CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Security and PCI Compliance

MAXMIND’s MinFraud Review

by Paul Maplesden

The minFraud service from MAXMIND aims to reduce or eliminate these risks and costs. It uses data points from over a billion transactions to create a risk score for any cards you’re processing. It can then combine that risk score with rules and thresholds you set so you can automatically decide whether to accept or…

Some of the hidden costs of taking credit and debit card payments are fraud and chargebacks — areas where a card is used in a criminal way, or where a customer disputes a transaction. Left unchecked, these can be very expensive for retailers and merchants, with $8 billion in money lost to credit card fraud in 2016.

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Credit Card Processing, ecommerce

Understanding Ecommerce Payment Options

by Julia Olson

When it comes to ecommerce payments, you have several options. One of the more common ways to collect payments is through a virtual shopping cart, but there are alternatives to this method that each have their own unique benefits. Here’s a list of some of the pros and cons to accepting ecommerce payments in a variety…

Creating a seamless experience for your online customers is essential when crafting an e-commerce website. You want to make sure your site is engaging, well written, and optimized for your buyer’s journey – and your payments experience is a big part of that. The last thing you want is for your customer to get all the way to the checkout and leave the page because of a poor experience.

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Accounting and Finance

What is Invoice Financing?

by Ellen Cunningham

Let’s take a closer look at invoice financing and what’s involved. How does invoice financing work? Types of Invoice Financing Upfront Percentages for Invoices Who should consider invoice financing? Costs Finding a Lender Invoice Financing vs. Merchant Cash Advances How does invoice financing work? Essentially, you’ll partner with a lender who will front you the…

Invoice financing, also sometimes called accounts receivable financing, is a way for small businesses to secure money for outstanding invoices before the client who owes the money pays. It can be a helpful option if you’re strapped for cash, but the costs may not make it a good long-term solution.

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Credit Card Processing, News

New Mastercard Bins – 2 Series

by Ellen Cunningham

What is a BIN? Mastercard’s New BINs BINs by Card Brand What do I need to do to accept the new Mastercards? Ecommerce Businesses Notification of Affected Businesses What is a BIN? A Bank Identification Number (or BIN) is the first 6 digits of a credit card number. BINs identify the bank that issued the…

In summer 2017, Mastercard will begin issuing cards with a new bank identification number (BIN.) Where previously Mastercards started with the number 5, some cards will now begin with the number 2. Find out what this means and get details on how to make sure your business is ready to accept these new 2 series cards.

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Credit Card Processing, Legal, Scams and Fraud

Avoiding Fraud: Takeaways from the Commerce Payment Systems Scandal

by Ellen Cunningham

In this article, I will lay out the allegations and show you how to avoid potential scam practices when choosing a credit card processor for your business. The Allegations Fees Rates Guaranteed for Life Cost Comparison Calculators Negative Reviews Red Flags Getting Help – CardFellow.com The Allegations The Justice Department’s notice alleges that the two…

According to the Department of Justice, two executives of a credit card processing company have been charged with fraud. The executives, who worked for Commerce Payment Systems, are accused of perpetuating a scam against thousands of small businesses and obtaining more than $30 million through overcharging and deceptive tactics.

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Credit Card Processing

EMV PIN Debit – Common Questions and Problems

by Ellen Cunningham

EMV Debit vs. PIN Debit My new EMV terminal doesn’t require a PIN for debit – what’s the issue? Terminal Not Set Up with Common AID The Customer Did Not Choose the Common AID What is US Debit vs Visa Debit? The Card is Not PIN-Preferring The Terminal Does Not Have Proper Injection PIN Debit…

As the United States’ transition to chip cards crawls along, businesses are finding that debit card transactions aren’t going as expected. Some customers aren’t prompted for PINs when entering their debit cards, with the machine instead defaulting to signature debit. Why does this matter, and what can you do about it?

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Credit Card Processing, Specialty Businesses

Credit Card Processing Restrictions on Marijuana Businesses

by Jane Meggitt

In 2016, Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada voted to legalize recreational marijuana. While medical marijuana has long been available in the Golden State, with fairly flexible prescription standards, legalizing recreational marijuana in California is predicted to bring in billions. So can credit card processors and banks ever get a piece of the marijuana pie,…

The legal marijuana industry is incredibly lucrative, but customers have little choice but to pay cash for their weed. That’s because while recreational marijuana is now available for sale through dispensaries in three states – Colorado, Oregon, Washington – as well as the District of Columbia, it’s not legal on the federal level. In fact, the federal government lists it as a Schedule I drug, considered as dangerous as heroin.

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Credit Card Processing

Card Present vs. Card Not Present Transactions

by Ellen Cunningham

However, the rise of alternative payment channels has muddied the waters a bit, leaving some businesses confused as to why their transactions are CNP when they expected CP. Types of Transactions Why does it matter? Costs for Processing Chargeback Liability Test Your Knowledge Types of Transactions Firstly, let’s define “card-present” and “card-not-present.” More than just…

On the surface, “card-present” and “card-not-present” seem like self-explanatory terms. Either the card was present at the time of a transaction or it was not present.

Card-Present-vs-Card-Not-Present-Transactions

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Credit Card Processing exposed