Education
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Mobile Payments: FAQs for Retailers
Posted by anandkgoel on 01 Feb 2012 | Tagged as: Education, General
The following article from Software Advice (click here) provides a good overview of mobile payments and trends in an article titled, Mobile Payments: FAQs for Retailers.
In July 2011, Gartner released a study on worldwide mobile payment trends. In it, Gartner reported a striking 38 percent jump in mobile payment users from 2010 to 2011, to 141 million. Even so, the report notes that the market has been slow to develop, and mass market adoption may be more than four years away. Click here to read the rest of the article…
Understanding International Processing Fees
Posted by anandkgoel on 21 Dec 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General
Interchange rates for international cards (cards issued outside the U.S. and processed by a U.S. based merchant) can be very confusing. Beyond the interchange rates and other processing fees charged for international cards, every network adds two fees to every international transaction. Here’s a quick guide to understanding these fees. Continue Reading»
Healthcare Self-Payment Collections – Reducing Cost of Card Payments
Posted by anandkgoel on 01 Dec 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General, Published Articles
We prepared the following analysis before the Durbin amendment became effective on October 1, 2011. We will be updating this analysis in the near future but the general guidelines presented are still very valid.
Reducing your healthcare organization’s cost of processing credit and debit card payments from patients or businesses can be a herculean task because the payments industry is unnecessarily complex and confusing. There are so many industry terms—such as qualification tiers, downgrades, interchange, assessments fee, batch fee, automated clearinghouse fee, authorization fee, settlement fee, address verification service fee, and payment card industry compliance fee—that even a sophisticated healthcare finance leader can get cross-eyed.
Understanding the ISOs in the Marketplace
Posted by anandkgoel on 01 Sep 2011 | Tagged as: Education, General
ISO stands for Independent Sales Organization and it is a term used by Visa. MSP stands for Merchant Service Provider and it is a term used by MasterCard. ISO and MSP mean exactly the same thing – a company sponsored by a member bank to resell credit/debit card processing services. Becoming an ISO/MSP requires a business to go through a registration process and pay a fee (usually $10,000). One can easily verify an ISO/MSP by checking a company’s website or any of their marketing material for a disclosure “company is a registered ISO/MSP of bank, town, state. FDIC insured”. This disclosure is required by both Visa and MasterCard and will cause a fine of up to $25,000 if it is not clearly visible. Continue Reading»
Visa and MasterCard Settlement with DOJ and Merchant POS Implications
Posted by anandkgoel on 22 Aug 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General
Last fall, Visa and MasterCard announced a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and several state attorneys general to resolve antitrust investigations into the card networks merchant acceptance rules in the United States. American Express is litigating this suit with the DOJ. On July 20, 2011, the court approved the settlement and entered final judgment in the case. The final judgment is available at www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f273100/273170.pdf. Continue Reading»
Developing a Payments Innovation Strategy
Posted by Monika on 22 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Education, General
Here is an informative article on developing a payments innovation strategy.
Laying The Foundation For Innovation In Payments
Written by Andrew Morris, CEO, Morris Advisors and Anand Goel, CEO, Optimized Payments Consulting, Inc
And so you’re a retailer looking for new ways to reduce operational costs, improve the shopping experience, enhance customer loyalty, and ultimately increase sales. At the heart of all of these objectives is a payment transaction – and the retail world is buzzing as never before with the promise of new technologies that will revolutionize the way consumers make payments.
Isis, Google, PayPal, Square and many other companies have introduced new payment technologies in just the past few years. For retailers, the complexity and pace of change can be daunting. After all, retailers are already faced with a dizzying array of payment options to manage and each with its own unique value proposition, risk profile, and cost/benefits to carefully consider. And now we add a tidal wave of innovation to the mix.  Continue reading…
Value of Discover & American Express Acquiring/Processing
Posted by anandkgoel on 07 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General, Published Articles
About four years ago, Discover and American Express started updating their business model by letting acquirers add its cards to the payment options they offer to merchants. Traditionally, acquirers or payment processors could only offer Visa and MasterCard processing, and merchants had separate agreements with Discover and AmEx.  Therefore, merchants became accustomed to getting three sets of merchant statements, with three difference customer service phone numbers, and three different funding time frames. Continue Reading»
The Evolution of Convenience Fees
Posted by anandkgoel on 01 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General, Published Articles
In slightly more than a decade convenience fees on credit and debit cards have evolved from application in a specific market to wide adoption across many industries. This article looks at the growth in usage of convenience fees, application within specific verticals, and card network regulations. Continue Reading»
Durbin Amendment Final Rules
Posted by anandkgoel on 29 Jun 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General
Today the Federal Reserve Board issued final rules of the Durbin Amendment, part of the Dodd-Frank Act signed into law in July 2010 by President Obama. Â The Durbin Amendment gave authority to the Federal Reserve to regulate debit (signature, PIN, and PINless) interchange fees and transaction routing.
The Fed presented draft rules on December 16, 2010, where they had two alternative approaches  to capping debit interchange fees and two alternative approaches to transaction routing. After considering over 11,000 comments from consumers, lawmakers, academics, and industry personnel over the last six months, the Fed presented the following rules. Here are the salient points and dates. Click here to read the full text of the final rules or a shorter memo of the final rules. Continue Reading»
Finding the “Best” Acquirer
Posted by anandkgoel on 11 Jan 2011 | Tagged as: Analysis, Education, General
A common and frequent question we get asked is, “who is the best credit card processor?” I usually smile because it is like asking a frequently flyer which airline is the best. There are travelers who have horror stories about each and every airline, at least amongst domestic carriers. Similarly, we have not found a single best credit card processor, or merchant acquirer, that addresses every need in the marketplace. Tier one firms typically offer similar levels of service, competitive pricing, and technology. Few distinctions amongst acquirers can be based on their product/service functionality (online chargeback management, electronic signature capture, configurable reporting, etc.) and certification to various gateways and point-of-sale systems. So determining the best processor really depends on a merchant’s needs. Continue Reading»
