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PCI Compliance Importance of Staying Compliant

May 8, 2013

The security of cardholder information is important to both your customers and your business. In fact, since 2005, there have more than 1 billion stolen records in over 2,000 separate data breach incidents – with payment card data being the theft target in 48 percent of all breaches in 2011 alone.1 And yet, only 4 percent of all breached organizations were PCI compliant at the time of their data breach.2,3

What Is PCI DSS?

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was created by the major credit card companies as a guideline to help business owners implement the necessary hardware, software and other procedures to guard sensitive credit card and personal information.

The object of becoming compliant with PCI security standards is to help protect sensitive cardholder data from data thieves who are shifting their sights to small merchants because they think they are easier targets. If your business fails to become PCI compliant,3 you could be putting your business at greater risk from the growing threat of payment card data breaches and theft, which may result in substantial penalties (such as fines from banks, regulatory agencies, and card organizations), fraud and charge backs, as well as legal costs and lost customers. (more…)

Preventing Chargebacks 16 Tips to Avoid Potential Chargebacks

May 1, 2013

Most chargeback situations arise at the point of transaction—at the time the transaction is completed—and most can be prevented with a little training.

Consider these 16 tips to avoid potential chargebacks.

1. Do not complete a transaction if the authorization request was declined. Do not repeat the authorization request after receiving a decline.

2. If you receive a “Call” message in response to an authorization request, call your authorization center. Be prepared to answer questions. The operator may ask to speak with the cardholder. If approved, write the authorization code on the sales receipt. If declined, ask the cardholder for another Visa card.

3. If an embossed Visa card is presented for payment, make an imprint for all card-present transactions. If you have a point-of-sale terminal with a magnetic-stripe reader, swipe the card through the reader for every face-to-face transaction. (more…)

How to Create Subject Lines that Get Emails Opened

April 29, 2013

With all the work that goes in to creating the perfect email, it’s hard to believe that the effectiveness of your campaign can often come down to a few words in an email subject line. A study conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey and Constant Contact found that 47% of consumers make their decision about whether or not to open emails from business or nonprofits based on the content of the subject line.

That’s nearly half of your customers, clients, supporters, or volunteers who will choose to either open or trash your email based on the subject line alone. It’s a challenge facing all businesses and organizations, but it isn’t one you need to tackle alone. Here are 5 tips to help you create subject lines that get your emails opened.

Keep it short.

When it comes to your subject line, you have only a few seconds to capture their attention. It’s no surprise then that subject lines with less than 50 characters have open rates 12.5% higher than those with 50 or more, and click-through rates are 75% higher. Keep in mind the typical inbox preview pane will only show 30 to 40 characters (the typical mobile device shows around 15 characters). If possible, shoot for 25 to 40 characters or 5 to 8 words. (more…)

Shaping the Future of Credit Cards Four Important Trends

April 25, 2013

As a merchant it is important to keep abreast and know where the future of credit cards is heading. It is with this in mind that we review four important trends of innovation and technological advancement in the credit card space.

Multi-function Cards

A common challenge faced by the global credit card industry is combating attrition and diminishing wallet share, particularly as the use of debit over credit continues to increase. Historically, rewards programs were used to encourage consumers to choose a particular card over another. As these programs decrease in perceived value, issuers are searching for another tactic to encourage customer loyalty. One way is with a single, multi-function card.

Multi-function cards have the capability of giving the holder access to multiple accounts on a single plastic. The most common multi-function card structure gives consumers the ability to access both a debit and credit account on the same card. While multi-function capability has generally been used to enable consumers to choose between credit and debit accounts, the functionality can also allow different categories of accounts or different modes of credit to be accessed. (more…)

Reducing Fraud and Increasing Data Security Top 10 Tips to Help Keep Your Data Safe

April 23, 2013

Your customers expect you to keep their personal cardholder data safe – not an unreasonable expectation and merchants must take it seriously. Such protection requires merchants to make an ongoing commitment to human and monetary resources, including new technologies, stronger policies and continuous diligence.

*NOTE: The following list is a selection of suggestions only and not intended to be an exhaustive or comprehensive list of data security tips.

Ensure your business is PCI DSS compliant

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) establishes and enforces security requirements for it constituents.
Ongoing compliance with the PCI DSS (Data Security Standard) is the critical first step towards a successful data security program.

Review how data is used in your payments system

Before you can protect it, you must understand the ins and outs of the confidential data in your system: (more…)