Twitter, the modern equivalent of Mad Libs and the yellow journalism of the late 19th century, has revealed to us a gem of irony that makes the whole Target getting hacked story seem that much more poignant. No one is safe in this bold new era of credit card hackers and identity thieves. Not even […]
PayPal President Hacked [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 »
With the 2014 holiday shopping season about to grind down to the home stretch, the sales figures are already rolling in. And once again, online transactions have maintained their brisk and healthy growth from years past. Cyber Monday chalked up record sales, rising a reported 17 percent from 2012 according to USA Today. Cyber Monday,
Marketplace Fairness Act Looms [2023 Update] 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 »
Isis Mobile Wallet Debuts Using NFC Technology A joint venture between AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile known as Isis Mobile Wallet has released a revolutionary mobile payments app that promises to change the way people pay for goods and services. The trio of mobile service providers are ecstatic to finally debut this mobile payment platform right
Isis Mobile Wallet is Here Read More »
Apple’s Latest iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C Lack NFC Support, Market Setback Expected The iPhone and NFC issues can lead to a market setback. The sphere of influence of the iPhone apparently extends into industries that develop products for mobile payments. Mobile credit card processing and various merchant services, including various point-of-sale applications, are also
The iPhone and NFC issues [2023 Update] Read More »
Bitcoin is a topic that most people who spend time on the Internet have heard about. A Bitcoin is not a tangible coin like traditional currency. It is a virtual currency that can be bought, sold and mined electronically. For Andreas Kennemar and Marcus Erlandsson, an idea involving Bitcoins turned out to be beyond profitable.
Bitcoin Craze Generating Big Profits For Some [2023 Update] Read More »
I just sat down at my desk and took a few moments to read Antonio Regalado’s fascinating column on E-Commerce from MIT Technology Review. I recommend it to anyone who runs a business, or really anyone who plans to buy something in the next month or two — you know, during the Holiday Shopping Season.
The Death of E-Commerce? [2023 Update] 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 »
Apple’s recent software update includes a new product called the iCloud Keychain. With the feature, consumers can save sensitive information in a secure online file. Specifically, Keychain will save passwords and credit card information for all of their Apple devices. The program also helps Internet users create safer passwords. Given the new functionality allowing users
iCloud Keychain to Now Store Credit Card Data [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 »
Host Merchant Services, an industry leading provider of payment processing and e-commerce services for small and medium businesses, announced a promising new partnership with cloud consulting firm AlignCloud. This partnership is the product of extensive research and collaboration and the bold new alliance represents an exciting opportunity for customers to benefit from the combined expertise of
AlignCloud and HMS partner up 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 »
Discover is updating the Discover “On Us” plan yet again, in an attempt to entice more merchants to accept Discover cards. Originally, the Add Discover on Discover promotion from 2011, the plan was based on the incentive that merchants begin accepting Discover cards for the first time and as a reward for this bold new
Discover On Us Update [2023 Update] Read More »
A new U.S District Court ruling could lead to major changes in debit card processing fees. Will the Durbin debit rates go lower with this? Let us understand. On July 31, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon swept aside the Federal Reserve‘s 2011 implementation of the Durbin Amendment. Passed in 2010, this amendment to the Dodd-Frank law was intended to
Can Durbin Debit Rates Go Even Lower? [2024Update] Read More »
The mobile Internet revolution is rapidly changing the longstanding status quo in the payment processing industry. As more people purchase items with their mobile devices, the public is demanding more options and greater security from transaction processing companies. For many long years, big banks and processing companies like Visa and Mastercard faced little competition and were
MCX, Paydiant, and the Battle Over Mobile Wallets [2023 Update] Read More »
Merchants that sell goods through an online store have many decisions to make when it comes to setting up and running their new ecommerce business. Just one of these is how will they process payments when customer are finished with their shopping and ready to pay for their transaction. One option is to setup what
Offsite Payment Processing Read More »
Should Merchants Surcharge? In many states merchants have had a decision to make. Recent developments allow merchants that accept credit cards to pass card processing charges on to their customers. So should merchants surcharge their customers? First of all, in at least ten states there are laws that prevent merchants from assessing their customers a
Should Merchants Surcharge? Read More »