In recent years the credit card industry has been taking steps to increase the security of credit card transactions. There are specifically two initiatives that greatly affect our floor covering dealers:
- EMV (Chip) Card Readers
- SHA-1 Certificates
EMV Card Readers
U.S. Retailers have been slow to adopt and roll out this new technology. What is not completely understood, especially in the flooring industry, is that dealers who continue to resist upgrading to this new technology are putting themselves at risk for charge backs. This means that if you continue to use the older technology and a customer disputes a charge for whatever reason, there is a good chance you are going to lose. If you have a $5000 job and the customer doesn't like what you did or how you did it for any reason at all, you will lose the dispute and the $5000. Read more about credit card fraud from this Bloomberg article.
SHA-1 Certificates
For years, online retailers and websites have been using a security protocol named SHA-1. Recently, these certificates have been deemed to not be as secure as they once were. Hackers are getting to be smarter and more sophisticated. Six months ago Microsoft released a version of Windows 10 that no longer supports this protocol. All new Windows 10 machines no longer support SHA-1. It is being blocked by Microsoft. What this means to QFloors customers is that the way we have been processing credit cards in the past is slowly being phased out. As of right now, you cannot buy a new PC and process a credit card using old methods. You have to use an older computer to continue using the old, less-secure swiping method. Heartland has also threatened to cut off support for SHA-1, which would mean that no computer would work, no matter the age.
QFloors Solution
Six months ago, we released an integrated credit card processing solution that connects new EMV (chip) machines to QFloors. This new solution addresses both of the issues outlined above. The new solution includes the following machines:
PAX D200 (NEW)
Cost = $272
This is a wireless terminal that can be moved to any location in the store. Any QFloors computer can connect to this terminal. Because it is wireless and can be moved around, it is a very convenient option.
PAX 300
cost = $260
This terminal must be physically plugged into the internet with a cable. It is intended to be in a stationary spot.
INGENICO 220
cost = $230
This terminal is for those who do not want to bother trying to connect QFloors to their credit card terminal. For both the 200 and 300 terminals, it could require some extra IT work to get everything talking with QFloors. This product is for those who just want an easy plug and go solution without the extra IT hassle.
Tokenization
One of the cool new features that should be available in the near future is Tokenization. We will soon have the ability to swipe a customer's credit card through one of these terminals, and then be able to place this credit card on file with QFloors. QFloors will save a token (not a credit card number) that can be used in the future to make purchases with the same credit card. The beauty of this is that you will get the lower swipe rate, even when the card isn't present. So if you take a deposit on the job while the customer is in the store, you can charge the balance without rekeying the card, and you will still get the lower swipe rate. This feature will only be available for the PAX 200 and PAX 300 machines.
Touch Technologies
These new machines also allow your customer to pay with their cell phones, by simply touching the terminals with the phone. These technologies are commonly known as Apple Pay and Android Pay.
NOTE
There are a lot of additional benefits, and important reasons why you should want to update your systems and process credit cards with QFloors. Please contact us and we would be happy to explain more about it.
Thank you,
Chad Ogden, President
Photo credit: Kurt Baushardt https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurt-b/6919422513/
