New York SBDC Research Network

After two major retailers, Target Corp. and Neiman Marcus, revealed that massive data breaches had compromised tens of millions of customers' data records, everyone from consumers to politicians has asked how such spectacular security blunders could occur. But if experts' anecdotes and insights on the numerous weaknesses in retail point-of-sale (POS) systems are any indication, it may be surprising major breaches don't happen more often. ... And more retail breaches are likely to be revealed soon. A recent Reuters report indicated that other retailers also suffered data breaches during the holiday season. Undisclosed sources told the news agency that "at least three other well-known U.S. retailers" were breached, and the attack techniques utilized were similar to those in the Target breach. Why are attackers currently having so much success penetrating retail environments? While some may look to cast blame on weak legacy point-of-sale security, others say reta

Most chargeback situations arise at the point of transaction—at the time the transaction is completed—and most can be prevented with a little training. Consider these 16 tips to avoid potential chargebacks .

Those of us in the payments industry may often think “electronic is better,” but there are still those who prefer paper. Specifically: checks. 91 percent of U.S. consumers use checks, which is more than any other form of payment?1 In fact, the average U.S. consumer writes over five checks per month for retail payments, and 22 percent of total U.S. non-cash payments were made by check in 2010.2 However, checks often shift risk and hassle onto merchants who have to transport them to the bank, deal with bounced checks and worry about fraud. Luckily, new advances in check acceptance technology make it safer and easier than ever before to include checks as a customer payment choice. These technologies provide merchants with more secure and convenient options when deciding whether and how to accept checks. More from ASBDC HERE .

Credit cards are a common online payment option for small businesses, but what about other services like PayPal, Bill Me Later and Google Wallet? These now ubiquitous tools make it easier than ever for anyone – not just e-tailers – to buy and sell goods online and via mobile devices. However, as with all business tools, they have their pros and cons. Here’s what you need to know.

You might have heard about MasterCard and Visa agreeing to pay more than $6 billion to settle accusations that they engaged in anticompetitive practices in payment processing . The tricky side effect, though, is that, assuming a judge approves the settlement, merchants can now "charge higher prices to consumers who decide to pay for their purchases with credit cards...Until now, the card companies banned merchants from adding such a surcharge, although gas stations and other retailers sometimes offered a discount for customers who paid in cash." Frank Keating, the president of the American Bankers Association said: "Let’s be clear — retailers, not consumers, benefit from today’s resolution." And it apparently didn't hurt MasterCard and Visa . On the stock exchange Friday, "Visa rose 2.3 percent to $126.91 in extended trading in New York. MasterCard advanced 2.9 percent to $442." "Defendants in the case include Bank of America Corp., Citigroup

One of our counselors asked: "I have a client who is looking for ways to cut her credit card processing expenses and is considering charging her credit card customers a $1 fee per transaction. I looked into this a couple years back when another client had a similar question and now can’t seem to find that information again. But, I recall that I had discovered that charging such a fee is against the merchant’s agreement with the credit card companies." This led to a vigorous online discussion. As it turned out, I did address this in the second half of this post , but that was five years ago. Has anything changed? I went to the sources, and included some related issues. MasterCard Rules (PDF) 5.8 Card Acceptance Requirements (start on p 122) 5.8.1 Honor All Cards A Merchant must honor all valid Cards without discrimination when properly presented for payment. A Merchant must maintain a policy that does not discriminate among customers seeking to make purchases wit

Marketing, sales and customer service don’t share information, according to Economist Intelligence Unit surveys . A series of surveys across six industries— financial services, technology, telecommunications, utilities, consumer goods and retail —reveals that most companies still fall short when trying to deliver value consistently in all the functions that interact with customers. In other words, cautionary tales.