What is PCI compliance? PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance is a series of security procedures enabling businesses of all sizes to keep customer payment data secure. The general set of guidelines for a merchant to be PCI-compliant include the secure handling of user authentication, firewalls, antivirus, encryption, truncating account numbers, programming maintenance and vulnerability testing. […]
Choosing the right Point of Sale (POS) system for your business doesn’t need to be difficult. While there are innumerable solutions on the market to consider, obtaining a system that fits your business shouldn’t be a daunting task. The important thing to understand is how powerful a POS platform is for your business – not […]
It’s that time of year. The leaves are nearly finished turning, and most have fallen to the ground. The holidays are upon us. With that comes spending. A whole lot of spending. Increased customer traffic during these next months is not uncommon. Transactions will be aplenty, and sales revenue is at its peak as consumers […]
The question has long been, “credit or debit?” when a customer presents their bankcard to you, the merchant. You’re giving the customer the choice, and, often the reply is simply, “oh, whatever.” You shouldn’t be as casual about it. It helps to understand the difference between credit and debit card transactions. There are different ways […]
Credit card processing invoices are as complicated as telephone bills – arguably even more difficult to understand. There are a mind-boggling number of line items, most of which are cryptically described and mean nothing to the average businessperson. So when approached by a potential new provider, how does one compare pricing? The first step would […]
ApplePay and many other mobile payment schemes – commonly referred to as mobile wallets – are simply another method by which consumers can make payments using their credit or debit card account. In addition to the consumer carrying a plastic card, the card account data is loaded into an “app” on the consumer’s smartphone, […]
Many businesses view compliance with data security standards established by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI-SSC) as just related to the acceptance of credit and debit cards. While these standards are designed to protect cardholder data, the standards are really about the basic IT security of your business, regardless of whether you accept […]
As most businesses know by now, the major card networks have established a shift in liability effective October 1, 2015. As of that date, whichever party (the card issuer or the merchant) does not EMV-chip capabilities will be responsible for counterfeit fraud in a card-present transaction. ATM’s and unattended fuel pumps have an extra two […]
Any good business knows that service excellence matters. You can have the best products and services but if you don’t support them with a great customer experience, sustainability and profitability will be elusive. At Thrive, we work hard to create great customer experiences, providing each client with their own service contact and striving for resolution […]