Web Cam Credit Card Processing

Webcam Credit Card Processing

Credit Card Processing

It may sound strange but Webcam Credit Card Processing may indeed be on the way.  For those who accept credit card, technology keeps changing at a seemingly record pace.  Not all the new technologies will stick and some may leapfrog each other to gain traction in the marketplace but Webcam online credit card processing is certainly intriguing.
At first glance it would not seem to be the most secure process but we need to get used to the idea that electronic payments are here to stay and may be completely secure.  This particular method of credit card processing is based on secure video streaming which has become quite popular of late.
If we think about it, the way we pay for things has changed dramatically over the last decade.  Ten years ago most of wouldn’t dream of entering our credit card data into a web form but not it is second nature.  Paypal has created an online intermediary for credit card processing with some recourse for both merchant and customer.  Privacy policies have evolved to acceptable levels because the volume of online credit card processing demanded such a change.
This new video streaming is perfectly timed because of all the news of hacking and fraud taking place in the industry.  I cannot see how it would be foolproof but anything promising more security will lead to more people using online credit card processing under the guise of security.  This technology my prove only to be a just a convenience for consumers.  But it certainly is cool.
To use it, a merchant will have to enable special software which for all intents and purposes will turn the webcam of any desktop into a credit card reader.  The customer will hold their credit card in front of the webcam an after it is read, be prompted to enter the three digit CCV security code on the back of the card.  Then when the system accepts the card, the transaction is complete.
The enhanced safety measures are that the customer will never have to give their card to anyone else and it would be very difficult for criminals to copy down the account number, expiration dates and CCV security code without the card ever leaving the customer’s hand.  We are assuming here that this software is hack proof.  It may very well be but chances are that the merchant’s computer could be susceptible to hackers is more likely.  In general, securing business computers costs money and until Visa and other credit card providers require top level security for merchants, it would be impossible to tell which merchants are in compliance with security measures and which ones are just “saying” they are.
Most data leaving a business system through a merchant account is already encrypted and relatively safe and secure.  Secure video streaming technology is also encrypted which is what makes this data transfer relatively secure.  There are no paper trails or receipts to shred and the only real future security issue would be how a merchant stores yours financial data and purchase information for returns and exchanges.  Again, chances are the merchant doing the credit card processing has no bad intentions but there are those unscrupulous individuals looking to take advantage of a merchant with inferior security measures for their systems.

Watch Out For Credit Card Fraud

Credit Card Procesing Fraud

When we think of modern day credit card processing we think of high tech security features which make fraud almost impossible. Right? Wrong!  It seems that no matter who much we improve our credit card processing there are always some evil geniuses out there plotting to beat the system.
But in some cases, the plotters seem less than ingenious.  The hack pointed out at the Black Hat security conference seems rather a simple idea but defeats a high tech security system.  The guys over at Aperture Labs created less than 100 lines of code which can swipe credit card information for a system called Square.  That’s what we call and easy hack.
The Square is a payment system which supposedly was a safe way to do credit card processing from mobile devices like Androids and Iphones.  These devices would effectively turn into credit card processing machines with the use of Square, but now it doesn’t seem like such a good idea.
Well here is how the credit processing fraud is done. Aperture Labs figured out how to move funds from a stolen credit card in the bank account set up in association with Square.  This was done without have to even swipe the credit card physically with the Square card reader called the “dongle”.  They only needed to use the code they came up with to take all the information on the magnetic strip and turn it into an audio file.  This code allows you to somehow feed the info from the magnetic strip into the microphone for conversion.
So this new sound file which contains the card information is played as a series of coordinated sounds which are fed into the Square device by audio cable and understood by the Square application.  A very easy work around for people in the business but not something normal folks down on their luck would have figured out on their own.  But it is pretty interesting that Aperture was able to turn this credit card processing system designed to swipe actual cards to complete a transactions into one that can accept electronic payments.  Nice work fellas.  Now criminals don’t even have to go to the trouble of creating a plastic fake credit card, or even know the Personal ID number set up for the real card.
If this was not enough bad news for the poor Square Credit Card Processing App, Aperture Labs hit them with another goof. While testing they figured out that Square card reader can be used to make a cloned card because the data a criminal would need from the Square is not encrypted.  I thought everything was encrypted these days?
Here’s how they did it.  This was even lower tech than the low tech hack above.  By inserting the Square dongle cable into the mobile device via the audio input, the special code created by Aperture turns the new sound file into readable data which is used to make a credit card.  Hmmm.  So this makes Square a doubly ineffective technology for mobile credit card processing doesn’t it?
The real problem here is what this does to the skimmer market.  Skimmer products are available online for people who want to do bad things but this Square situation makes the difficult task of skimming into something very simple.  It lowers the barrier to entry into the skimming profession because you now need no skill are understanding of the complicated processes used in card card processing.
Of course Square is working on a fix for the problem which they have known about for sometime.  But, they didn’t really feel it was an effective method for fraud and wouldn’t cause problems.  But, when your technology is demonstrated at something called a “Black Hat” anything, it is time to make the fix.

It's Important To Accept Credit Cards

Why It Is Important To Accept Credit Cards

Accepting credit cards online іѕ incredibly іmрοrtаnt fοr аnу online store аnd аnу οthеr business thаt allows іtѕ customers tο mаkе orders online. If уου want tο gеt thе maximum number οf people ordering уουr service thеn уου need tο bе аblе tο inspire confidence whеn thеу bυу аnd уου need tο hаνе thе facilities thеrе tο accept аll kinds οf payments.
If there is one main lesson to be learned about conducting business online, it is that you must accept credit cards to compete.  It is by far the most convenient way for potential customers to spend money on your site and sets up the environment for impulse buying.
The impulse buy is an incredible advantage for businesses because of conversion.  If your site is set up properly to entice customers who may be on the fence about buying, your ROI on your site will increase dramatically.  Statistics show that consumers are becoming exponentially more comfortable with purchasing online and doing so in their own environment give them a sense of being in control of the transactions.
Customers are no longer bound by making purchases on the retailers home floor with pushy salesman and store hours creating a sales deadline.  When consumers are free to browse on their own terms they will not feel pushed into buying when in fact a website can be the most pushy salesmen of them all.  Giving your customers the ability to buy instantly, effectively taking money out of their wallet and into yours, changes the way business should be approached online.
Getting set up to accept credit cards online is first and foremost.  Most first time business people assume the easiest way to start accepting credit cards is by using PayPal.  This is a fairly reasonable assumption but it is not correct.  It’s true that PayPal transactions are simple and adding PayPal buttons to your site so your customers are alerted where to pay is easy, but what if you don’t have PayPal.
That’s right, believe it or not every one who uses the internet has a PayPal account and expecting them to set one up just to buy something from you is foolish.  In essence, you are killing your impulse sale opportunity by relying solely on PayPal.  But the good news is that most people who use the internet and are over 18 do have a credit or debit card and fairly well versed in using it online.
One of the best things about those businesses who have come before you online is that they are the ones who had to go through the bumps and bruises of establishing good ecommerce practices and training people to spend.  There is something called trust marketing which has evolved over the years and it shows that seeing a Visa or Mastercard logo on a site established a sense of trust with consumers.  Further it helps identify your brand as more trustworthy because of the association your business has with the credit card providers.
Whether this is true or not, a perceived level of trust from your potential customers bodes well for merchants just because they accept credit cards.  Now PayPal has come a long way over the years and their logo also elicits a trust relationship with consumers, but remember that the actual numbers of people who have an active PayPal account is extremely limited compared with those ready to use their credit cards to purchase.
So whether you are just getting started online, or are an established business entity looking for more sales, it is important to accept credit cards both for your customer’s convenience and to establish trust.  Using a third party merchant account provider to process your credit card transactions is simple

Accept Credit Cards At The Laundry

Accept Credit Cards In The Laundry Room

Laundry Rooms Accept Credit Cards

Accept Credit Cards in the laundry room?  What a marvel idea and it comes from a place we are used to getting a bunch of our smart ideas.  Yale University is one of the first in the country to begin to accept credit cards in the campus laundry rooms.
It may not seem like the type of technological breakthroughs we often hear about from a major University but if you have ever lived on a college campus, then you know how difficult it can be to get your laundry done.   In the old days you had to find some quarters or find a place that would make change for you, load up your laundry and hope that when you made it to the machine, it would be available for use.
At least at Yale, the students could load money onto a cash card for use in the laundry room which would eliminate the need to scrounge up some change but you still had to take the extra step of loading the card.  In Yale’s case the washing machines were not very reliable because of the tendency for the cash cards to fall apart and jam up the reading mechanism so upgrading to units that accept credit cards could be a better option.
The new machines are far better.  Even though it took a major upgrade to redo the laundry system at Yale, it will pay for itself in convenience for the busy students.  All machines are linked to a central website which will indicate when and where washing machines are functioning properly and available.  So far the machines are very reliable and the student feedback is overwhelmingly positive.  The cost for students has remained the same but it is unclear if the university has taken on merchant fees or transaction charges.
Again, the way our college students do their laundry may not be newsworthy for some, but how much life can change when you accept credit cards is.  In this case it is a huge time saver as opposed to finding change and heading to machines that may or may not be in use.  Time is our only resource we can not get more of and our only option is to use it more efficiently.  This is a good lesson for all but for college students just learning to manage their time and live on their own it is perhaps more challenging.  Combining online centralization and accepting credit cards in the laundry room is truly an on campus breakthrough.

Accepting Credit Cards Without A Website

How To Accept Credit Cards Online Without A Website

I didn’t even realize that I could accept credit cards online without even having my own website.  I happen to have one but I was intrigued about how this could be.  What is actually happening is that we are just credit card processing over the internet and having the ability to get rid of our land lines and outdated terminals.  It is even more secure than processing over vulnerable land lines.
This type of online credit card processing is based on an internet connection to a centralized payment gateway which handles the transactions.  Needless to say, an online gateway operates 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and has more flexibility.  Why?  Because you can process credit cards with all the functionality you are used to with your terminal but you do not have stand there to do it.  Even though most merchants would not need to process a transaction remotely from anywhere in the world, they could.  This has enormous applications for mobile commerce and lifts the restrictions from only being able to process during your store’s operating hours and only taking payment on site.
In general a payment gateway will end the need to be dependent on a phone line and feature complete wireless processing.  Understand that it is not just to accept credit cards.  You should always be able to process debit cards, do returns or voids and even handle check imaging by a virtual terminal.
Even if you already have an online store or any type of website, you can easily integrate a new or existing shopping card software or pluggins into most of these gateway processors.
The features, which have come a long way since inception, allow networking so you can access processing for multiple store location, handle batch processing, set up automatic or recurring payments and do just about every type of reporting you can think of.  Software is about efficiency and as we undoubtedly move to more of this in the merchant services industry, merchants will be able to integrate even more accounting features into their payment processing.
I suppose an obvious question is how do you get payment from your customer into your account.  The procedure is not that different from the process you are used to, just more secured and efficient.  Customer swipes card, or types in information in the case of a website transaction, the data is encrypted before it is sent, the payment gateway will verify payment information and make sure their is enough money in the account in the case of debit or make sure there is sufficient credit available to cover the purchase price.  Then there is a prompt for the customer to authorize the transaction and a receipt is generated to verify the transaction.  The payment center then holds the information until the issuing bank sends funds which are ultimately placed in your merchant account.
So the concept of payment is very similar to traditional terminal transactions but human error is virtually eliminated from the equation and encryption makes the information secure.
Isn’t it time for you to harness the power and speed of the Internet to work for your business? Accept credit cards online and see what a difference it can make for your operation!  The real beauty of this technology is you can accept credit cards without even having a website but keep in mind that you will need some sort of merchant account in order to process credit cards. So this is not a solution for individuals to accept credit cards just a business with at least a minimal sales volume to offset merchant account costs.