officially confirmed that it has five million registered users, we estimates that Apple Pay users around the world total up to three million people.

It will be interesting to see how Apple fares in China, not only against the established players, but very soon against its bitter rival. Will China be the stage where one of Apple and Samsung deals a decisive blow?

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that provide payment processing, small business loans services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

Visa expands Tokenization service in Europe

Visa Europe today announced the expansion of the Visa Europe Payment Tokenization Service to enable financial institutions and others to integrate Tokenization into a variety of payment methods; including cloud-based mobile payments, retailer-specific checkout offerings and card-on-file payment options as commonly used by leading online retailers and merchants.

“People throughout Europe are encountering innovative new technologies that offer fast and friction-less ways to pay wherever, whenever and on whatever device they choose,”  By 2020, industry projections are for one in five consumers to pay for items using their smartphone on a daily basis and for payments on mobile or tablet to account for more than 50 percent of Visa transactions. Looking at con-tactless as an early indicator, where adoption has doubled and spend has trebled in the last year, we believe this projection could well be a conservative estimate.

 

This move should widen Visa Europe’s existing support for mobile payment that rely on Tokenized information within a mobile device. Tokenization is a random series of numbers that replaces the traditional 16-digit account number linked to a Bankcard.

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that provide payment processing, small business loans services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

Motion Picture Financing

Greg Blackman/Motion Picture Financing

Security First Merchant Services, LLC is appending our corporate funding offerings with motion picture entertainment opportunities across the Continent of the U.S.A. extending financing to high quality motion picture and television production projects. We are based in San Francisco, California for the past 7 years and have solidified a strategic partnership with major name brand banks and private investment firms in our state that offers 100% financing of your quality project.
To garner our consideration and committed credit facility or loan, is subject to the examination of the following information for approval of your submitted entertainment opportunity or projects:

1. Budget and Cash flow schedule.
2. Shooting location and tax credit estimates if, any.
3. Sales agency agreement with a reputable sales agent.
4. Sales sheet with actual sales (we don’t bank estimates only)-sales are required to be in the form of minimum guarantee.
5. Name the Completion Bond company. (FFI, Prosight & Unifi are pre-approved)
6. Financing plan. (meaning: amount of equity already in the picture if, any)
7. Synopsis.

Upon the reception of the above items which can be redacted to 3 items: 1) Synopsis, 2) Distribution Agreement, 3) Letter of Intent from the Completion Bond Company; will allow us to review and contact you on the terms and conditions of the committed credit facility, financing or loan for your motion picture and or television projects. Please feel free to contact us at your convenience with the above information for full consideration of your opportunity.

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans and investment banking funding with a high level of detail and flexibility

Growth through Acquisitions

Greg Blackman/Growth through Acquisitions

CEO’s in the US are showing renewed interest in growth through acquisitions. Find out how Security First Merchant Services and its Strategic Partnership can provide your company with the custom acquisition financing it needs to grow.

This year, we’re seeing private businesses sharpen their focus on growth activities. After several cautious years, more private companies are also showing renewed interest in pursuing growth by acquiring other businesses. Nearly one in five private companies reported plans to grow through acquisition—compared with just roughly one in ten reporting that a year ago.

Financing Your Acquisition

Acquiring a business can be a complex undertaking, and often requires multiple sources of financing. Generally, there are three basic ways, other than cash, to finance your acquisition and grow your business to the next level:

1. Loans against specific business assets

An acquisition often involves the purchase of new business assets, such as buildings or equipment. Security First Merchant Services since 2013 has provided asset-backed loans of $500,000 to $30 million to finance acquisitions and other growth initiatives. Assets that qualify for such loans include accounts receivable, inventory, purchase orders, real estate, machinery and equipment, and even intellectual property.

2. Loans against cash-flow and enterprise value

Security First Merchant Services can arrange growth-capital term loans of up to $50 million. Businesses with a competitive advantage in a fast-growing industry can consider subordinate financing, which may lead to higher loan amounts. Unlike conventional bank loans, this formula allows flexible repayment terms.

3. Equity financing

Security First Merchant Services also participates in and helps businesses source private equity capital to meet a variety of growth objectives, including funding add-on acquisitions. In raising private equity capital, SFMS always make sure the deal structure is appropriate for a client’s specific needs.

Customizing Your Acquisition Financing

Often, the best financing solution for a company is an intelligently structured mix of cash (if available) and debt, with some equity. SFMS and its Strategic Partnership can, structure and provide an optimal combination of a growth capital term loan together with some equity financing. This offers a minimally diluted option to a straight equity raise, allowing you to retain greater ownership of your business.

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans and investment banking funding with a high level of detail and flexibility

Security First Strategic Partnership

 

Greg Blackman/Security First Strategic Partnership

Small and lower middle market businesses are one of the most important engines for wealth creation and economic growth in the world. Since 2013 , Security First Merchant Services, LLC  has been providing prompt, innovative, and reliable financing exclusively for such businesses having annual sales of $1 million to $100 million.
Security First Merchant Services, LLC is a strategic partner of a San Francisco based private investment bank that is a direct lender, co-lender, and lead financial arranger specializing in providing debt and equity for the lower middle market.
Security First Merchant Services, LLC innovative approach through its alliance, allows it to provide the best financing available for companies in excellent financial condition and for those businesses that may have been refused credit by traditional lenders

DIFFERENTIATED, INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRM

• Serving the Small and Lower Middle Market
Security First Merchant Services, LLC Strategic Partner focuses exclusively on providing debt and equity for small and lower middle market businesses. Few firms know more about the needs of these businesses and the resources available to them than our strategic partner. Our private investment bank partner extensive knowledge in this sector size enables it to provide the best possible financing for these businesses.
• Engineering Optimal Financing for Clients
Security First Merchant Services through its private investment bank partner can arrange with full flexibility the engineering of optimal debt and equity financing solutions for all its clients. The small-business lending marketplace is highly fragmented. Finding the most appropriate mix of financing at the best cost, and then coordinating the different specialty lenders to a successful closing, can be a difficult process. In most cases, we have the ability to extend or arrange a single, unitranche loan to vastly simplify the situation.
• Innovative Financial Products
Cash-flow, second-lien, and mezzanine loans are common financial products in the middle market and large-cap marketplace, but are difficult or impossible to find in the small-cap sector. Companies with under $5 million in trailing EBITDA are especially under-served. There is also a visible gap in equipment and real estate term loans, as well as in growth-capital term loans. Security First Strategic Partnership is one of the few investment bank alliances for small and lower middle market businesses that truly bridges these lending gaps.
• Prompt and Efficient Service
Security First Merchant Servies, LLC truly understands the importance of closing quickly for small businesses. Our strategic partners has seasoned deal professionals and a simplified approval process, allowing it to respond swiftly to meet client needs. We will generally produce a range of financing options and terms for your business within a few of days after an interview call.

Lending
DEBT FINANCING SOLUTIONS
Financing Criteria:

Senior Loan Size: $500K to $30M

Subordinate/Junior Loan Size: $500K to $10M

Company EBITDA: $500K Minimum for Subordinate/Junior Loans

Company Type: Private Companies or Publicly Traded
Location: US and Worldwide
Financing Solutions:
• Asset-Based Revolving Lines of Credit-Accounts Receivable, Inventory (Wholesale and Retail), Purchase Orders
• Asset-Based Term Loans-Machinery and Equipment, Intellectual Property, Commercial Real Estate
• Subordinated Debt/Cash-Flow Term Loans-Cash Flow, Criticized Assets
Financing Situations:
• Growth/Hyper-Growth Capital
• Working Capital
• Refinancing
• Dividend Recapitalization
• M&A
• Bridge Loans
• Distressed/Turnaround

Our Funding Process
LOAN FUNDING PROCESS
(25–40 DAYS TO CLOSE)
1) Term Sheet, 2)Executed Term Sheet, 3)Committment Letter 4)Funding

LENDING PROCESS
Clients are frequently locked into an inappropriate financial structure. Security First Merchant Services, LLC strategic partner can efficiently examine every aspect of a business and offer management a choice of the best available pathways to optimal financing. Having both principal capital and detailed, specialized knowledge of the marketplace allows our strategic partner to create financing solutions tailored to the specific needs of its clients.

SBA Loans stalled due to the Government Shutdown

Greg Blackman /SBA Loans stalled due to the Government Shutdown

The government shutdown,is in its third week now, limiting the ability of many small businesses to get government-backed loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The SBA guarantees about $90 to 95 Million Dollars in loans every day which is a substantial portion of small business lending. The shutdown has led the SBA to layoff temporarily about two-thirds of its staff and suspend all major lending programs for small businesses.

SBA Closure Affects Small Businesses

The government shutdown has stalled new SBA loan applications, and is preventing many others from being processed. Lenders are continuing to submit loans to the SBA, but borrowers will have to wait for approvals.

Under the standard process, banks and other lenders must submit loans to the SBA for review and approval before they can be funded. Approving those loans is an involved process, requiring sign offs from multiple private lenders and government agencies.

Lending Machine

When the SBA Resumes Functioning

It is unclear at this stage how long the government shutdown will continue. For the moment, lenders are adding loans to the SBA’s electronic queue to be processed when the agency resumes functioning fully. Thus, even if the government gets back to work in the next few days, the SBA will face a HUGE BACKLOG that could delay many loan approvals by at least six weeks or longer. The longest waits are likely to be for loans that have to go through the standard approval process, either because they were not made by a “preferred lender” or because they require SBA approval to waive a specific loan requirement.

Financing Your Business Needs

If your business is affected by the shutdown, Security First Merchant Services, LLC is able to provide interim funding to bridge the gap between bank approval and SBA funding through its strategic partnerships. Security First Merchant Services Strategic Financing Partnerships specializes in providing innovative and custom debt and equity financing solutions for smaller businesses, including competitive cash flow loans and bridge financing.

sba_wifi

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that provide payment processing, small business loans services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

FREE! POS System Offered [Powered by HarborTouch]

REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR BUSINESS FOR FREE!  THE POINT OF SALE SYSTEM THAT WILL

Greg Blackman /FREE!  POS System Offered [Powered by HarborTouch]

It has never been easier to take advantage of the benefits of a point of sale (POS) system. Harbortouch offers a full-featured POS system without all the hassle or the high cost. We have simplified the process so you can easily transition from your current transaction terminal to a state of the art touchscreen POS system that will streamline your business operations and automate your daily management activities. Harbortouch offers countless time and money saving features that will allow you to focus on what’s important: keeping your customers satisfied and spending!

STREAMLINE YOUR BUSINESS
Combine multiple operations into one easy-to-use application Accept cash, checks, credit and debit directly through your POS system.
*Track inventory and monitor stock depletion
*Manage employee schedules and productivity
*Track employee hours with a built-in time clock
*Comprehensive reports provide a top-level picture of your business

SAVE TIME AND MONEY
Increase checkout efficiency
Inventory tracking minimizes shrinkage
Reduce checkout and pricing errors
Robust reporting saves time and reduces accounting/bookkeeping expenses

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
The Harbortouch POS system is easy to use, easy to maintain and features an extremely durable, high clarity 15″ touch screen display, lightning fast processor and abundant memory. This POS system has a small footprint, allowing you to place it just about anywhere in your business and its rugged design is liquid and tamper resistant. Unmatched in durability and reliability, a Harbortouch POS system will provide a point of sale solution for years to come. Not only that, but every Harbortouch POS system comes with a lifetime warranty! **If the equipment ever breaks or malfunctions, we’ll replace it for free!

TURNKEY SETUP AND EXCEPTIONAL SUPPORT
Each POS system is custom programmed to your specifications
Experienced and certified installation professionals make sure your system is set up correctly the first time
24 hour in-house customer service and technical support, complete with remote support

RETAIL FEATURES
*Monthly service fee and merchant account agreement are required.
**Merchant must maintain merchant account and service agreement for free replacements. Shipping and handling charges apply.

HARBORTOUCH RETAIL
Advanced reporting
Customer database
Inventory tracking
Employee management
Vendor database
Color/size/style matrix
Gift registry and gift receipts
Rentals and consignment
Layaway
Purchase order creation
Employee commissions
Flexible pricing
Integrated payments

CONTACT YOUR HARBORTOUCH SALES REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!
SALES REPRESENTATIVE: Greg Blackman / Joseph Ulmer
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 877-671-2511 [Greg-x 203 /Joseph-x202]
E-MAIL ADDRESS: gblackman@securityfirstms.com /julmer@securityfirstms.com

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that provide payment processing, small business loans services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

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A Layered Approach to Security [Encryption / Tokenization

Greg Blackman / A Layered Approach to Security [Encryption / Tokenization

Several card brands have taken the position that EMV is the preferred way forward for reducing payment card fraud at the point of sale (POS) in the United States. EMV is already an accepted standard in every major market except the U.S., and it has proven its worth in other regions. Recognizing the positive outcomes elsewhere, Visa and MasterCard have announced EMV initiatives in the U.S., with requirements and deadlines that affect merchants, issuers, acquirers/processors, and ATM operators.
Consequently, merchants need to understand the business and security implications of moving to the EMV standard, as well as what EMV will—and won’t—do to help them.
Vulnerabilities that EMV doesn’t address
EMV represents vast improvements over the basic security that is inherent to the decades-old legacy technology of magnetic stripe cards, but is fundamentally designed as an authentication technology rather than a data security technology.
Accordingly, the implementation of EMV alone does not protect the entire payment transaction process. In particular, there are key areas of vulnerability in the payments process that EMV alone does not address: 
1. From the point of card insertion or tap, when the card data is transmitted in the clear to the processor or is later stored by the merchant post-authorization
2. Other transactions where a chip-enabled card is not present.

Credit cards Français : Cartes de crédit Italiano: Carte di credito Русский: Банковские карты Tiếng Việt: Thẻ tín dụng 中文: 信用卡

I- Currently, in the majority of both EMV and non-EMV transactions, payment card information is sent from the point-of capture to the acquirer/processor “in the clear,” i.e., in an unencrypted form. Historically, when the majority of transactions traversed private phone lines, this was less problematic. However, as more and more terminals and point-of-sale systems have begun using Internet technology for data transmission, the ability to capture that data “in flight” has been exploited by criminals to steal millions of card numbers from unsuspecting merchants. While a dynamic cryptogram provides some level of protection, the payment card information still travels in the clear and could theoretically be counterfeited onto a magnetic stripe or used in a card-not-present environment. The primary method of eliminating this form of attack is to encrypt the payment card information at the point-of-capture, rendering the data unusable to thieves.

TAP

II- EMV is designed for instances where a payment instrument is presented in person. Recall from the definition of EMV above that the smart chip in the card (or fob or phone) must connect with a reader in the POS terminal. The connection can either be physical (i.e., touching) or wireless using near-field communication (NFC) technology over distances of mere inches. As a result, EMV does not address the fraudulent use of payment data when there is no direct connection, such as when the data is entered into an eCommerce application or given over the phone or through the mail—in other words, card-not-present situations.
Step ONE Encrypt:
The point-of-capture can be the swipe of a mag-stripe card; the insertion, tap or wave of a chip-enabled card or other payment instrument; or the manual entry of data into a terminal (such as when a sales clerk types the account number) or into a web-based form (such as for eCommerce). Once encrypted, any data that may be intercepted within the merchant’s POS system or during transmission to the acquirer/processor cannot be used without the master key, which itself is safely stored in the processor’s vault.
Encryption of either the data itself or the transmission path the data takes along the network, or both, can vastly reduce
the vulnerability of the data, which in turn reduces a merchant’s business risks.
Step TWO Tokenize:
Tokenization, returns a “token” to the merchant in lieu of the live credit card number in the authorization response. Tokenization is the process of replacing sensitive data with surrogate values that remove risk but preserve value to the business. To tokenize a payment transaction, the PAN is sent to a centralized and highly secure server called a “vault” where it is stored securely in a PCI-compliant environment. Immediately after authorization from the card issuer, a random, unique, token number is generated and returned to the merchant’s systems for use in place of the PAN.

Tokenization

Closing:

Merchants are a primary target for criminals intent on stealing payment card information. Regardless of the possible future implementation of EMV, there remains an immediate need for increased security in the merchant community. There are viable solutions available today that enhance security and reduce fraud risk in our payment systems. These solutions can be implemented independently of EMV today, and should be utilized in combination with EMV when it becomes standard.
Security First Merchant Services offers a single source for the most in-demand business financial services; small business loans,  provide payment processing
 

Related articles

• Visa Expands U.S. Roadmap for EMV Chip Adoption to Include ATM and a Common Debit Solution (sacbee.com)

Plastic for Smartphones??

Greg Blackman / Plastic for Smartphones??

Mobile payments may be where things are headed, but most Americans are still holding tight to their debit and credit cards.

According to a Harris Poll of 2,383 adults, only 4% had used a smartphone to pay for a purchase. Another 8% had seen someone else pull out their smartphone at the register. Even though they aren’t using them much now, two-thirds of those surveyed believe that smartphone payments will replace credit and debit cards for most purchases in the future.

Who and when?

That future is more than five years down the road according to the 67% of respondents that said plastic cards are going the way of the dinosaurs. When asked if this will happen in the next five years, only 32% said yes. And many of them don’t see it in the picture for themselves. Only 16% of current smartphone users said they were “very interested” in using their phones to process payments.

Predictably, younger people were more excited about the possibility of using their phones to make payments. The study grouped respondents into four age demographics – Echo Boomers (18-35), Gen Xers (36-47), Baby Boomers (48-66), and Matures (67 and older). The youngest group, Echo Boomers, is the most likely to make use of smartphone payments options, with 40% of them expressing interest compared to only 18% of Baby Boomers.

A diagram showing the reverse side of a typical credit/debit card. (1) is the magnetic stripe. (2) is the signature strip (3) is the CVC2 code.

Men and women also differed in their responses, with 32% of men interested in smartphone payments compared to only 22% of women. People with children were slightly more interested as well – 38% of parent surveyed as compared to 22% for childless households said they were interested in the new technology.

Concerns about security not the only issue

As they anticipate a card and cashless future, many people are worried about security, though that was not the only reason cited as a deterrent. Survey participants who were not interested in paying with smartphones gave the following reasons for their disinterest (results do not add up to 100% because multiple responses were allowed):

• 52%  Content with cash and cards, see no reason to switch
• 51%  Worried about storing private information on phone
• 50%  Don’t even use a smartphone
• 40%  Worried about transmitting personal information to merchant devices

Mobile payments on the horizon

Apple iPhone 3GS, Motorola Milestone and LG GW60.

Although consumers have yet to fully embrace the mobile wallet trend, new digital wallet apps are being developed every day. The idea of being able to leave wallets at home and use a phone instead may only interest 30% of the folks surveyed, but consumers are unlikely to be able to resist the wave of the future. Just as debit cards replaced checkbooks for the most part, mobile payments may eventually replace wallets.

Security First Merchant Services is YOUR Singular Source for payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

Small Business Owners Common views on Data Security

Small business owners may think they can’t afford the time or the money necessary to ensure their business is compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. The fact is, they can’t afford not to as data thieves are increasingly targeting small businesses.

Excuse: Data thieves aren’t interested in my small business. They go after the big guys.

Nearly 80 percent of the small merchants in a resent survey felt they had no risk or very little risk of a data compromise however, their confidence is misguided. Hackers and data thieves originally focused on merchants with the highest transaction volumes, those retailers have made the effort to become PCI DSS compliant. In turn, data thieves are focusing on easier targets; such as small businesses and using automated tools to probe for vulnerabilities.

The understanding isn’t there that it’s not a personal attack, but an automated attack where these technologies are actually fishing through the Internet or fishing through payment systems to find those that are vulnerable; simple.

More and more small merchants have their payment functions connected to the Internet, they’re increasingly vulnerable.

Small businesses owners may think “I’m just a small mom-and-pop store. Why would anyone attack me?”It’s not that hackers are going after Simbo Foods convenience store. They are simply creating an automated tool or tools that probe the Internet and if Simbo Foods convenience store has a vulnerability they’ll pounce on the merchant.”

More proof that you’re at risk? In a June 2012 communique from Visa; Visa said that 97 percent of the data breaches in the USA reported to the company in 2011 occurred at small merchants.

PCI Data Security Standard

Excuse: If the big guys can’t stop them, Neither can I.

Whether a retailer is large or small, hackers look for easy access to data. For example, they’re more likely to go after merchants who don’t use strong passwords.

Hackers are not going to spend countless hours trying to break into a small merchant,  If the merchants protect themselves with some basic components, they’re not going to be 100 percent bullet proof however, they will have taken a step that will significantly mitigate a breach event.

Excuse: PCI DSS compliance is too complicated.

67 percent of eCommerce merchants were knowledgeable about PCI DSS; only 51 percent of brick-and-mortar merchants said they were familiar with it. But only half of those who know about PCI DSS actually validate that they are compliant. The rest state they don’t understand it, don’t have the resources to handle it or are still working on it.

Business owners can learn more about PCI DSS by talking to companies that specialize in it or by consulting with their own service providers.

Security First Merchant Services, LLC  look at that as a key role for us hence, our company name. We do everything in our power to educate and to reinforce the critical need for PCI compliance.  As part of standard pricing, for example: SFMS offers its customers the resources to help all merchants make their credit card processing much more secure.

However, we can’t do it for the merchants; merchants must be willing to invest a short amount of time to gain some basic understanding of the concept of data security.

Data storage – old and new

Excuse: PCI DSS compliance is too expensive.

Data breach would cost a lot more; merchant’s direct costs of recovering from a security breach average $194 per stolen record. So if a data thief stole roughly 200 customer records, your costs could be almost $39,000 in total

The costs of becoming PCI DSS compliant will vary according to merchant;s size and the type of retail business they’re running.

Placing a lock on the backend of your business to secure your data by complying with PCI DSS isn’t much different from, physically securing your store.

In closing, You wouldn’t trust your neighbors not to come into your store if you didn’t put a lock on it, you’d invest in a lock and may be a security system as well and write it off as another cost of doing business; Contact your Security First Merchant Services Account Executive today ~ 877-671-2511.

Security First Merchant Services,LLC~Computer Security

Security First Merchant Services is YOUR Trusted Financial Services for Small Businesses and Individuals.

Security First Merchant Services is a One Stop business focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

Trends in Mobile Shopping by Verifone

Greg Blackman / Trends in Mobile Shopping

Mobile shopping is expected to increase dramatically in the next couple of years and retailers are getting ready.
According to a new report by Juniper Research, the number of customers buying items via mobile devices is predicted to increase by almost 50 percent over the next two years.

This year’s number of mobile shoppers (approximately 393 million) will jump to 580 million by the end of 2014. Some restraints still do exist, the majority of retailer sites are not optimized for mobile browsing and customers are concerned about transaction security.

A separate study by Yankee Group, asked retailers “Is your organization currently able to accept credit or debit card payments via mobile exchange for goods or services rendered (meaning your employees can accept payment in person using an accessory or attachment for card swipes)?, they answered:

0% – Do not understand the question
20% – Considering deployment, but no definite/immediate time frame
23% – Already deployed
25% – Plan to deploy within the next 12 months
32% – Not deployed and no plans

Mobile App Launch Party attendees line up to have the pre-release app loaded onto their mobile devices by app developer Jeremy of Spark design.

Security First Merchant Services offers mobile solutions that are secure and enable merchants to break free from the confines of just four walls for mobile retail activities.  Visit securityfirstms.com to learn more about  our preferred Mobile Retailing and Mobile POS.

iPhone Mobile Payment 100 Euro

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

Your eWallet or Mobile Payment Boundaries

Greg Blackman / Your eWallet/Mobile Payment Boundaries

The last few months have been notable for a wave of new eWallet launches, while the Mobile Payment Solutions that were launched in the last year are already being refined and tweaked to adapt to what is becoming a rapidly evolving space.

If recent statistics are to be believed, we have already passed the tipping point of consumer smartphone adoption, and as consumers increasingly interact with their smartphones, this will undoubtedly have an impact on how they pay with their phones.

Logo of Groupon

While these eWallets have different characteristics and different technology backbones, they are all competing for the same consumers. The eWallet wars are most definitely heating up especially with Groupontossing their hat into frey just a few hours ago, but who will be the victors? Will they be tried-and-tested financial services organisations that consumers trust?

PCI Data Security Standard

The mobile payments space, the budding mobile POS area is also becoming increasingly competitive. As merchants baulk at paying to replace existing POS terminal infrastructures, mobile phone card acceptance devices are proving to be cost-effective alternatives for the merchants.

What does this mean for the eWallet or Mobile POS Terminal Industry?

Fraud in the payments industry remains an ever-present threat and we are most definitely in a new era of cyber-crime, as organised criminal gangs or individuals plot new ways to breach payment industry security defences. There is clearly a need for different payment players, and don’t forget to thank Heartland for our new PCI Compliance and Data Security Standards every time you are charged a PCI compliance Fee or is required by your current processor to upgrade your Credit Card Terminal so that you are compliant;  indeed we welcome new players, to share more information in order to identify emerging fraud patterns and reassure consumers that our industry is much more secure today than yesterday.

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

EMV=Europay, MasterCard & Visa AKA the Chip Card

Greg Blackman / EMV=Europay, MasterCard & Visa AKA the Chip Card

Since the Summer Olympics of 1992 when I first joined the ranks; the “Smart Chip” as many in our industry coined it back then stated that Americans love their privacy too much to allow the introduction of this technology into our market place.  Just a few hours ago MasterCard has announced that in Oct. 2016 it will start shifting fraud liability for ATM transactions in the U.S.The liability shift is an extension of the  that MasterCard introduced last January, and will apply a road-map towards EMV adoption to all transactions with MasterCard branded products in the U.S.

MasterCard logo used on cards 1997 to present.

EMV-enabled cards are acknowledged to be more secure and fraud-proof than the magnetic stripe technology used by most credit cards in the U.S. Card companies, including MasterCard, have started announcing that they will not be held liable for fraud associated charges after a certain date for magnetic stripe cards in a move to push merchants, issuers and acquirers to introduce necessary hardware and software upgrades to enable acceptance of EMV’s. This announcement is intended to push for the similar upgrades to enable EMV at ATM’s that accept MasterCard branded products.

It is here and it is here to stay

The EMV standards define the interaction at the physical, electrical, data and application levels between IC cards and IC card processing devices for financial transactions. There are standards based on ISO/IEC 781 for contact cards, and standards based onISO/IEC 14443 for contactless cards (PayWave, PayPass, ExpressPay).

The first standard for payment cards was the Carter Bancaire M4 from Bull-CP8 deployed in France in 1986 followed by the B4B0′ (compatible with the M4) deployed in 1989.  Germany also predates EMV. EMV was designed to allow cards and terminals to be backwardly compatible with these standards. France has since migrated all its card and terminal infrastructure to EMV.

The most widely known Chip Card Implementations of EMV standard are:

• VSDC- Visa
• M/Chip – MasterCard
• AEIPS – American Express
• J Smart – JCB
• D-PAS – Discover/Diners Club International (it is a shame that the card that started this Industry isn’t here for this phase; Diners)
  

  HSBC BankCard

Visa and MasterCard have also developed standards for using EMV cards in devices to support card-not-present transactions over the telephone and Internet. MasterCard has the Chip Auth. Program(CAP) for secure e-commerce. Its implementation is known as EMV-CAP and supports a number of modes. Visa has the Dynamic Password Authentication (DPA) scheme, which is their implementation of CAP using different default values.

A chip from a credit card, with a normal sized pin for scale

In February 2010 computer scientists from Cambridge University demonstrated that an implementation of EMV PIN entry is vulnerable to a man in the middle breach; however, the way PIN’s are processed depends on the capabilities of the card and the terminal, showing that attacks against card security are possible depending on the implementation.

In May 2010, a press release  indicated that United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York would become the first EMV card issuer in the US, offering an EMV Visa credit card to its customers.

Chip and PIN vs. Chip and signature

According to issuer preference, some EMV cards are “chip and PIN” cards that require the customer to supply a 4-to-6 digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) when making a purchase at PIN-capable terminals. The chips in these cards feature “PIN” at the top of the list of possible cardholder verification methods (CVM), but with a fallback option to signature (or even no verification at unattended terminals).

Other EMV cards are either signature-only or prefer signature over PIN in their CVM list (signature at the POS, but PIN at unattended terminals or ATMs). These are often called “chip and signature” cards.

Signature-only cards will not work in POS that allow no CVM other than PIN, such as some unattended ticket kiosks in Europe, whereas signature-preferring cards might work. Attended POS which are staffed by merchant personnel are required by the credit card agreement to accept magnetic stripe cards, as well as chip and signature cards. Chip and PIN cards have not been adopted in the US as of 2012 for a variety of reasons, including lack of PIN management features in ATM machines.

ING BankCard

As of 2012, chip and signature cards are more common in the Australia, New Zealand and some European countries (such as Germany, Austria and Denmark), whereas chip and PIN cards are more common in other European countries (the UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands) as well as in Canada.

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

American Express OnePoint

Greg Blackman / American Express OnePoint

Since American Express issues merchant accounts directly, the company also governs its own discount rates. Therefore, the rate that a business pays to accept an American Express card will remain the same regardless of the credit card processor it uses to process Visa, MasterCard and Discover transactions.

A credit card processor that claims to offer lower American Express credit card processing fees than its competition is simply being misleading. American Express sets its own discount rates which are exactly the same for all credit card processors.

English: no original description (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American Express operates on a closed loop network. This means that American Express issues credit cards directly to its cardholders, and opens merchant accounts directly for business that accept its cards.

The closed loop network of American Express gives the company a competitive advantage over open loop networks like Visa and MasterCard.

Unlike American Express, Visa and MasterCard do not issue or acquire credit cards. Instead, these companies maintain an open network that allows various issuing and acquiring banks to communicate in order to facilitate the credit card processing system.

It’s easiest to think of American Express’s closed loop network as a dictatorship, and the open loop network of Visa and MasterCard as a democracy.

Since American Express does not have to answer to any other financial institution for issuing or acquiring, the company is free to set its discount rates at whatever level the market will bear. This is why businesses pay significantly more to process American Express credit cards than they do to process MasterCard or Visa credit card transactions.

American Express? (Photo credit: the justified sinner)

American Express Discount Rates

American Express discount rates are based largely on a business’s Merchant Category Code (MCC). Unlike Visa and MasterCard interchange fees, American Express discount rates have relatively few qualification factors.

American Express discount rates for retail stores and restaurants will downgrade (meaning the rate increases) if a transaction is keyed-in rather than swiping a card, but most rates are the same regardless of transaction method.

American Express does not charge a credit transaction fees and a discount rate for every industry category. Many rates consist of a percentage-base charge (discount rate) without a transaction fee (flat dollar amount, i.e. $0.10).

However, virtually all credit card processing service will charge a fee to process American Express transactions through their network. So, even if American Express does not charge a transaction fee directly, a business will inevitably have to pay a transaction fee to its credit card processor for processing American Express transactions.

The following table outlines basic American Express discount rates. Keep in mind that discount rates are subject to change, and you should check with American Express, or your credit card processor for the latest rate information.

American Express (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Business Type	American Express Discount Rate & Transaction Fee
Fast Food Restaurant	3.50%
Lodging	3.50%
Mail Order & Internet	3.50%
Restaurant *	3.50% plus a $0.05 Transaction Fee
Telecommunications	3.50%
Other Transportation	3.50%
Independent Gas Stations	3.25%
Retail *	2.89% plus a $0.10 Transaction Fee*
Services, Wholesale & All Other	2.89% plus $0.15 Transaction Fee*
Office-based Doctor, Dentist, Orthodontist	2.55%
Healthcare not office-based	2.89% plus $0.15 Transaction Fee
Tuition	2.40%
Supermarket	2.30%
* A surcharge of 0.30% will apply to transactions that are not swiped. For example, keyed-in, e-commerce and other card-not-present transactions will be charged a discount fee of 3.80% instead of 3.50%

English: A typical credit card terminal that is still popular today. visanet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American Express Settlement

In addition to charging hefty discount rates, American Express transactions take longer to settle when compared to Visa and MasterCard. This means that deposits for American Express credit card sales take longer to show up in your business checking account than deposits for Visa and MasterCard sales.

Barring a processor-imposed risk hold, Visa and MasterCard transactions are generally settled within 24-48 hours, meaning that deposits will show in your business checking account 24-48 hours after approved authorizations are sent to the processor for settlement.

With the exception of American Express OnePoint, which we will shortly; American Express transactions typically take almost twice as long to settle as Visa and MasterCard transactions. Deposits will generally take three to seven business days to show up in your business checking account.

English: American Express – Italy HQ (Rome) Italiano: American Express – Sede per l’Italia (Roma) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American Express OnePoint

American Express OnePoint is a program offered by American Express that makes it possible for participating processor to streamline the authorization, settlement and reporting of American Express processing volume.

The main advantages to American Express OnePoint are faster settlement of American Express transactions and reporting that is easier to reconcile.

American Express OnePoint makes it possible for a processor to settle American Express processing volume along with Visa, MasterCard and Discover volume. Instead of receiving a separate, delayed deposit for American Express transactions, all credit card sales are sent in a single deposit in the time it takes to settle Visa and MasterCard volume. This means that American Express volume settles roughly one to four days faster through OnePoint than it does with a traditional American Express merchant account.

OnePoint also streamlines the reporting of American Express volume. Instead of receiving a separate statement for American Express transactions, OnePoint makes it possible for a processor to report the card volume and charges for Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express on a single monthly statement.

Seinfeld and Superman walking in “A Uniform Used to Mean Something.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Security First Merchant Services is a business-focused payment solutions company that strives to provide payment processing, small business loans, and credit repair services with a high level of detail and flexibility.

Give yourself a raise every day

Give yourself a raise every day.

Security First Merchant Services, LLC

Security First Merchant Services, LLC is looking for experienced sales professionals to join our team who will develop new merchant processing relationships with small to medium size businesses. This role will acquire new merchant services relationships through prospecting external sources such as association relationships, centers of influence and vendor relationships among others. This position will be responsible for developing a strong pipeline for new revenue growth as well as developing and maintaining relationships with existing accounts and strategic accounts to identify/solicit new revenue growth opportunities that support mutual Small Business goals.

This position provides an aggressive compensation plan [Bonuses Paid Weekly, Monthly in addition to Residuals] – top performers can earn total compensation in the six figures within the first year. Minimum Qualifications High School Diploma (Associate’s Degree or Bachelor’s Degree preferred) 1-2 years of sales experience (preferably in Merchant, Bankcard or Financial Services) Previous client…

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