The Official Merchant Services Blog has been covering the basics of payment processing, offering insight and tips on the general topics of the credit card and debit card transaction industry for merchants. Today we’re going to go a little deeper, and delve into a nuts and bolts topic: payment terminals. This kicks off the first […]
A Look at VeriFone’s Vx Evolution Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog is here to share information with merchants to get them better prepared to understand how the payment processing industry works. This premise stems from Host Merchant Services and its philosophy to bring trust to the industry. Payment processing can be confusing. And nowhere is that more evident than in a
Merchant Services: Statement Sleuth Read More »
Black Friday is just hours away. The big sales, and the huge discounts are all locked and loaded. But for now, The Official Merchant Services Blog is going to take a moment to pause. The calm before the storm. We would like to wish everyone following our blog a very happy Thanksgiving holiday! So while
Happy Thanksgiving from Host Merchant Services Read More »
A previous post by The Official Merchant Services Blog featured a story about what credit card companies are doing to make themselves the more alluring choice instead of debit during this holiday shopping season. Today’s post is a bit of a follow up to that, with a specific program that one credit card company is
Merchant Services: Discover on Discover Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog has been following Google+ and its beta for awhile now. We previously detailed the potential upside of Google+ for small businesses in this blog entry. The major setback to Google+ for businesses at that point time was that Google hadn’t fully allowed businesses to function in Google+. That changed three
Google+ is Here for Businesses [2023 Update] Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog has two news items related to Host Merchant Services and the transaction processing industry to announce today. PCI Compliance Initiative First, Host Merchant Services would like to announce its PCI Compliance Initiative is kicking into high gear with a new special offer from its partner HostMySite.com. Host Merchant Services is
Merchant Services News Briefs Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog completes its three-part series on Payment Gateways. Today’s installment discusses the pricing structure of Payment Gateways and takes a detailed look at the pricing options for the Payment Gateway Solutions that Host Merchant Services offers. What Are the Costs of Payment Gateways? The costs that you will have to pay
Payment Gateways Part 3: Cost Comparison Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog continues its series on Payment Gateways. Yesterday’s blog dealt with the basic question of why your business would want a Payment Gateway in the first place. It also looked at the basic setup and costs of a Payment Gateway and some of the differences in the Payment Gateway options that
Payment Gateways Part 2: How They Work Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog delves into Payment Gateways today. We’re going to examine the pros that exist for businesses in using Payment Gateways to establish an online business presence and accept online payments. We also detail some of the basic questions you want to ask yourself about e-commerce, why you want an e-commerce presence
Payment Gateways: How They Help Your Business Read More »
A really short entry in The Official Merchant Services Blog today. More of a news flash for merchants: Effective October 15, 2011, Visa introduces the Consumer Credit Card Charity Interchange Rate Program for charitable organizations –– which specifically only refers to organizations with the Merchant Category Code (MCC) of 8398, Charitable and Social Service Organizations
Interchange Change For Charities Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog continues it’s two-part series on Tiered Pricing vs. Interchange Plus. After yesterday’s blog defined what Three-Tier pricing looks like, we now take a closer look at how it falls apart and does not save merchants money. Then we’ll outline Interchange Plus pricing and highlight why Host Merchant Services uses this
Tiered vs. Interchange Plus Part 2 Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is going to delve into the murky world of hidden fees and tiered pricing plans. This is the first in a two-part series and it focuses on Tiered Pricing. Host Merchant Services offers an Interchange Plus pricing plan. The company offers this plan because of its transparency and the savings
Tiered Pricing vs. Interchange Plus Read More »
According to a study by Verizon, 79% of organizations were not fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) in their initial audit in 2010. That’s about the same level as the previous year, the first year the study was done. This is distressing news since PCI Compliance is extremely important
Merchants are Slacking on Security Read More »
The people in Washington aren’t exactly popular these days, and mostly for good reason. Unemployment is high, the so-called economic recovery is weak, and small businesses are hurting. However, another round of stimulus is on its way, and this time it might just work. Even better, this stimulus comes at the expense of banks that
Why the Durbin Amendment Got it Right [2023 Update] Read More »
Today is the day. October 1, 2011 the changes brought on by the Durbin Amendment take effect. The Official Host Merchant Services Blog has been running its Countdown to Durbin series leading up to today. We end our series with one last gallop through the media coverage of the law. Durbin Amendment Costs People Their
Durbin Amendment Is Here Read More »
Host Merchant Services attended the 10th Annual Tabletop Networking Mixer last night hosted by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. The event was a blast. We were able to reach out to many local businesses and showcase the savings and improvements our company can bring to area merchants. HMS’ entire executive staff attended, as well
Networking with Host Merchant Services [2023 Update] Read More »
Here are a couple of questions asked on entrepenuer.com in an article titled How Can I Streamline My E-Commerce Operation? The questions asked were: Is it possible to allow customers who have an account on my website to pay with the click of a button without having to fill out their credit card information each
HMSExpress is the answer Read More »
The e-commerce industry’s existence hinges on thriving and healthy online credit card processing. People who own businesses today utilize online payment gateways and online credit card processing because of an increasing number of consumers that shop online and own credit cards. Here are some points outlining the advantages of obtaining online credit card services like
Advantages of Online Credit Card Processing Read More »