No Need of your Signature on Purchasing Credit Card

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), American Express (NYSE: AXP), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) all announced that they would stop requiring credit card signatures by April of 2018. Some issuers are dropping the requirement for all purchases made in the U.S. or North America, while American Express is dropping the signature requirement worldwide.

New, improved methods for fighting fraud

With the advent of chip technology, machine learning, and improved data management, banks have fraud detection methods that are far more sophisticated, and faster, than a simple signature.

Have you ever received a fraud detection notice from your bank? Has your bank ever shut down your credit card because you forgot to tell them you were traveling out of state or abroad? If so, that's your card issuer's fraud detection system at work.

Banks have massive amounts of data stored on all cardholders. This information includes everything from where and how often you use your credit card to the kinds of purchases you typically make and what time of day you make them. This data forms a spending pattern that allows card issuers to detect and flag anomalies as potential fraud.

If this weren't enough, signatures have now been made completely obsolete by the advent of chip cards. The implementation of that EMV chip in your credit card, along with terminals that use chip readers instead of swipers, has caused a massive decrease in credit card fraud.

How to protect yourself from credit card fraud

You shouldn't just rely on improved technology to keep you protected, though. There are a number of ways you can prevent and fight credit card fraud.

Act quickly if your credit card is lost or stolen. Call your bank immediately and freeze your accounts, even if you think you may have simply misplaced it.

Check your credit card statements vigilantly. You can set up purchase alerts so that your bank notifies you of certain behaviors like a purchase made over a certain dollar amount.

Use a mobile wallet. Because phones now require biometric data to be unlocked, and mobile wallets encrypt your information, they're safer than carrying a physical credit and traditional online shopping.

Monitor your credit report regularly. Many credit cards now offer free credit monitoring. If you notice your score drop, pull a report and find out why, as it could be the result of fraudulent activity.

AmEx upgrades new changes with Hyperledger Blockchain for Rewards Program

American Express has deployed Hyperledger’s blockchain technology to make its Membership Rewards program in partnership with digital retailer Boxed. More versatile, marking the first application of blockchain technology to a major U.S. financial services loyalty program.

Under the revamped program, merchants will be able to create Membership Rewards offers on their own platforms to engage customers and at the same time offer card members more opportunities to earn points.

Product Selection Rewards

American Express is partnering with Boxed, an online wholesale retailer, on a pilot promotion for Membership Rewards enrolled members. Members can earn 5X Membership Rewards points for select products and brands.

The company announced Wednesday that it is leveraging Hyperledger to let merchants create custom Membership Rewards programs for American Express cardholders. Its initial trial with Boxed will allow members to earn five times the normal number of points on certain products, according to information shared with Coin Desk.

American Express will initially provide rewards points to Boxed customers for Cheerios cereal, Planters nuts, Dove soap and a few other items, according to the Associated Press. American Express plans to make the program available to nearly all merchant partners in the coming months.

How to Works

A private channel on the company’s blockchain will allow merchants to send and receive information securely. The merchant will have control over the offers they wish to market, and they will be able to create custom Membership Rewards offers and designate SKU level bonuses.

American Express will have full visibility of the offers on the blockchain and will ensure the promotions conform to its brand values and merchant agreements.

Once the offers are available to customers, the smart contract will automatically send the anonymized transaction to American Express on the private blockchain. American Express will identify the card member and issue them their rewards points.

American Express will work with merchants to create the smart contracts for the offers.

The credit card giant is a premiere Hyperledger member, along with Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, IBM, Intel, Baidu, and Accenture.

Notably - This is not the first foray by American Express into blockchain rewards, as the company filed a patent last year outlining a possible rewards program that would be stored on a blockchain. 

AmEx Card related more information visit here - American Express

NMI and Paysafe Collaborate Simplify Access to Global Acquiring

NMI, a leading provider of payments enablement technology for independent sales organizations (ISOs), independent software vendors (ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs) and payment facilitators, and Paysafe, a leading global payments provider, today announced an expanded partnership which sees NMI leverage Paysafe’s global acquiring and processing reach and Paysafe deepen its integration and offering accessible through NMI’s payments enablement technology. 

Together, the two organizations have developed a customizable payment processing solution that provides flexibility and a range of features and payment method acceptance to their merchants and partners based on their specific gateway and acquiring requirements.

For more than a decade, NMI has worked with Paysafe to deliver its ISOs, ISVs, and VARs value-added, innovative payment processing solutions. Through the new collaboration, partners using the NMI gateway can further enhance their platforms by enabling their merchants with a frictionless onboarding experience and secure processing of credit card and direct debit (ACH) payments through Paysafe’s supported platforms in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. 

A further benefit is that Paysafe is a principal member of Visa and Mastercard in Europe, meaning it can directly acquire and process Visa and Mastercard transactions across the continent. The Paysafe solution also allows for fast and easy account on-boarding for merchants. In addition, this collaboration will bring value to Paysafe customers by leveraging more than 150 NMI shopping cart integrations. And with NMI’s strong U.S. distribution and multi-tiered hierarchal portfolio management capabilities, Paysafe partners can more easily onboard and manage their merchant customers.

“Our core focus is on delivering value to our partners and taking away the headache of having to develop their own technology, and our partnership with Paysafe is based on this guiding principle,” said NMI CEO Roy Banks. “Paysafe is a very flexible partner, focused on providing customizable solutions for its partners and is also gateway agnostic, unlike other processors in this industry. It’s strong, relevant partnerships like this that make sense for us and enable us to deliver innovative solutions to our partners.”

“Our ethos is that one size does not fit all and we need to be flexible and allow our merchants and partners to easily plug into our platform in order to grow their business,” said Paysafe CEO of Payment Processing for North America Todd Linden. “This expanded partnership with NMI reinforces this approach and our commitment to developing an unrivaled payments platform for our customers – something we continue to focus on and invest in.” Get NMI Payment Gateway easy step for Merchants. Merchants Chargebacks Prevention best solution our experts in the world. 

Thieves & Friendly Fraud Can Easily Use Information Of Your Credit Card

Understanding the Friendly Fraud

Card not present (CNP) credit and debit card transactions provide the perfect environment for what’s commonly referred to as friendly fraud.

A CNP transaction as a payment card transaction where the cardholder does not or cannot physically present the card for a merchant’s visual examination. At the time of order delivery and payment. Such as for mail-ordering transactions by mail or fax, or over the telephone or internet.

Therefore, friendly fraud occurs when a consumer makes an online shopping purchase with their own credit card and then requests a chargeback from the issuing bank after receiving the goods or services.

Categories of Friendly Fraud

INTENTIONAL FRIENDLY FRAUD

The deliberates falsification of facts by a consumer which is intended to deceive a merchant.

Reasons for intentional friendly fraud may have to do with buyer’s remorse. Perhaps the buyer has an impulse purchase for an amount that exceeds their comfort level or their financial circumstances. Suddenly changes take place. And, they wish they can get back money or maybe, their spouse doesn’t approve of the purchase.

Then, there are fraudsters who commit online shoplifting by buying merchandise online and then disputing the transaction after the merchandise reach home. In this way, they can enjoy the merchandise for free, just like shoplifters at brick-and-mortar stores.

Thieves Use Your Credit Card

It’s an open secret how easy it is that anyone, with just a few dollars, can buy valid and stolen credit card information on the internet... and law enforcement and banks are doing little to stop it, say security experts.

It’s estimated there were nearly 1,500 credit breaches in 2017.
Equifax admitted to having the credit information of 143 million people exposed to hackers and the theft of 209,000 credit card numbers.

Some of the stolen information winds up on 'carding' websites that sell everything needed to use the credit card online or the magnetic strip of information on a credit card.

One website operating with an IP address in Eastern Europe has been operating for at least four years in plain view of law enforcement, and the banks that underwrite the credit cards.

The site, which we will not name, has a sophisticated search engine that lets users find cards by type: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Gold, Platinum and Chairman’s; by the issuing bank, debit or credit and possibly most important, ZIP code of the card’s owner.

Thieves know if a stolen credit card is used for moderate amounts in the same zip code as the card's owner, it’s less likely to be immediately flagged for fraud.
And many of the sites offer what’s called a checker. Once the stolen information is purchased, mostly like with a cryptocurrency like bitcoin, the buyer can run the information through a check to see if the card numbers are still valid.

High- Risk Merchant Services Providing Top Bitcoin Merchant Account Partner

If you are dealing in Bitcoins there are the two major terms you should be aware with– the Bitcoin Merchant Account and the Bitcoin Merchant Services.
A bitcoin is a digital currency founded in 2009 by people known as Satoshi Nakamoto. This cryptocurrency is stored, sent and received using e-wallets.

The bitcoin merchant account:
The merchant account helps you deal in these cryptocurrencies.

In a relatively new high-risk industry, finding the right banking partner for your bitcoin merchant account can be challenging.

Steps to get Bitcoin merchant account:

To get the Merchant account you have to simply speak to the merchant account manager of your bank or apply online with your bank website.

Companies who could accept these cryptocurrencies through your bitcoin merchant account:

Amazon -  Bloomberg - Chicago Sun-Times - CVS - Dish Network - eBay/PayPal – K/Mart - Las Vegas Casinos - Microsoft - MIT Coop Store -OK Cupid -Overstock.com -Sears -Target -Tesla -Tiger Direct- Victoria’s Secret -Virgin Galactic -Whole Foods -WordPress -Zappos.

Factors that determine merchant account fees:

• Merchant Discount Rate
• Per Transaction Fee
• Monthly Statement Fee
• Monthly Gateway Fee
• Six-Month Rolling Reserve
• Chargeback Fee
• Refund Fee

So now, what do these merchant account partners do? They simply provide you some Bitcoin merchant services.

Merchant Services:
The merchant demands have grown with the growing industry of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
There has recently been an increase in the bitcoin merchant services that is benefitting both the retailers and consumers passionate about bitcoins.

The top seven merchant services are:

Bitpay
Coinbase
Bitkassa
Coinpayments
Coinsimple
Coinkite
34 Bytes, LLC
Guys for more detail about Merchant Account you can go to this website – Merchant Account Provider

Merchant Account For Cruises An Incredibly Easy Method That Works For Merchants

Cruise Merchant accounts are considered high-risk businesses by MasterCard and Visa Card. Integrating online payment gateway on a cruise website requires unique features & merchants have to follow strict rules to get authorization. These websites are closely monitored by payment processors to ensure they follow industry regulations. Merchant Stronghold can provide your business website a payment gateway allowing you to run your business without worrying about external matters.

Cruise line businesses require a special merchant account to process payments. This business is considered as high-risk by local and international banks because of various reasons. There are a number of reasons and most of them are because the customer is not happy and wants a refund. Most cruises have a strict no cancellation policy that is why bank and payment processors don’t want to give them access to credit card processing.

Start accepting credit cards at low rates

Cruise lines offer one of a kind experience across oceans, continents, and seas. By traveling via a cruise ship people experience and appreciate the immensity of the oceans, as explorers did in old times. If you are offering such great services then you deserve access to an easy payment gateway. With our dedicated merchant account, we will be able to help you accept credit and debit cards as soon as your application is approved. We not only offer lowest rates, but our support service is unparalleled.

Apply for the merchant account

It is a straightforward and easy process. Keep in consideration that if you have a good credit score then you are likely to get approved. But if you have a poor credit score, we can still help you get approved but it may require you to submit additional documentation. If you already have a merchant account then we will ask for 3 to 5 months of the statement from your current provider. We may ask business statement to ensure you are able to handle chargebacks. If you want to apply, just call us and fill out the application and we’ll make sure that you get your fully functional merchant account as soon as possible.

Cruise line businesses can get merchant accounts if they provide all the right documents. Your payment processor may need these documents in order to offer better services. Most of the time you provide ID, previous payment processing information, signed the application, and bank information with license information to ensure your business is authentic. Banks and payment processors will ask for this information before approval and account setup.

High-Risk Merchant Account for your Small Business

Credit Card Acceptance: Accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover

These days only a few people carry cash, rests rely on credit cards. There are only four major card brands through, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. For a small business, credit card processing is incredibly important. According to a report by the market watch, 60 percent of the points of sale transactions rely on debit or credit cards. Many studies have pointed that business owners who offer multiple payment methods are likely to succeed. By providing multiple payment methods, a company is likely to attract a large number of customers from around the globe. Credit card payment makes purchase process secure and easy for customers, and it also helps business to keep the record of sales.

Small Business Needs A Merchant Account 

The easiest way for small businesses to accept credit card is via merchant accounts. A merchant who wants to expand a business to reach wide audience requires a payment gateway. Merchant accounts have tools that can accept any type of card via a virtual terminal. Any business can integrate more than one payment methods on their online e-commerce site. When a merchant provider is done setting up the account, accepting credit cards becomes easier for business owners.

MERCHANT STRONGHOLD IS THE RIGHT CHOICE

Many merchants think that it is expensive to accept cards, but this is not always the case. Some merchant account providers such as Merchant Stronghold, A leading Payment Gateway Provider which provides competitive rates so that small businesses can succeed by offering multiple payment options to their customers.

Merchant Stronghold speaks with every small business owner to explain them everything, we also guide them to handle their merchant account. There is a variety of choices offered to merchants to make it simple and secure for their customers. Merchants can access their account via mobile and other platforms. Merchants also get 24/7 customer support to keep the business running smoothly. We use the latest technology to ensure merchants are happy and their business is safe from frauds. You can contact us and we will help drive your business to new heights. Merchant Stronghold is the right way for your Small Business.