We’ve been working hard the past 7 months at The Official Merchant Services Blog to offer our readers a knowledge base — a place to come frequently to get clear and useful information about the payment processing industry. But we’re always looking to take things a step further. We want to offer more information and […]
Host Merchant Services finally gets to make this announcement official: All mobile payment solutions the company offers now feature both iPhone and Android compatibility. On February 28, 2012 Host Merchant Services teased through its Facebook Page that it would have big news regarding HMS and Mobile Payments in March. But technical difficulties with the full release of Payfox’s Android solution held the
Android Phone Now Takes Payments Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog has a quick follow up to its ongoing coverage of the Global Payments Data Breach. The past two entries in our blog have taken a sweeping look at the big picture of data breaches and PCI DSS and how effective those security standards are. PCI Compliance is a topic
Data Breach Solutions Read More »
Host Merchant Services is stepping up its game in terms of E-Commerce, and The Official Merchant Services Blog has the scoop. HMS, the premier provider of payment processing and e-commerce services for small and medium businesses has an edge in terms of E-Commerce. The company was founded by CEO Lou Honick, who previously spent 11 years
Focus on E-Commerce [2023 Update] Read More »
Spring Fever has gripped Host Merchant Services. The premier provider of payment processing and e-commerce services for small businesses and medium businesses has gotten its own radio advertisement produced. The ad will run WDEL 1150 AM all this month during Philadelphia Phillies spring training game broadcasts. The ad is part of a sponsorship program HMS
HMS and the Phillies Read More »
The Entrepreneurial Studies Program and the Entrepreneurship Club at the University of Delaware will continue their successful and informative Free Lunch Friday series — with a little help from Host Merchant Services CEO Lou Honick. Each Friday at 12:30 p.m., students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the University are welcome to attend a 15
HMS CEO Speaks at College Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog has just learned that Visa and MasterCard are planning to add new processing fees in the coming months — fees specifically targeted toward Debit Card Swipe transactions. These new fees, which we are consolidating and dubbing as “Card Association Fees” are going to complicate the pricing process for Merchant Services
Visa, MasterCard Add New Fees Read More »
Today’s blog is coming to you straight from Host Merchant Services. We received in our mail today a brand spanking new copy of the 2012 BBB Buyer’s Guide: A Directory of BBB Accredited Businesses in Delaware. Hotness! Lo and behold, Host Merchant Services is included in their directory. There we are, page 19, under the
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is going to step off its SOPA soap box and return to a much more focused and specific topic — Partial Payment Authorization. In November, 2011 Partial Payment Authorization was mandated by MasterCard and Discover. This mandate requires merchants to support partial payments on their terminals. Host Merchant Services
Partial Payments Reminder Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog discusses a fascinating new development by Visa in the realm of credit card processing, security, and hopefully Mobile Payment Technology. Smart cards have been slow in gaining traction, especially in the United States. But now Visa is making moves to drag the U.S. into the chip card realm, kicking
Visa Kicks Open the Door for Chip Cards Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is here to talk about merchant accounts — specifically ways for business owners to maximize their usage of their merchant accounts. The Basics First we’ll address the most basic element of the topic: What is a merchant account? A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows
HMS: Merchant Account Advice Read More »
Attention Merchants. The Official Merchant Services Blog has been made aware of an e-mail based Phishing campaign designed to trick individuals into providing login credentials for their credit card processing — specifically one of the payment gateways that a merchant uses. The e-mail generally has a subject title of “Annual Agreement Renewal” and the body
Phishing Scam Alert Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog gives the floor exclusively to Host Merchant Services. The topic being Partnerships and what the company offers with its partnership programs. What are Partnership Programs? The bulk of the payment processing providers out there offer individual services directly to merchants and their specific businesses. Host Merchant Services, the premier
Host Merchant Services Partnerships [2023 Update] Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is playing a bit of catch up. The story we’re going to highlight and discuss is almost three weeks old. It was intended to run earlier, but technical difficulties with the blog’s production kept it from appearing until now. However, we feel the story is still worth some attention
Finding Quality Merchant Services [2023 Update] Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog is back from its brief holiday. Thank you for keeping up with us. We have a couple of treats to share with our readers today, though the posting is going to be brief. Host Merchant Services is gearing up its site and its services for the coming of 2012, including
Stop Online Piracy Act Sparks Unity? Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog shines its spotlight today on Discover –– notably Discover Financial’s strong fourth quarter earnings predictions that are making news. On December 13, Business Week reported that a strong holiday shopping season would spark a boost in Discover Financial’s fourth quarter earnings. As the article portended: “The Riverwoods, Ill.-based credit card
Discover’s Strong Fourth Quarter Read More »
In the wake of yesterday’s blog about beefed up account security during the holiday season, The Official Merchant Services Blog is going to highlight Host Merchant Services‘ new strategic partnership with HostMySite.com. New Survey Shows PCI Still Lax The partnership is fueled by PCI Compliance, which is an important topic right now. We’ve previously cited
E-Commerce: Partnership Highlights PCI Security Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog continues it’s two-part epic delving into the details of what VeriFone Terminals –– specifically the Vx series –– can do. Our previous blog dealt primarily with the features of the Evolution branding and what that has done to enchance and change Vx terminals. Today, we see how that branding has
Part Two: VeriFone’s Vx Terminals Read More »