Everybody’s Broken is one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs- because it feels so true for me and maybe you can relate as well! As a business owner, I am blessed to be surrounded by team members and other business owners that are going through the same daily routines, struggles and situations that I go thru and listening to that song reminds me that I am not alone on this journey. This past Friday our team gathered for our weekly meeting and had a heart to heart conversation exploring some questions that most people would not think of as ‘Business Conversation’ material but I gleaned a few nuggets from the meeting that I think all businesses owners can profit from: GET PAST THE SURFACE TALK Putting a strong

Accepting credit cards has given lots of business owners incredible benefits! Getting Paid More Quickly Increasing Ticket Sizes Expanding Market Share …just to name a few. But with the GOOD- there comes a little bad! We wanted to send a shout out to our merchants (and FUTURE Merchants ) to let you know that we are approaching a season in the credit card processing industry that tends to bring out the WORST elements. Industry adjustments that call for rate increases and equipment upgrades bring the solicitors in our industry- out in force! You will want to keep a couple of things in mind in order to insulate yourself from the less than scrupulous visits and calls you are about to receive!! EQUIPMENT UPGRADE REQUIREMENTS: Currently we have two

Welcome to the NEW MasterCards: 2 Series BIN It was bound to happen, the need for additional card numbers for the #2 card in the marketplace! Here are a few basic Questions and Answers regarding the new cards, the times frames and any penalties associated with not being able to accept the cards. Cards with 2-series BINs started being issued earlier this year (2017). Timing Who’s affected? What’s happening? January 2017 and beyond All ecosystem participants Issuers may be assigned 2-series BINs June 2017 All ecosystem participants Merchant and ATM field testing and compliance program begins How does this affect our merchants? All merchant POS (Point of Sale) terminals must be ready to accept 2-series BIN payments before June 30, 2017. Non-compliant businesses risk facing fines of up

Has it happened to you yet? You order your replacement credit card and when it arrives in the mail- it looks totally different! This past week, our new Discover card arrived and when we opened the envelope, we were greeted by a FLAT credit card with no numbers and not even our name on the front of the card! Thinking there had been an error, I called the service department and soon found that my call was similar to the other calls the service rep was fielding that day! “Have you looked at the back of the card?” he said. I peeled the card off the paper and found the card number and our name printed on the back of the card. The service rep went on to

Accepting credit cards is just a natural part of the check out process; so what happens when your processing system STOPS WORKING? It was a busy Sunday morning at a popular coffee stand when the barista realized she had a problem-her credit card machine was not working. She called the number on the side of the terminal and reached a very friendly after hours technician who did some trouble shooting and found that the phone line was no longer working. Calls to the coffee house were ringing with a fast busy and calls to the phone company had not resulted in a quick fix. She did the only thing she could think of- she called the manager who sent out an urgent text message to the owners of