AVPS Accept Credit Cards Online

Don’t Let Credit Problems Keep You from Doing Business Online

Credit Card Processing — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:00:23 +0000

Are you looking to start an Internet business or to take your business into the virtual world, only to find that a poor or nonexistent credit rating is holding you back? While most banks have very strict laws and regulations regarding to whom and how they can distribute funding, they are not your only option. A high risk merchant account can give you many options that you might not have even known were available to you, including the ability to access a merchant cash advance that will let you borrow against future credit card payments and repay the loan automatically and affordably as purchases are made.

When you are ready to take your business online, finding the right merchant services can be difficult, especially if you do not know all of the terminology related to these businesses. You may find yourself wondering, “what is ACH, and does my business need it”, or you may be wondering what types of fees you should expect from a high risk merchant account. Whatever your questions may be, you deserve answers, and AVP Solutions will be happy to provide them.

At AVP Solutions, we offer a wide range of high risk merchant account services to help you take your business further. Our team has been in business for many years, and we know what questions you have and how to answer them in a way that really benefits you. Feel free to contact a member of our team today at 1-800-719-9198 to find out more about our merchant cash advance and other services or to get answers to questions such as “what is ACH”. We know that the right service is crucial to your business, and our reputation has been built helping individuals and companies just like you to get off on the best foot possible, regardless of credit risk.

More on MCAs

Credit Card Processing — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:26:06 +0000

No sooner does a blog post run here at AVPS on using Merchant Cash Advances to augment cash flow for your business in tight times, than the subject starts appearing in financial news headlines. Business News Daily ran a piece on the same subject, stating “In this era of tight money, many small businesses feel that they’ve been hung out to dry by traditional lenders, a new survey shows. As a result, a growing number of companies are turning to alternative sources of funding, such as merchant cash advances (MCA).”

The survey was conducted by Merchant Cash and Capital (MCC), themselves providers of MCA’s, and found, among other things that 42 percent of small businesses using MCA’s didn’t think they’d qualify for more “regular” loans from financial institutions, though an even larger number — 57 percent — had already been declined or withdrawn their applications!

According to the article, “the MCA funds were used for expansion and growth (32 percent), purchase of inventory (15 percent), followed by payroll, paying taxes/bills and marketing, the survey found.”

Although often thought of as “expensive money,” AVP Solutions’ cash advance partner promises “rock bottom” rates, along with advances of up to 125% of monthly credit card sales, with 6-10 month terms, for businesses processing over $4,000 worth of credit sales a month (for the standard program; there are variants –inquire within!)

Industries that might be surprised to learn of their eligibility include specialty retailers, pet grooming outlets and even tattoo parlors, along with the more expected “main street” enterprises like consumer electronic retailers, restaurants, hotels/motels, and car dealerships.

The list of who might qualify is extensive, as are the facets of what’s available. Quoting an MCC spokesman, the Business News Daily article notes that “a lot of businesses use (these cash advances) as bridge or gap financing.” Further, the spokesman pointed “out that many businesses taking advantage of MCAs need funds quickly.”

And in a challenging economy like this, providing funds at all — let alone quickly, and in sufficient amounts — is always welcome for the business of doing business.

If You Haven’t Started Doing Business Online Yet, You’re Missing the Boat

Credit Card Processing — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:00:54 +0000

The Internet is by far the biggest marketplace available to consumers both here and abroad, and if your business is still operating solely on a local basis, you may be missing out on significant profits. Research shows that an overwhelming majority of consumers prefer shopping online, even at stores that are within driving distance. Not only does taking your business online allow you better access to local consumers, but it can help you expand your reach globally as well. One thing that you will find very helpful in the transition to online marketing is the ability to process checks online.

When you accept checks online, you make it easy for consumers who do not have credit cards or who are wary of using them on the Internet to pay their bills or order services. Many consumers prefer to pay bills and make purchases directly from their bank accounts for easier management of their funds, and the right online check acceptance service can make this easy for you to accomplish. When you are able to accept checks online through an ACH system, your customers can make payments with ease, even with automation, while you receive clear, easily downloaded reports of payments.

If you are looking to accept checks online for your customers, contact AVP Solutions to find out how we can make it easy for you. Our services are designed to make it simple for consumers and business owners alone to access online check acceptance. We also offer a wide range of other merchant services to help give your business the boost it needs. No matter what your company needs to be able to start doing business online, AVPS can help. Give us a call today at 1-800-719-9198 or visit us online to see how we can help you get your business up and running on the web quickly and easily!

Fallout Continues from Recent Global Payments Breach

Credit Card Processing — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:41:06 +0000

The recent security breach reported by Global Payments — as previously discussed here — continues to leave the payments industry searching for clues as to what went wrong this time, and what can be done to prevent a “next time.”

In payments industry newsletter The Green Sheet, Mark Bower, Vice President of Voltage Security Inc., said payment processors such like Global Payments have actually been targets for such attacks for years, even if most attempts aren’t always successful. “If there’s one industry that absolutely needs to adopt a data-centric security strategy to mitigate breach risk, it’s the payments industry,” he said. He then refers to the PCI council, saying the council “recognizes these risks, so it should be no surprise if an organization that relies on older perimeter security strategies is breached and lands on the front pages of newspapers.”

But standards, even those espoused by the PCI (Payment Card Industry) Security Standards Council are always shifting, racing to keep up. The Govinfosecurity.com website noted that in the wake of the breach (which they now think may have started earlier), Global Payments made a point of linking to a PCI announcement from its own site, trumpeting the fact that “all merchants must be compliant” according PCI’s announcement to merchants, and that “the best way to obtain your compliance is to validate with a qualified secured assessor.”

Global Payments then mentioned two such assessors it was recommending to its clients, but the website’s article also noted that “the PCI message is tailored to Level 4 merchants – those processing fewer than 20,000 transactions per year – and it urges them to work with a pair of recommended payment application security vendors to assess compliance.”

The vendors recommended by Global could, among other things, help merchants locate “any stored unencrypted cardholder data that you may have in your system,” which is a critical point also touched by AVP Solutions’ own security experts.

“Merchants should not store cardholder data,” AVPS’ experts say. “This is for customer safety. The only caveat is the data the consumer inputs on the SSL Secured checkout page and submits to the gateway for the purchase completion. In that moment, the data could be compromised. Once the authorization response is received the data is immediately encrypted by the gateway provider, such as AVPS’s NMI or others like Authorize Net, etc.”

Similarly, in one of their own white papers, predating the Global Payments breach, PCI observed that “encryption solutions are only as good as the industry-approved algorithms and key management practices used, including security controls surrounding the encryption/decryption keys (“Keys”). If Keys are left unprotected and accessible, anyone can decrypt the data.”

Encryption is important — but as with anything else, don’t leave your “keys” lying around.

Getting Your Business Started Right

Credit Card Processing — Tue, 01 May 2012 02:00:14 +0000

If you are looking to start a new business or to move an existing business online, there are many steps that you will need to take. One thing you will definitely need to do before taking many other steps is to create a business plan. You need to have a fact and research driven estimate of what you plan to make, but you also need to have an idea of the market for your products or services, as well as an idea of what level of competition you can expect in your demographic. All of this will be required to get funding for your business, as well as to keep you on the right track. If you are having problems getting funding from your own savings or are looking for a method of funding that is affordable and only requires you to pay when you get paid, a merchant cash advance can be a great option.

With a merchant cash advance, you can essentially sell some of your future profits in exchange for the cash you need to start or advance your business. The buying company will then automatically take a small portion of your credit card or ACH payments to help repay the loan. This is an excellent option not only for high risk companies, but for business owners who do not want to be faced with large payments when they are still struggling to get everything up and running. You pay only a portion of what you make, meaning that your payments are tailored to the speed with which your business is growing. And when your payment is fulfilled, the payments stop and you go back to receiving that portion of your money again.

Starting up a business can be hard, but with merchant services from AVP Solutions, it can be easier. Whether you are looking for a merchant cash advance or a company to help you start accepting ACH and credit card payments, AVPS has what you are looking for. With the Better Business Bureau’s highest rating and years of experience exceeding the needs of our customers, we know what you need to get your business started on the right foot. AVP Solutions is here to help you meet all of your needs. Simply contact us online or give us a call at 1-800-719-9198 to see what we can do for you!

Summer travel: The beach, the open road — the use of plastic

Credit Card Processing — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:53:41 +0000

We’re in that time of year where AVP Solutions’ clients in travel and related businesses can predict an uptick in sales, customers — and credit card use. Visa Inc. recently released its “travel snapshot” — based on data from the previous year — noting an increase in spending “on international travel-related purchases from 2010 to 2011.” This trend, the release says, is “building momentum toward pre-recession levels.

Another report, also Visa-sponsored and released this past month, came from the Global Business Travel Association, which states that “business travel will reach its pre-recession levels by the middle of 2012, with measured growth throughout the year as economic headwinds persist.” Chief among those headwinds, however, are “the ongoing uncertainty of the European debt crisis and rising oil prices.”

Still, given the point we’re at on the calendar, it’s a good bet that those in the travel industries can expect to do more credit processing over the next several months, as people take vacations, go to and from school, and even get some business done. The thing to be aware of, according to yet a different report from another Visa subsidiary — in this case, e-commerce fraud control firm CyberSource – is that “online travel agencies are well-known fraud targets,” but these “OTAs,” as they’re called experience “fraud losses as a percentage of revenue… actually less than elsewhere in the travel business.”

The figures break down, roughly, like this: “Overall, travel merchants lose an average of 0.44% of annual revenues to online fraud. The mean for airlines is identical at 0.44% and 0.59% for the rental cars-cruise lines-rail-lodging sector. But the average of OTAs, including packaged-tour operators and some related merchants, is a bit lower at 0.36%.” Which means if you’re not Travelocity or Orbitz, say, you might want to be doubly aware, in the season ahead, when the flurry of card use will increase.

On the other hand, in another CyberSource report, looking at online purchasing in general, for the previous year, they announced that “merchants are making gains against fraud but the battle continues. The fraud rate … dropped from 0.9 percent in 2010 to 0.6 percent in 2011—the lowest in the 13 year history of the survey.” So everyone is benefiting from everyone else’s vigilance. But the report also went on to note that “the cost of combating fraud continues to grow. Dollar losses were up, manual review continued to climb, and merchants reiterated their concern that fraud is becoming more difficult to detect.”

In an effort to keep your business and merchant accounts safe during this busy time, AVP Solutions’ in-house experts pass along these tips and reminders: For online and e-commerce transactions, utilize the raw data available to you. Capture IP addresses and match the geo location to the customer’s telephone area code and billing address zip code. Monitor declined sales data and do read the “reason texts” provided by your gateway.

You may learn, for example, that a sale was declined with the response of “Pick up”. This means the credit card issuer has blocked the card because it has been reported lost/stolen. A response of “Call Center” means that the issuer, for one reason or another, wants to speak with the owner of the card before authorizing the sale. It can typically be an indication that there has been recent suspicious activity on the card and the issuer wants to speak with the card owner to verify recent sales.

Additionally, look for suspicious trends. For example: Are there excessive amounts of declined sales coming from a specific IP address or IP range? A specific email or shipping address? If you determine certain criteria to be fraudulent, implement a blacklist/negative database. Program your shopping cart to reject activity from that IP address, email address, shipping address, etc. Always retain your data and study it.

AVPS offers a Gateway that can assist in creating all of the features listed to help improve the quality of transactions being accepted through your online business. For more information on the Gateway, contact your AVP Solutions rep at 1-800-719-9198

Fear Itself: What’s Next in the Global Payments breach?

Credit Card Processing — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:06:21 +0000

The biggest news in the credit processing world this early spring is the unwelcome kind: Reports of a security breach at Atlanta-based Global Payments, a large processor of Visa and Mastercard payments.

While the security risk appears to be limited to a total of 1.5 million cards, and involves only Track 2-type data (the type of data appearing on a magnetic strip which could allow duplicate cards to be made, but generally precludes any kind of identity theft) , the fallout is more widespread.

Visa dropped Global Payments from its list of processors meeting PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance standards (which Global is currently trying to re-obtain). Consumers may also be viewing the data breach as more severe than it actually is.

For example, in British Columbia, according to CTV, Vancouver police “say residents are already receiving calls from people posing as security employees with MasterCard or Visa, who tell them they have fraudulent charges on their card and ask for the security code on the back of the card. Police are warning not to give out that number.”

The climate of fear, then, can often lead to expanded data and security breaches, and more.

Merchants however, can reassure customers, when and where appropriate, their data is still safe, whether online or in-store. Sometimes events like this can be good occasions to proactively reach out to consumers, through website updates, emails, etc., reminding them of basic card-use security procedures, simultaneously reminding them that doing business with your company is still safe. Additional steps include advising cardholders to:

* Check their bank account if they have used their debit card with pin in a retail establishment or as a cc in other purchases.

* Check for unfamiliar transactions daily, including their online credit card statements, to see if there are any unfamiliar transactions.

*Avoid emails that guide you to websites asking for personal data or unsolicited calls from people asking for your Credit Card information

*Look for suspicious “extra” equipment on gas pumps, ATMs, etc., and let customers know about “skimmers.”

And while AVP Solutions was, of course, unaffected by this news, their in-house experts have additional tips for businesses, too: Make sure you’re using the most recent, PCI-compliant point of sale terminal, and for companies doing business via e-commerce, be sure your sites have an SSL certificate, using a PCI-compliant gateway. Indeed, merchants are required to complete a PCI questionnaire during the approval process with most banks. Based on the form, banks then determine if the merchant needs additional security for their websites.

And of course, always make sure you know your employees!

Feel free to contact your AVP Solutions rep at at 1-800-719-9198 if you have any questions.

Take Payments Online: Increase the Geographical Scope of Your Business

Accept_Credit_Cards — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:02:18 +0000

Deciding to take card transactions over the web can greatly expand the territory of your profit earning capabilities. Credit payments allow your business to grow in ways that are simply not possible in a traditional retail setting. Online sales are one of the fastest ways to increase your profit margin without an extensive investment of time or money. The decision to take payments online is wise because it offers sales advantages a business needs to build upon already established success. Processing physical checks takes time and increases the risk of a bad transaction. Credit cards are convenient, support impulse buying, and remove the need to accept transactions at a physical location. If you have not already contemplated this choice, it is time to see what online credit reimbursement can really do for your business.

Accept Online Payments: What Benefits Can You Expect?

One of the biggest advantages received when you begin to accept online payments is immediate compensation. Processing completes as the order is being entered, meaning you do not have to wait for many days or even weeks to receive the funds. Without this option in place, an order may be input online but cannot be completed during the process. You must create an invoice which is then sent either prior to shipping or after the service is completed. This setup typically leads to unpaid invoices or other complications due to the recipient being required to send or call in their transaction. Immediate payment prevents the customer from receiving the service or goods until the transaction has gone through. The ability to accept online payments has also opened up new opportunities such as recurring bill pay to companies.

If you are operating in an ecommerce environment, you also receive the benefit of a widespread customer base unrestricted by your geographical location. A well marketed website can obtain far more visitors than the local downtown shop. This increased exposure makes it easy to gain additional profits by integrating a credit payment option. When a website only offers information about the products or services being sold, customers may use it for research but tend to purchase from a site with similar products due to the additional convenience of being able to pay online. You in turn lose out on potential customers and a vast amount of sales when consumers are not able to buy directly from your website.

Consumers love the convenience supplied by ecommerce websites and expect this option to be present when a business is selling something. It is now the status quo to go to a site, add products to a shopping cart, and enter card data to complete a purchase. Many customers view a business that only takes phone or mailed payments as potentially untrustworthy. When you take payments online, a greater sense of confidence is stirred within the customer thus encouraging each individual sale. This decision greatly boosts your company image and allows you to gain a vast amount of new customers. AVPS can provide a benefit packed solution designed to offer increased convenience to your customers. Visit our website to see what you receive when choosing our ecommerce services.

Merchant Services Online: What Do You Get With an Internet Processing Solution?

Accept_Credit_Cards — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:58:54 +0000

Merchant accounts specifically designed for your ecommerce business offer many features centered on making customer transaction processing easier. The application process for these services is fairly simple through an independent sales organization (ISO) or payment provider. You simply go online to the provider website, choose the internet account option, provide business check information, and supply a social security number or Federal Tax Identification number. Once the form has been completed, click the apply button to receive almost instant notification. You can choose to receive this service from a traditional financial institution; however, expect a larger amount of paperwork to be required and the process to take an extended period of time. Merchant services for online processing have been fine tuned to meet the varying needs of organizations just like yours.

With an internet merchant account solution, you receive all the necessary components to make this customer convenience option a cinch. AVPS internet transaction solutions supply a virtual terminal to process cards from any location. Provided HTML tags allow you to set up a direct payment option on your website and the gateway is supplied to complete the approval process. You have twenty-four hour support available in addition to the merchant account for credit acceptance. Taking consumer card payments can increase sales and ease your transaction handling workload. This important business change does not have to be hard when a processing solution is provided from a dependable service provider.

Accept Online Payments: Security and Business Enhancing Features

All you need is some basic HTML knowledge when setting your website up to accept online payments. We supply the appropriate tags which your developer can then use to insert into the appropriate pages and button functions. Websites with an existing product catalog may require a shopping cart to be incorporated into the mix. Many gateways are already designed to integrate with pre-designed carts making it important to ask upfront about the particular one you will be using. Fraud protection in the form of address and user verification are included with these services to ensure only valid cards are approved. A secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol is also included to supply reliable data encryption when internet communication takes place regarding a transaction. Lockout preventive features supply additional protection from illegal behavior and pre-verification makes certain only legitimate cards are run during ecommerce sales.

You receive many additional business enhancing features when using an internet merchant solution to accept online payments. All business reports are integrated into the virtual terminal for easy access and transaction oriented emails may be fully customized. Business logos may be added to the ordering form with an automatic page redirect once the transaction has completed. Authorizations are completed in real time without the need of purchasing additional hardware or extensive machine setups. These solutions may be fully integrated with any ecommerce website as well as most legacy systems. Online reporting tools, a reports management system, data importation, data transaction storage, printable receipts, return capabilities, and many other features can be expected with merchant services for online business. Call us today to learn more about what our transaction solutions have to offer your business.

Online Payment Processing: Preparing Your Website for Credit Acceptance

Accept_Credit_Cards — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:52:02 +0000

You have your domain name and a basic ecommerce site created to display your products or services, but where do you go from here? A buying solution is necessary when you are preparing to sell items online. You will need to have capabilities for listing products, shopping cart features, order tracking, and payment handling. Software used to accomplish web processing may be hosted, obtained from a licensed provider or created by your own web team. In most cases you can pull different components in based upon the current experience of your web developer. With so many shopping carts and tools already available, it would seem silly to spend time designing these aspects unless customization is needed. Budget, experience, and timeframes contribute to the choices made regarding your ecommerce site setup.

Online payment processing is another set of services you will have to consider as your site is being prepared. An internet merchant account and gateway are vital components to online credit card transactions. Most providers offer a complete solution consisting of both components as well as additionally needed features. This solution is integrated with your shopping cart to create an easy flowing checkout process. It may also be in the form of an indirect setup where customers pay on the processing provider’s site. Once these components have been delineated, you can deal with web hosting space as well as complete the overall design of your website.

Accept Online Payments: Choose an All-In-One Processing Solution

The ability to accept online payments provides convenience to both your business and consumers. Many variations exist for how this service is arranged to work on your website; however, an internet merchant account and gateway are needed regardless of the arrangement. The gateway facilitates the communication needed to transfer received funds into the merchant account. Payments are deposited into your bank from the merchant account after the provider has subtracted all fees. The account portion may be acquired from your local bank or an ISO (Independent Sales Organization). An ISO can be viewed as a mediator used to accomplish data transmittal through the appropriate financial channels. ISOs can set the service up much faster, offer competitive fees, and do not expect as much as a bank does when applying.

The account selected to accept online payments may have the following items:

• the gateway
• fraud protection
• business reports
• customizable customer receipts
• multiple integration capabilities
• real time authorization

Whether the selected provider offers a supplied gateway or not, it is a necessary security component for transmitting transaction data which may have to be paid for separately. You should always check to see if it is included in the offered services before making a final provider decision. Hosted ecommerce solutions are the easiest to incorporate with your website because they support many gateways. If you are looking for easy setup, fast, and reliable online payment processing, a third party service is the most reasonable choice in regards to cost and simplicity. AVPS internet merchant account solutions are not difficult to include as part of your website. We can provide your customers the buying power necessary to expand company earning possibilities.