The pandemic has been hard on almost all business owners and consumers across the world. With people losing their jobs and expenses rising, millions of consumers have been going through a financial crisis for the last 10-12 months. Such wide economic gaps are compelling buyers to trim their shopping lists and finding better ways to […]
Installment Plans Gain Traction Among Consumers, Predicted to Grow in 2021 Read More »
Last month, a bank in Rhode Island bank was given an application for a $144,050 loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). PPP is an enormous federal effort that is designated to assist many small businesses that are severely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. This PPP loan application was made on behalf of a restaurant
Lenders Dealing with Emerging PPP Loan Fraud Read More »
We all know that time is money, and in the world of small and medium enterprises, time is intrinsically tied to cash flow. When business owners have sufficient cash on hand, things have a great chance of going smoothly. Once the cash flow is drastically reduced or even depleted, operations suffer even if the promise
Rapid Settlements Save SMBs [2023 Update] Read More »
Protect Your Business from Credit Card Skimmers Each year, companies sign on to take advantage of merchant services offered for credit card processing. Skimmers are quickly becoming a threat to unsuspecting customers as companies rely more heavily than ever on point of sale services for their businesses. As a merchant, you want to protect your
Protect Your Business from Credit Card Skimmers Read More »
Businesses often face a double-edged sword when accepting credit cards. Credit card processing comes with fees that can eat into your profits, but defraying the cost with a surcharge for shoppers can turn away business. As a business owner, it’s important to decide which option makes sense for your business as a growing number of
Should you Pay Credit Card Fees or Surcharge Your Customers? Read More »
Many retailers impose a fee on customers when they use a credit card as they are charged a fee for using a credit card machine to process a transaction. This practice has long been illegal in California, however. In 1985, California passed a law banning businesses from charging these fees, which forced many businesses to
California Overturns Ban on Surcharges [2023 Update] Read More »
It looks like Visa wants to kill cash transactions. The credit card company announced last week that they are spending $500,000 to get restaurants to move completely cashless. They say they will give $10k to each of 50 “qualifying restaurants, eateries, cafes, and food trucks” as an incentive to make the transition. The gift
Visa Goes to War Against Cash Read More »
The credit and debit card industry thrives on payment processors and the services they offer; unfortunately, customer service and support seem to be taking a backseat to other factors for many companies. At Host Merchant Services, we believe there is an unfortunate financial motive at play that explains why this is happening. Consolidation is one
Customer Service: A Big Challenge for Payment Processors Read More »
If you’re still using computers and other hardware from a decade ago, it’s probably time for an upgrade. The technology of today is significantly more powerful and efficient than what was available 10 years ago, so upgrading your equipment can help make sure you keep up with the times. Signs Its Time To Upgrade Here
5 Signs Its Time To Upgrade [2023 Update] Read More »
Chargebacks are a headache for both merchants and credit card processing companies alike. They create problems with merchants getting money for the goods and services they provided, and can really cut into the profit for both small business owners and larger corporations. Although chargebacks cannot be 100% gotten rid of, there are some steps that
Stemming the Tide of Fraud [2023 Update] 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 »
Following up on our recent blog about terminal of the future, the VX 520, today we’re going to let the other shoe drop. With the payment processing industry thrusting its spotlight onto security in the wake of the Target Data Breach, the PCI DSS and its upgraded protocols are getting a lot of attention. Host
Terminal Retirements Read More »
It’s mid-February 2014. The Mid-Atlantic, homebase to Host Merchant Services, has been mired in a series of snowstorms that makes the jaunty tune of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” seem months and months away. Yet today, February 12, is the day pitchers and catchers report for Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training 2014. Six days ago
It’s 1, 2, 3 Swipes, You’re Out! Read More »
Merchants who want to offer convenience to customers by providing self-service options often struggle with the dilemma of receiving payments without being in the physical location of their customers. Unattended payment solutions offers merchant services to collect payments securely from customers. VeriFone UX Solutions For Merchant Services VeriFone recently launched UX Solutions for unattended payments.
VeriFone Solution For Unattended Payments Read More »
The Innovation Act – Protecting Businesses from Harmful Patent Litigation Speed and innovation have become crucial business tools of the communications age, but litigious patent trolls stifle innovation by filing questionable patent-infringement lawsuits. The Innovation Act of 2013 seeks to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits and unsupported complaints by requiring greater responsibility from people
The Innovation Act Read More »
A $7.25 billion settlement relating to credit card interchange fees continues to encounter stiff opposition from a number of major retailers and several significant retail trade associations. Case History The antitrust case against Visa, MasterCard and several issuing banks stemmed from a dispute relating to the percentage of credit card transaction fees that retailers must
Swipe Fee Suit Ongoing After Fairness Hearing [2023 Update] Read More »
Here at Host Merchant Services we guarantee to save our customers money every month on their credit card processing. We understand that some of you are wondering how we do this! Transparency is a key cornerstone of our customer service values, so we have no problem sharing our secret formula and show everyone out there
How to Save Money on Credit Card Processing Fees Read More »
Safeguarding Stored Cardholder Data with Tokenization In this era of connectivity, consumers are increasingly concerned about the safety of their personal data. Leaders in the merchant services industry are actively engaged in developing new ways to protect customer information. Here at Host Merchant Services, we commit to security by providing our clients with tokenization, the
Tokenization Makes Card Use Safe Read More »