What’s On the Magnetic Stripe On A Credit Card?

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Patrick Hare

Magnetic stripes (AKA magnetic strips) have been on the back of credit cards since the 1960s. Despite the leaps and bounds in data management these stripes contain a relatively small amount of information. The familiar stripes can carry credit card numbers, cardholder names, and authorization information, but this data is not encrypted and can be easily stolen. Over the next few years, you may end up getting credit cards with no stripe at all. For those of us old enough to remember cassette ...Read More

Credit Card Skimmers: Watch Your Wait Staff!

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Patrick Hare

One kind of credit card theft can destroy your restaurant. Most restaurant owners consider fraud to be a problem when someone uses a stolen card to run up a large tab, or when an unhappy customer disputes a transaction. What many restaurateurs don’t realize, however, is that a single rogue employee can trash an eatery’s reputation, alienate the top tier of diners, and send business away from your door. “Credit card skimming” has become a growing hazard for restaurant management. Waiters ...Read More

Capital Processing Network Reviews – Credit Card Terminals

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Patrick Hare

The Reviews Are In! Capital Processing Network is proud to feature two new terminals and a mobile payment option for our customers who want to use smartphones to accept payments. The Verifone VX520 is a sharp-looking countertop payment device that offers improvements in speed and memory over other credit card terminals. It has a higher resolution screen, and is built on Verifone’s robust VX platform. It also has a slot for cards with embedded chips, which everyone will be seeing over the next ...Read More

Smartphone Payment Security – Are Merchants Safe?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Patrick Hare

Quite a few companies now have smartphone payment devices that attach directly to the headphone jack on the phone in order to read credit cards. Most of the newer models have addressed security concerns by encrypting the data between the “reader” and the software that transmits the card information to the processing company. However, there are still many legitimate concerns about the safety and security of credit card information transmitted through smartphones. As a merchant, the first question ...Read More

The Groupon Payments Service: New Mobile Payment Card Swiper

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Patrick Hare

Yesterday, Groupon launched a credit card acceptance device that competes head-to-head against Square and PayPal. The device, like its competitors, attaches to the headphone jack of a smartphone and lets users swipe credit cards. The rates offered by Groupon are lower than the competition, and a model of next day funding is offered. The proliferation of smartphone accessories that scan credit cards still leads to a couple of big questions. First, how legitimate does a business look if it is using ...Read More

Self-Service Credit Card Acceptance – More Popular Every Day

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Patrick Hare

The advent of self-service payments has come a long way over the past two decades. Following the introduction of POS systems on gas pumps that eliminated human interaction at gas stations, there was a brief lag before screens and kiosks replaced humans. It is now possible to buy movie tickets, pay parking fines, and check into hotels without talking to a live human being. Other services, such as airline check-in, still require a person to weigh and tag checked baggage, but even so a credit card is ...Read More

Why are Credit Card Terminals so Expensive? Consider the Technology!

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Patrick Hare

A common question asked in the field of credit card processing involves the high price of credit card terminals and machines. Popular opinion dictates that a terminal should be inexpensive, but in reality the price of a terminal can be several hundred dollars. While most business owners might suspect that the machines are overpriced, quite a few factors go into the cost of a machine that is expected to last longer than the average computer, office chair, or cashier. So why do terminals cost ...Read More

Take A Picture Of A Credit Card? Credit Card Scanning Without Attachments

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Patrick Hare

Note: This article about photographing credit card numbers for payment acceptance is about an emerging technology in card processing. Because this is an emerging field, it may not be supported by all credit card networks in the same way that traditional terminals and payment gateways process cards. A couple of apps available online make it possible to take a cellphone picture of a credit card and process payments through a merchant account or payment service. What is interesting about these apps, ...Read More

Customers Pay at The Table: Self Service Payment Options Become Ubiquitous

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Patrick Hare

Credit card readers such as the VIVOpay Kiosk are being used in numerous self-service locations.The use of touch screens in credit card processing has gone the familiar in-store POS equipment that showed your customer’s order total and let them digitally sign for your purchases. Today, new technology is being found on standalone credit card terminals, on kiosks, and in restaurants. While much of the software and hardware for screens and kiosks may be proprietary, the connection back to the credit ...Read More

Used and Refurbished Credit Card Machines – Are They A Good Idea?

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Patrick Hare

Should you buy a used or refurbished credit card terminal? In many instances merchants will seek to buy credit card machines on eBay or Craigslist instead of investing in a new model. In other cases websites will sell refurbished models for a lower price than a new machine, which is ordinarily fairly expensive. The best credit card terminals are designed to operate for years in heavy-duty environments like restaurant kitchens, checkout lines, shops, and warehouses. Terminals have to stand up to temperature ...Read More

Category Archives: Credit Card Readers