Here is an interesting article on a new credit card processing deal in Asia I found on MSNBC

Sino Payments, Inc. (OTCBB: SNPY) is pleased to announce that it has received clearance from the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) to trade on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board under the trading symbol SNPY.

Sino Payments is an Asian-based credit and debit card processing merchant services company, which has developed an IP (Internet Protocol) processing network to provide credit and debit card clearing services to merchants and financial institutions in China and regionally in Asia. The primary focus of future development efforts will be the rapidly growing Chinese credit and debit card market. Sino Payments aims to become a leading China-wide provider of world-class IP transaction processing services to bankcard accepting merchants.

Matthew Mecke, Chairman & CEO of Sino Payments, commented, “We have been working for some time to complete our system and company product offering to be able to bring added value to the credit card processing business throughout Asia and particularly for international merchants doing business in China. We are confident that we will be in a position to begin providing services to an initial group of clients within the coming months and will focus our efforts on rapidly building out our China client network. Initially we will be focused on key target markets in China as well as large regional retail merchants with stores across Asia.”

Your thoughts?

Credit Card Processing asia, Credit Card Processing

Jake Marcinko at TheNonProfit Times wrote an interesting article on credit card processing fraud and upcoming industry changes.  Here is a sample:

Credit card fraud has been a growing problem and is big business for malicious individuals and organized groups alike. According to July 2007’s Neilson Report, losses to card issuers (e.g. Visa, MasterCard, etc) due to card fraud in 2006 totaled $4.84 billion, up 12.8 percent from the previous year. As fraud losses have increased, credit card companies have realized a greater need for formalized security standards and practices.

In an effort to facilitate the broad adoption of consistent security measures on a global basis, American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide, and Visa Inc., in June 2004 jointly created the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The PCI DSS is based on six fundamental objectives that are further divided into 12 major requirements and a slew of sub-requirements. These requirements cover broad topics such as network design, software development, security administration, and IT governance.

With a growing number of online companies storing credit card information online, data security has never been more important.  Always select a trusted vendor for credit card processing

Credit Card Processing credit card fraud, Credit Card Processing

Yes everyone.  The madness of the holiday season is upon us again.  Store employees trampled over sales.  Moms fighting over a prized toy.  Tis the season to be jolly!

Michele Johansen & Lexie Tigre on the Examiner have posted an interesting article on ways to help others while you shop for gifts this season.  Here is a snip-it:

Started in 2007 in Seattle, TisBest allows you to by a gift card that can be redeemed for a charitable donation to an organization chosen by the recipient. Basically, you buy a gift card (and even get to choose the picture on it and even upload your own), give it to someone as a gift, then they go to the TisBest website and choose which charity to redeem it for.  There are over 250 charities to choose from, like the African Wildlife Foundation, La Lache League, the USO, and MusicCares.   There is a small fee for the transaction and the credit card processing, but most the bulk of the money goes straight to the charity.  And you even get a tax-deduction!

Everyone do what they can to help struggling families this holiday season.  Tis the season to be sharing!

Credit Card Processing charity, credit card fees, Credit Card Processing

A restaurant in Michigan had their security hacked, leading to credit card information being stolen. Newschannel3 has the story:

A new West Michigan restaurant is reeling from a hacker.

Spicy Pickle in Portage recently discovered a security breach. Someone stole credit card information and is using that information to go on a shopping spree.

The restaurant says it has contacted the Portage Police Department.

Detectives say they’re looking at several dozen cases of credit card fraud. Police say what they all have in common is those people used their credit or debit cards at the Spicy Pickle on Centre.

The restaurant says about 10 days ago, its credit card processing company reported the breach.

Police aren’t sure how the hacker or hackers got into the Spicy Pickle’s computer system, but they recommend people check their statements more often during the holiday season.

Hopefully this trend does not continue now that the economy is in official recession.

Credit Card Processing Credit Card Processing, hackers, restaurant credit card processing

It looks like AMEX is agressively going after rogue merchants.  An article by E. Thomas Woods at the Nashville post explains just exactly how AMEX is going on the offensive

A family that runs three Italian-themed bistros in Nashville used a secret recipe of sorts to bilk American Express out of more than $1 million, the credit-card company claims.

American Express Travel Related Services Company filed suit last Wednesday against Michael D. Tangredi, his son Michael G. Tangredi and their company M. Tangredi Restaurants Inc., as well as related parties.

The M. Tangredi firm lists four restaurants on its company Web site: Tangredi’s Italian Kitchen on Elliston Place, T’s Bar and Grill on Belcourt where The Trace and Faison’s used to be, Michael T’s on Division St., and Bada Bing!, a casual Italian restaurant in Maui, Hawaii.

You thoughts?  Post below.

Credit Card Processing AMEX, credit card fraud, Merchant Account

The government announced today that the recession is official (Like we didn’t already know).  I was cheered up to read an article about holiday shopping written by Chris Maxcer at the E-Commerce Times.  Here is a sample.

Online auction powerhouse eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), has reported that the Nintendo Wii was the most popular product on eBay over the holiday weekend, selling more than 3,100 units with at an average price of US$349. “Wii Fit” sold 1,059 units on the auction site for an average of $140.

Other tech items sold well too, eBay reported. On Shopping.com, a GPS sold every nine minutes, and an MP3 player sold every 11 minutes. Additionally, the hottest products on eBay in this category included the Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN) Nuvi and the iPod touch, with 596 and 415 units sold, respectively.

The Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 3G’s average price was $547, and the BlackBerry Storm sold for an average of $577. eBay also mentioned the BlackBerry Curve and the T-Mobile Sidekick as popular phones, but the company didn’t break out total sales for electronics other than the aforementioned units.

In addition, data from eBay’s PayPal payment processing system saw 34 percent more transactions than 2007 and showed a 26 percent increase in online payment volume on Black Friday.

This news isn’t ground breaking… but good news is in fact good news!

Payment Processing Economy, Payment Processing

Chelsea White wrote an interesting story on how some soda machines are now accepting credit cards. Here is a sample:

Students no longer need to worry about digging up loose change from their pockets for vending machines. 

Some on-campus vending machines have become a little more convenient by accepting credit cards.

Some Coca-Cola vending machines around campus have installed e-Port systems that accept MasterCard PayPass contactless payments and magnetic stripe credit card payments.

Machines with the e-Port system are in various locations including the Bovee University Center, Java City, Anspach Hall and the Student Activity Center.

Leigh Bartholomew, manager of auxiliary operations, said the new credit card systems have been on campus since the beginning of the semester. They are in Coca-Cola machines located in high-traffic areas around campus, she said.

“Central didn’t have to pay any money for the systems. Coca-Cola paid for them to be installed on campus as a trial run to experiment.”

Once major vending services continue with this trend, there will be a whole new market open to merchant processors. Exciting news.

Accept Credit Cards Accept Credit Cards, Merchant Credit Card Processing, vending machines

B. Hopkins has published a great article on setting up an eCommerce store from scratch.  He clearly outlined the steps needed in getting started.  Here is a clip from the article:

4. Accept credit cards

You will want the ability to accept credit cards. Sure, you can run an ecommerce business by using fax, and/or requiring people to send in your checks, but you will be leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t accept credit cards in one form or another.

5. Use a secure socket layer

A secure socket layer allows encrypts the data between the customer’s computer and your web server. It keeps prying eyes from sneaking a peek at sensitive data, such as credit card info. You can run a business without it, and you may get some sales, but the vast majority of people will not purchase from your web site if they don’t see the secure connection indicator on their web browser. Different browsers indicate the secure connection in different ways.

6. Use a payment gateway

A payment gateway collects the credit card info and sales info (price, customer info, etc.) and does some sort of basic fraud check, to make sure the credit card isn’t stolen, etc. It charges the customer’s credit card and deposits the money into your bank account.

7. Acquire a merchant account

A merchant account allows your business to charge sales to credit cards. It is basically a type of agreement between your business and a bank.

eCommerce eCommerce, merchant account set-up, payment gateway, shopping cart

Credit Card Processing credit and debit transactions, Merchant Credit Card Processing

I just read an interesting story on credit card processing for landlords.

Here is a snippit from the press release:

“The service is secure, fast, convenient and easy to use. ‘We started RentExpress after a considerable amount of research in to the industry, including the 2003 National Landlords Survey which found that, 86.6% of all Landlords claimed non payment of rent as their biggest concern’.

We also found that the payment options for Tenants was fragmented with options ranging from the most favourable being Automatic Payments through to cash and cheque. However, no one was offering a secure and convenient credit card payment option.

At RentExpress, Tenants can register their details for free, enter the property and landlord details and select the option of either making a one off payment or setting up a recurring payment schedule from their credit card. All of this can be done in a matter of minutes. RentExpress provides full reporting on all payments made and can be accessed securely 24 hours a day.”

An interesting development with a potential for a shift in credit card processing trends.

Credit Card Processing Credit Card Processing, Landlords, Merchant Account, Rent