Hang on for an amazing technilogical ride! NO- we are not talking about flying cars but the payments industry is changing at a very exciting pace. Here are 5 Things To Know About Mobile Wallets! 1. No pen or stylus required There are two ways to use your smart phone at checkout. The first involves loading a cloud-based mobile application. You then link the app to a bank or credit account and make payments by hitting a button on your phone. Starbucks was among the first large retailers to offer this service to their customers. The other relies on near field communication, or NFC. Install a mobile app such as Google Wallet or Isis on an NFC-equipped phone and you can pay from the account you choose by

Backup withholding is finally upon us and merchants who still have not submitted proper documentation to fix a TIN (Federal Tax ID Number) mismatch will begin receiving notifications as early as this week. Merchants who do not have matching information on file with their credit card processing companies will be subject to IRS backup withholding, withheld funds are remitted to the IRS. Your processor will be unable to return any amount remitted to the IRS due to backup withholding. Merchants will need to seek assistance from a tax professional for help in recovering amounts withheld by the IRS. While the way this goverment mandate is handled varies from processor to processor, we would like to suggest that you confirm that you are not in harm’s way, by contacting

In business, there is a tendency to look at competition as a bad thing. The truth is, there are so many amazing benefits to having truly great competition: on the field, in the classroom and yes- even in the work place. Recently, we’ve had some industry giants enter the payments space and it would be a lie if we told you we ‘barely noticed’- we noticed. We thought it would be a great time to revisit the flip side of heavy duty competition! Here are some of the amazing benefits of GOOD competition: TAKING IT UP A NOTCH: No matter how great any team is, a good competitor tends to bring out the best in each person. It is easy to become complacent when you are the only

My daughter Sabrina is five years old and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. Over the weekend, I purchased a shower curtain with a map of the United States; each state has a picture of a distinctive state quality on it. When asked if she knows where we live, she replied, “Vancouver, Washington.” I then asked if she could point to Washington on the map, she pointed to South Dakota. Before I could tell her that she was a few states away, I realized she was pointing to George Washington’s picture on Mount Rushmore. Sabrina did not answer the question incorrectly; it was I who was not specific enough in the way that I asked my question! This made me take a step back and think about

Over the weekend, my son graduated from High School – it was a whirlwind of activities and emotions! Tyler’s ‘Next Step’ is college and developing his plans for a bright future. It has been some time since many of us graduated but I think the concept of considering our ‘Next Step’ is one that we can embrace at any time! Enjoy the Accomplishment Cheri PerryMonday, June 9, 2014

Guest Blogger: Zig Ziglar Much of success is about performance. It’s about what we do and what we are able to inspire others to do. There are some simple performance principles I have learned in my life, and I want to share them with you. They really bring success, and what it takes to be successful, into sharp focus. They are also the basis for developing and maintaining an expectation of success. The Five Principles of Performance 1. We generally get from ourselves and others what we expect. It is a huge fact that you will either live up or down to your own expectations. If you expect to lose, you will. If you expect to be average, you will be average. If you expect to feel bad,