Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is turning its attention back to E-Commerce. Yesterday we delved into the topic of partial payment authorization, hopefully clearing up some of the more confusing aspects of the process. Now we’re going to take things back to the basics, and delve into the advantages of online processing, specifically focusing […]
Why Online Processing is Right For You Read More »
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 »
This is part 2 of The Official Merchant Services Blog‘s rebuttal of this New York Times Op-Ed piece titled “What Wikipedia Won’t Tell You” written by Cary H. Sherman, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents music labels. The Real Slim Shady Mr. Sherman in his article goes on to accuse Wikipedia of spreading misinformation. He
SOPA: Rebuttal of RIAA Opinion Pt. 2 Read More »
The RIAA just won’t quit. They’re taken up the crusade to push for anti-piracy legislation once again, as seen in this New York Times Op-Ed piece titled “What Wikipedia Won’t Tell You” written by Cary H. Sherman,chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents music labels. The content of the piece is incendiary, and
SOPA: Rebuttal of RIAA Opinion Pt. 1 Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is going to give you a roundup of the latest news that is affecting merchants and payment processing. Our goal is to keep you informed and up to date on all the important news developments in the industry. Armed with that information you can make the decisions and the
Payment Processing News Roundup [2023 Update] 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 going to address an e-commerce issue that perhaps gets overlooked by a lot of merchants — effective design of your online shopping experience. Previously we offered a 2-part series on free, open source online shopping carts that are available. But just having the basic elements there for functionality
Tips to Improve Your Business’ Website 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 »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog reacquaints itself with a very important topic: Security. Specifically we’re jumping back into the discussion about PCI Security standards. Consumers are using plastic, especially online, at record rates. But security is still a major concern. Credit card fraud, phishing scams, clickjacking and identity theft are all on the rise
Five Security Tips for Merchants Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog dives right back into the fire with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). We were kind of surprised to find out what this PC World Article had to say. Apparently the music industry is doing pretty good despite the issue of online piracy upon which SOPA hinges. SOPA was
SOPA: The RIAA isn’t doing so bad [2023 Update] Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog takes a look at one of the latest and most twisted developments in online marketing: Clickjacking. This topic comes up because of a new lawsuit that is making the news. Facebook has filed a lawsuit against the company Adscend Media. The suit claims Adscend developed targeted spam campaigns and encouraged others
Facebook Attacks Clickjackers Read More »
Earlier, The Official Merchant Services Blog began a series on free Open Source E-Commerce solutions that are available. We cited this article by Nova Scotian writer Vangie Beal, which lists her top 10 free online shopping carts. Today we finish up our review of Beal’s list. Before We Get Back to the List Before we pick
Top Free Online Shopping Carts, Part 3 [2023 Update] Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog shifts its focus to the E-Commerce industry — specifically some tips we’ve found online to help small businesses with their e-commerce solution. An article written by Nova Scotian Vangie Beal details the ins and outs of ten open source online shopping carts that are available to merchants or really
Top Free Online Shopping Carts 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 »
The Official Merchant Services Blog returns to a topic that it covered thoroughly throughout 2011: The Durbin Amendment. With the Stop Online Piracy Act getting most of the headlines lately, Durbin Amendment’s continued impact on the payment processing industry has gone into stealth mode. Until today that is. Stick with us as we offer a
Durbin Amendment Back In the News [2023 Update] Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog updates our outlook on Mobile Payment Technology and the rampant predictions for its success in the near future. We have previously covered the topic with this blog entry on Tuesday, October 18, 2011. The parameters of that blog are still pretty much the current state of Mobile Payments. But
Mobile Payments: 2023 and Beyond [2023 Update] Read More »
The Official Merchant Services Blog has late breaking news to report today. Once again we take on the topic of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). In perhaps the strangest twist to date for the ongoing saga that is the battle between the entertainment industry to curb piracy and the internet industry to keep their
SOPA: Pot Meet Kettle [2023 Update] Read More »
Today The Official Merchant Services Blog is taking a look at a new bill proposed in Florida that attacks the growing E-Commerce industry. The bill — HB 861 — was filed by state Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee. The bill would require online-only sellers to collect and remit Florida sales taxes, just like other Florida retailers. Bricks
Florida’s Proposed E-Commerce Bill Read More »