You spend time working to build your business by marketing the store to bring in consumers, advertising your specials, and contacting all interested parties so everyone knows who you are and where you can be found. Not only have you been doing all the above every month you have gone the extra mile to create an ecommerce website to display store products and your monthly specials.

One slight issue has come to your attention over time from customers and would now seem more customers are having difficulty placing orders online due to errors appearing whether it is in price or inventory name. You have also taken notice to the customers in the store making comments on how slow the purchasing is taking place. After hearing all of the above the thought now comes to mind what POS system you have been using is not exactly working the way you want and needs to be changed. You have determined it is time for that POS system to have an upgrade.

To best care for your situation, your ecommerce page and your store deserve equal attention so everything is treated equally and all  inventory can be read together.  Contact our expert staff today with your needs at info@sunlitmerchantservices.com so we can best assist with that POS system upgrade for your business and ecommerce stores.

Every business owner is already getting started strategizing on how they can increase their business sales and activity in 2016.  Many of them are considering new sales approaches, products to offer and promotional ideas in order to pique interest and increase their numbers.  One thing many business owners tend to overlook is whether or not they are getting the best quality customer service and pricing from their merchant processor.  Consider a few questions when you think of your processor.

• Does your merchant processor expedite your needs when you have an emergency or need assistance?
• Do you feel valued by your processing company and that they appreciate your business?
• Does your merchant processor educate you on different thing you can do to avoid chargebacks or protect your business from fraud?
• Do you think you could be saving more money on your merchant processing fees?
• Do you understand what you are currently paying on your processing fees today?

If you answered no to any of these questions it would be advantageous to contact an expert at Sunlit Merchant Services to find out how you can lower your processing costs and get better service than you ever thought possible.

Email your most recent merchant processing statement to info@sunlitmerchantservices.com or fax directly to 858-408-1988 with a cover sheet and your contact information and one of our experts will get back in touch with you as soon as possible to help you make 2016 the best year of business yet.

A Chinese hacker ring known as the Codoso Group also known as Sunshock Group is under security breach as they have allegedly broken into the computer network company known as LoopPay, Inc. What is more frustrating about this security breach as some may see is the day these alleged hacks began is as early as March 2015, quite disturbing considering time and location of activity. As of now there are investigative teams working on the matter to determine further information concerning the breach and the infestation of the computer system.

Because of cyber protection and high security from LoopPay the alleged hackers were only able to obtain technology information. Furthermore, even though the security breach did damaged items they have been removed and placed into another area away from all other operating computer equipment to ensure safety. Lastly, no personal payment or customer information was exposed at any time to this security breach.  Because of this security breach hacking attempt, further security is being used as Codoso hackers are known to use specific coding in an attempt to break through a security breach once again.

Cyber technology is something all business must make use of any more due to the above issue as we need to protect our customers and our data from being taken out of our computer systems. It is highly suggested to ensure your computer system is safe and well equipped with security to manage the traffic taking place on the Internet highway.

As of September 8, 2015 MasterCard Worldwide introduced a new program to consumers and business owners named MasterCard Express. This particular program is digital wallet based and will allow ease in how it is used in performing transactions between card users, accounts, and financial institutions. What gives the MasterCard Express more of a benefit is this item can be used through a mobile device. It might sound too good to be true as but in actuality it is the technology and security used when MasterCard Express credit card has been designed that gives the consumer the ability to use a credit card in this way.

The MasterCard Express credit card user can securely use this method if they wish by simply taking the Express credit card and doing one of two things to make a payment transaction. The consumer would either 1) wave the MasterCard Express credit card or 2) securely tap the MasterCard Express credit card over their mobile device and the authorized payment would then be completed. How these types of mobile payments are securely done are through the programming method of using tokens.  Because mobile devices are being used more often there has been a growing trend of digital wallet technology when making payments. With that being said there are more credit card companies becoming popular because they are turning to the use of providing a digital wallet and providing the consumer with this ability. Credit card capability on the market at this time is Android Pay and Samsung Pay but it is just the beginning of secure digital payment growth as this trending area will become larger over time.

Any questions about credit card processing contact Sunlit Merchant Services they can help!

Many persons are aware of the word Android is because there are smart phone owners who use Android. Some persons raise their eyebrow when hearing Android + Pay together even though it came about as of September 10. What this Android mobile application capability has done is given smart phone users the ability to make payments using credit and debit cards. What is more intriguing about this application is has been supported by the four major credit cards including the United States banks as well as the credit unions.

What gives Android Pay the ease to be liked by many persons who use smart phones is due to how it has been created as the application is available to users who obtain cellular services through AT&T, Verizon Wireless and also T-Mobile. If other cellular users are interested in obtaining the usage of Android Pay there are two ways to obtain it: 1) Google Wallet and 2) Google Play. You must be an existing user of Google Wallet to obtain the Android Pay application. If not, you can easily download the Android Pay application through Google Play.

Even though point of service (POS) vendors have been preparing for this mobile capability over time the question of security is on many minds especially due to the type of data used for authorizing and making of payments. What makes the Android Pay secure is in the transmission because there are no account numbers ever used to process payments. How is this so? Quite easily, the use for doing this is by usage of virtual account numbers to always keep account numbers safe during the transaction of payments.

Android Pay rolled out early September as a new smart phone application for Android phone users but with that being said is your business environment prepared to handle the new mobile application?

For a bit of time the social media news has been rather silent on the activities of bitcoin being used in the global matter of currency exchange at least until now that is. As of August 24, bitcoin has come alive once again in the Middle East, Iranian market to be exact, via the launch of a business named BTXCapital. Who is his company? BTXCapital is a bitcoin exchange company based directly in Iran.

BTXCapital will perform the purchase and selling of bitcoins to provide the ability of bank transfer into or from the local Iranian Rial currency. Fees will be charged for this service and they will differ for this service. The company has spent time in writing out a financial policy for explicit details to ensure everything works correctly with consumers who wish to use this service. If anyone is interested in learning more about the company BTXCapital can be followed on Twitter or they do have the website BTXCapital.com created for visitors.

There are doubts of bitcoin returning by some after seeing what took place to the large turnover a few months ago. Considering the company is in the Middle East under different currency laws it can operate for quite some time without being effected. There are questions surfacing on how long the Iranian government will allow the bitcoin continue to be used as a financial exchange within the country. Only time will tell as to how the Iranian government can and will react to this legal concern because the bitcoin does open an entirely brand new culture market which no other business has dare attempted to market or enter.

This is quite the news about e-commerce and also business news for Walmart Stores, Inc when there is discussion of making the online business growth bigger and better in comparison to what Amazon currently has now. Many investors are paying close attention as this type of e-commerce will be a costly growth at first but Walmart feels with their multiple distribution network points it could actually be more beneficial and much easier to handle because of their large distribution centers.

Walmart is prepared to invest as well as begin testing their planned shipment program to put Amazon competition straight on and do everything possible in beating the shipment prices of said rival. There are intentions of building profit margins to show the plan of e-commerce is a positive outlook and can continue online growth using the 4,500 stores in daily operation. The best deal Walmart has come up with to compete against Amazon’s Prime is having your total Walmart bill equal $50 and your order will be free shipped to you within three days. When using Amazon’s Prime the cost is a $99 annual fee. Most consumers have a monthly budget to work with when paying bills. This Walmart pilot testing will determine what customer can manage paying lower prices month to month.

Only time will tell with this pilot testing but the sure factor is every person shops and every consumer wants a good deal on their products. What is more important when someone orders a product online that product is expected to be delivered on time without waiting for long periods of time and if there is a chance of having free delivery service even better of a value for the price. Walmart may very well have enough brick and mortar stores to actually provide this pilot they are currently working with without too much trouble as Walmart has the distribution and the fulfillment centers to handle a large amount of customer demand and supply.

Remember when Facebook social media came about as it seemed to be a gathering place where many could join together, begin a discussion on various topics or even create a group aka community as it is called in which people could join and discuss everything from health, lifestyles, crafts, and anything imaginable. Yes, Facebook even went as far as having some interesting and at times dare I say addictive games once you began playing them.

Over the years Facebook grew in user base and also in how they managed controlling the interface of this social media. Multiple advertisements did appear but what made the social media so appealing at the time and still keeps members joining is it being a free social media that can be used by individuals, small business owners, and organizations. What has made this social media stand out above others is they stay in touch and above with the happening trends that are taking place and what consumers and business owners seek research for when reading the social media trends.

For example, many social media users will keep in touch with family and friends that live long distance because the Internet allows them to keep easy contact with one another; Facebook makes contact even easier. Business owners like to have the ability to advertise their product or services and using the Internet plus social media business owners will have the ability of marketing and advertising. Plus there is also an option of creating a free page to further define their business and what is being offered to consumers. An important development step Facebook has taken for business owners is to provide the shopping cart button.  This is a helpful tool plus an exciting feature as any consumer using a desktop or cell phone can easily make a purchase after reading a business advertisement by pressing the button plus they will never leave Facebook.

This newly featured shopping button could be considered one of the easiest ways business owners can sell their products and services to Facebook users directly from their website. It is fair to say Facebook has come a ways since first created and it will be quite interesting to see what new features the social media can next build to assist business owners in daily operations.

When the EMV migration first began every business owner who accepted credit cards became quite curious of this new technology and wanted to learn more. As business owners learned more about the EMV migration technology and the needed things involved there were some business owners who could make the upgraded change because it was affordable and there were others who had to take this EMV migration very slowly. The EMV migration taking place is a wonderful thing as the technology improves credit card security from the standard chip to an actual chip built within the credit card itself.

As mentioned this new EMV migration is quite exciting for retailers because it is the security both businesses and consumers can both appreciate as EMV provides financial safety. What has caused retailer frustration is not having the needed funds which causes slowness when purchasing the needed card readers and software required for reading the chip and magnetic strip card. There has also been business merchants who are trying to do their best at reading and learning the information required about the EMV which can get confusing at times.

The results of a business survey has shown this EMV migration is a slow process for good reason. As a matter of fact, the survey was given to 500 small business owners willingly by American Express based on EMV. The survey results came back showing 57% of business owners have not been able to spend funds on new credit card terminals and it is slowing the much desired EMV migration. Interestingly, another result shows 38% of small business owners did say they are not planning to purchase an EMV card reader or software any time in the near future. It would appear that small business owners do have mixed feelings on this EMV migration and they have every right to because the consumer is how they pay monthly bills.

A benefit for the small business owners in doing this EMV migration comes to them from the major credit card issuers. There will be assistance to all small business owners including incentives plans because of this EMV migration needing to take place. It is very important for all retailers to understand the value and the need of having EMV-compatible equipment because without doing so it can cause serious financial risk should any fraud transactions be taken after the October 1 deadline.

Everyone is familiar with Pay Pal and the convenience it has well introducing the new capability to mobile phone users, Samsung Pay. Even though this new feature will not become fully available until sometime in summer, the features of Samsung Pay will be quite appreciated as they will provide large merchant advantage over the current Apple Pay and Google Wallet that are both being used at this time.

Let us begin discussing these wonderful benefits of what Samsung Pay will provide to the consumer. Because Samsung has recently acquired LoopPay, the consumer will now have the ability to safely secure credit cards within his or her Samsung phone and have the ability to pay using one of the stored credit cards. This benefit is a consumer option that can be used at point-of-sale terminals within the United States and as of now the POS technology is at 90% growth across the USA.

The LoopPay technology has been incorporated into the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge both of which are smart phone devices. Even though these smart phones give users NFC chips to tap-and-pay each transaction there is another option available with Samsung Pay because there is benefit of technology and communication. When the tap-and-pay capability is not available at a merchant there will be something called Magnetic Secure Transmission technology that is present.  That technology will provide communication using a magnetic stripe reader present on all terminals. Samsung Pay will sense which pay option is available and adjust itself accordingly.

Samsung Pay has a dual-approach which means more merchants have the ability to accept the mobile wallet without having a hardware upgrade. This is actually quite exciting for merchants because the many Tier 1 merchants updated terminals due to the EMV liability issue in October. Thankfully, the Samsung Pay will work regardless of the situation because of the contactless function.

The Samsung Pay specifications are quite a resemblance to Apple Pay as consumers can load his or her credit card information into the Samsung Pay application and a specific token is used for encryption to hide security numbers and protect them from being released. The wallet also provides the security protection to the user in which he or she can use a fingerprint for authentication. Samsung Pay has the support of the major credit cards (American Express, Master Card, and Visa) plus they also are obtaining premium payment processing support through First Data. Other financial guidance of Samsung Pay is by Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan, Chase, and U.S. Bank.