The story of retail has largely been a story of a shift in focus from individual customers to the mass economy, but there’s a push to take everything back to the personal level. Recent studies about consumer preferences indicate that consumers are more receptive to personalized shopping experiences and services. If you can make the […]
BLE and the power of the individual in the mass market [2023 Update] Read More »
What does the research say about consumer reaction to mobile wallets?
How do consumers feel about mobile wallets? Read More »
What does the future hold for mobile wallet applications?
Mobile Wallets and the Future of Payments Read More »
Modern point-of-sale technology has progressed from the cash register to the full-service point-of-sale system, but is it about to progress once more? Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) systems seem to be poised to become the next step in the evolution of merchant technology. Why? mPOS blends the functionality of the POS system with the mobility, familiarity, and
Is mPOS the future of retail? Read More »
In the digital age, people have come to rely on smartphones for many purposes. They’re practically inseparable from one another. In what the retail industry views as a natural progression from accessing calls, texts, and emails, consumers are also using their smartphones as part of the shopping process. In a new report by G/O Digital
Smartphones drive the retail experience [2024 Update] Read More »
Point of sale systems are ubiquitous today. Restaurants, retail stores, online merchants, and even independent vendors all use them. Why? POS systems reduce labor costs, improve transaction accuracy, and allow merchants to integrate many features into one customer relationship management (CRM) package. For example, they enable gift and loyalty cards and facilitate personalized advertising. The
A new age of affordable POS Read More »
EMV Smart Cards are an inevitability. They are coming, they will be standard, and the United States is going to have to adjust. The major credit card companies, in preparation for changing the standard have instituted a shift in liability. The fraud liability shift goes into effect on October 1, 2015 for Visa, MasterCard, American
Counterfeit Fraud Liability Read More »
The swipe fee antitrust lawsuit that The Official Merchant Services Blog has been covering for a few years now has an update: Wal-Mart, accusing Visa of excessively high card swipe fees, is suing Visa for $5 billion. The action by Wal-Mart is being taken because Wal Mart opted out of the settlement of the class
Wal-Mart Sues Visa Read More »
On Tuesday, February 25, 2014, Nevada and Delaware lawmakers signed a landmark agreement to join the states together in online poker ventures, potentially increasing payouts for residents who gamble online. The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware established a legal framework for the first authorized interstate
Online Poker in Delaware [2024 Update] Read More »
Apparently the general disdain that people stereotypically have for the DMV is shared by the collective Hacker community. Or maybe local governments still haven’t caught up with the cutting edge of cyber crimes, leaving your sensitive credit card information in danger of virtual theft even while you stand in an agonizingly long line just to
Hax Target: Los Angeles DMV [2023 Update] Read More »
February was the month that the all-seeing eye of the media turned its lidless gaze upon Bitcoin and the craggy peaks of Mt. Gox, the Japanese Bitcoin exchange site. Almost half a billion dollars went missing from Mt. Gox, the exchange was rocked, Bitcoin was scorched, and the site went bankrupt. The Official Merchant Services Blog
The Doom of Mt. Gox [2023 Update] Read More »
Back in November, The Official Merchant Services Blog dove into the Bitcoin currency craze with an in-depth look at Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin, introduced in 2008 by a programmer or group of programmers under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, has no central issuing authority and uses a public ledger to verify encrypted transactions. It is a virtual currency
The Bitcoin Roller Coaster Read More »
According to a story in the payment processing industry periodical Digital Transactions, Heartland Payment Systems Inc. filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against Mercury Payment Systems LLC. The suit alleged deceptive pricing by Mercury allowed Mercury to lure scores of merchants — well, 30 — away from Heartland and attract prospects to Mercury that had been weighing
Heartland Payments Sues Mercury Read More »
The massive data breach at Target is a big shining beacon illuminating exactly how behind the times the United States remains when it comes to credit card security — namely EMV® chip technology. EMV is a worldwide standard for credit and debit card payments based around the use of chip card technology. The acronym stands for Europay, MasterCard,
Can Chip Cards Stop the Hax? [2023 Update] Read More »
Google Wallet dropped NFC Loyalty Points and Gift Cards Google recently announced fundamental changes to its Google Wallet service. On August 21, Google Wallet stopped supporting NFC redemption for gift cards and merchant loyalty points. In these competitive times, more and more businesses have come to rely on loyalty programs to spur consumer activity. By
NFC loyalty down by contact for Google [2023 Update] Read More »
Across the ideological spectrum, business experts agree that the rise of Big Data is rapidly changing modern marketing and sales. In this transformational time, customer intelligence systems are proliferating at a remarkable rate. Although adopting these systems often involves overcoming logistical hurdles, the rewards of sophisticated data gathering are indisputable. Proper customer intelligence is vital
Big Data, Payments And Customer Loyalty – Part Two Read More »
The global economy is deeply affected by the rise of credit card use in emerging markets. As citizens of developing nations gain access to mainstream credit cards, they are empowered to participate more in their national economies and in the global marketplace. Since the world economy is increasingly connected, the growth of credit can produce
Emerging Markets and Credit Cards [2023 Update] Read More »
Businesses in many industries are contributing to the rise of Big Data, a confluence of modern data-gathering mechanisms. Larger hard drives and faster CPUs enable people to gather and analyze vast collections of commercial information. Though Google is the largest and most prominent data-gathering operation, retailers like Amazon and Walmart famously gather and analyze enormous
Big Data, Payments And Customer Loyalty – Part One [2023 Update] Read More »