ISOs

Acquirers and independent sales organizations have long heard a similar refrain: Adjust to the fast pace of technology or perish.

The promise of faster EMV technology is a welcome reprieve for many ISOs who have grown weary of listening to merchants gripe about the snail's pace of chip card transactions. That reprieve, however, may not be so quick in coming.

The payments and financial technology world is moving ahead at high speed. But an acquirer may feel like the only one on the road obeying the speed limit while other companies zoom ahead.

The regulatory winds swirling around acquirers and independent sales organizations are so swift, those who can't stay abreast of the changes are likely to get blown away.

Every product has a "sell by" date, and so should every independent sales organization.

Every product has a "sell by" date, and so should every independent sales organization.

Merchants are facing consumer lawsuits stemming from the introduction of EMV-chip card security at the point of sale in the U.S., exposing the issues many stores must contend with now that they are held liable for fraud and chargebacks.

Mobility's incursion into merchant services is normally treated as a threat to independent sales organizations and legacy acquirers, who will find themselves on the outside as technology-based services take over the store.

To expand the reach of its global e-commerce services, Ingenico ePayments is building up a vast network of connections to merchant acquirers, hoping to gain a competitive edge as the demand grows for omnichannel payments.

It's been a tough time to be a mobile point of sale company, but SumUp believes it's found the right formula to not only get through the shakeout but to thrive.

Multi-factor authentication will be required for administrative access to card data and systems for Payment Card Industry data security compliance this week.

Growth opportunities for e-commerce companies looking to go global in the next few years are huge, but many are daunted by the complexity of different online payment approaches used around the world, say international e-commerce payment experts.

The Chargent payment processing software on the Salesforce AppExchange has integrated with Bank Centric Payments to create a new gateway option and bolster “real time” transaction processing.

If an independent sales organization wants to convert a merchant to the most current faster payment technologies, the ISO itself must practice what it preaches.

As merchants prepared to swap out their aging magstripe terminals for modern EMV card readers, acquirers hoped that this widespread demand for equipment would flood ISOs with revenue. But instead, some are finding EMV simply added to their expenses.

New requirements and guidance from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council will be released to merchants in April, which is about six months earlier than its normal update cycle.

The Electronic Transactions Association released its updated Guidelines on Merchant and ISO Underwriting and Risk Monitoring last week, spotlighting various merchant categories that face the biggest scrutiny from law enforcement agencies.

Golf course management software provider Club Prophet Systems is using the linked2pay application interface to add Automated Clearing House payment acceptance as an option for its clients.

Retailers often worry that their customers won't return after a breach, but as logical as this expectation is, it may be far from the truth.