Last week, I received a call from a longstanding merchant who asked me this question: What do all of the terms mean on my statement? I LOVED the question- especially coming from such a loyal merchant who admitted to reading very few statements since they hired us 9 1/2 years ago! So here is your answer my friend: Qualified Check Card Rate: This rate is applied to swiped cards that are attached to a checking account. The % is one of the lowest you will pay. Check Cards can be identified because they typically list Debit or Check Card on the face of the card. They can also be used with a PIN number but then Debit processing fees would apply instead of the Qualified Check Card Rate.

Well today is the day for LOVE! Sir Smiley here to wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day from all your friends at Total Merchant Concepts! Today, Valentine’s Day is one of the major holidays in the United States and it is a booming commercial success. According to the American Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent will be Valentines; most of the cards displaying hearts to signify love. Electronic greetings are also becoming more and more prevalent so don’t miss the opportunity to email, text or IM that special person! Men will spend an average of A$125 on their Valentine and women will spend an average of $75. Surprisingly, the average person will spend $6 on their pet and $3 on their coworkers! Moms will spend

100 Years ago today, Ronald Wilson ‘Dutch’ Reagan was born in Tampico Illinois. He would go on to be an athlete, a well known actor, a husband, a father and one of the most powerful leaders of our time. I was too young to vote for Ronald Reagan but I loved listening to him talk to our country! When asked what he wanted people to remember about his presidency, Ronald Regan said, “Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, and not your worst fears; to your confidence, rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.”

As we watch the first month of 2011 come to an end- it is important to remember that this New Year ushers in a new era regarding credit card payments and reporting to the IRS. The following is an overview of the IRS merchant transaction reporting requirements statute, which was added in November of 2009 to the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008: (It is important to note that NO IMMEDIATE ACTION IS NECESSARY ON THE PART OF OUR MERCHANTS or OUR REFERRAL PARTNERS) Beginning in 2011, our processing companies will be required to calculate & track the gross amount of reportable payment card transactions. They will also be required to report the correct legal name, Tax Payer Identification Number and address of all merchants processing with TMC.

If you were watching the news last week, you heard about Starbucks launching their Mobile Payment application in over 7000 locations! The mobile app had been tested in lots of stores prior to that but this past week they felt it was time to turn it up a notch! I loaded the Starbucks application on my Blackberry and was quite impressed with the ability to not only add my Starbuck’s gift card but I could also load the card from my Blackberry AND use the card (on my phone) at a local Starbuck’s! Here’s how it works: with the application loaded on your smart phone (Android apps coming soon), you select PAY- the screen then displays a bar code and the barista scans the bar code to pay

2 Weeks down just 50 more to go in 2011! Welcome to the New Year (albeit a bit late) from your friends here at TMC! Now that the holiday season is safely behind us and merchants everywhere have breathed a collective sigh of relief (decent 4th quarter showing & all)- it is time to set our sights on an incredible 2011. Here are a few of the things we are focused on in this New Year: PCI Compliance/Card Security: While card breaches were up in 2010, the actual number of cards that were compromised was lower than in 2009. Making certain that all of our merchants have the necessary tools to insulate themselves from fraud and the fines associated with Non Compliance is a big focus for us