A Better Bolt: We’re Making the Simplest Integration Even Simpler

Business owners sure have been through a lot when it comes to the evolution of credit card payments. In the span of 60 years, we’ve gone from the introduction of the first plastic credit card by American Express all the way to the ease of Apple and Google Pay. It’s hard to keep up with ever-changing payment technology, but there’s a new change in particular coming next month that ought to make merchants (and their customers) pretty pleased. You may have heard that the major credit card brands MasterCard, Discover, American Express and Visa have all agreed to spare merchants the need to make customers sign for credit card purchases. That’s right. Think of all the extra time you’ll have! OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but when you’ve got 15 customers in line, every little step toward streamlining the checkout process counts. Not to mention, your customers will be happy they won’t have to scribble some illegible shape just to get the transaction over with. Visa was the last to get onboard with the no signature thing and earlier this year announced they would make the signature requirement optional for all EMV contact or contactless chip-enabled merchants. That’s a pretty good deal. Digital Transactions magazine is actually predicting Visa’s condition will “provide another boost for merchants who have yet to adopt chip-card acceptance.” According to data from Visa, EMV technology has been tremendously successful at reducing fraud at the point of sale, with a noticeable decline of 66% for chip-enabled merchants. You can check out each card brand’s announcements about the signature change by clicking on the below: MasterCard Discover American Express Visa Together they’ve decided that the signature is no longer a necessary part of the checkout process, especially considering the more modern measures now taken to protect customer data. This change is not expected to have an impact on security because solutions like EMV technology and tokenization have come to serve as much more valuable methods to protect merchants and customers against fraud. What it certainly will have an impact on is the customer experience during checkout. “The move will help merchants speed customers through checkout, provide more consistent experiences for every customer with every purchase and should decrease costs associated with safely storing signatures.” MasterCard For businesses with CardConnect merchant accounts, you’ll be happy to know we’ve been making changes on our end too so you’ll have updated terminals in time for the removal of signature. Please keep in mind, this requirement change is absolutely optional. There may be instances where merchants would like to continue to require capturing the signature of their customers, and if that’s the case, you are more than welcome to do so. For example, you may have a return policy that you’d like your customers to acknowledge, in which case you may want to continue to have them sign a copy of the receipt for your records. Or, if you aren’t accepting EMV cards at this time, it may still be a good idea to grab customer signatures. If you’re ready to update your equipment to get rid of the signature requirement for purchases, visit the dedicated page our Support Center that provides instructions for the steps to take, depending on the equipment you’re using to process with CardConnect.

The Millennial generation, defined loosely as those born between 1981 and 2005, currently consists of 75.4 million people in the U.S., surpassing Baby Boomers by 1.5 million and claiming the title of America’s largest generation. As these individuals grow older, their impact on the economy and payments industry becomes more and more noticeable. Companies like Visa and First Data are aware of the Millennial presence in the industry, and they’ve created guidelines to prepare businesses and financial institutions on how to best serve the generation. Let’s break down what sets this generation apart, what they expect of merchants, and what companies need to know about this population. What sets this generation apart? Apart from their vast size, there are a few other distinctions that define the Millennial spender. If there are two words to encompass the Millen-gen as a whole, those words are “digital technology.” Since they were raised in the era of emerging digital banking capabilities, they don’t write checks and they transfer money through their phones. As the heaviest users of smartphones, their attitude towards technology sets their expectations as consumers apart from other generations. Another important thing to know about Millennials is that they are increasingly affluent, and the highest spenders of all their global peers. However, while they’re known for being active consumers, they’re also conscious about saving - 63 percent of Millennials have a saving goal, and 47 percent have $15,000 or more in savings. So, these things considered, it would be reasonable to assume a Millennial’s priorities when it comes to banking: easy accessibility and advanced technical capabilities. Visa gives us a few other ideas in their recent report for understanding the Millennial mind-set: What do Millennials expect? The like to be kept updated with real-time alerts through SMS or email They value any analysis or categorization of their spending They prefer complete control of their account information and card usage They seek out personalized products and services They prefer SMS and email for information on-the-go They demand a frictionless, high-quality user experience across their digital devices What should issuers/merchants know about Millennials already? Visa recently provided four top recommendations for issuers and merchants regarding preparation for best serving Millennials. Some things to consider are the growing rate of digital wallets, which spark the Millennial interest in new payment and rewards solutions for their digital lifestyle. A major key is to transition from a product-centric approach to a customer-centric approach, which is Visa’s first recommendation. Other suggestions include: 1. Move to a digital-by-default ethos. This involves giving more of a voice to your customers. Encourage community participation by creating a social network where customers can engage and share experiences with one another. Give your brand a digital presence, and offer digital access to accounts for self-reliant Millennials. 2. Adopt a multi-channel approach. Creating a consistent omnichannel experience for your customers should be a priority. Understand and invest in your customers’ preferred channels, and integrate or align customer relationship management across products. Overall, the customer should experience a seamless journey across touch points, while receiving real-time information and alerts. 3. Be disciplined, with accurate targeting and relevant communication. This includes developing differentiated and specific messaging for younger and older Millennials. It’s important to consider strategic inter-generational cross selling, for example, Gen X/Baby Boomers to Millennials for certain card types. Be authentic and true to communication, and design a customer engagement strategy to cover an entire lifecycle, if you want lifetime customers. Visa isn’t the only company analyzing the Millennial generation’s economic influence. According to a recent First Data report, Millennials are said to be the financial force of tomorrow. They recently published ‘The Unbanked Generation’ guide to give better understanding to this generation’s effect in numbers. Some important takeaways include: 86% of Millennials aged 25 to 34 are smartphone users By 2025, Millennials are expected to generate 46% of all U.S. income Over a fifth of Millennials have never written a physical check to pay a bill 38% use apps and mobile tools to make bill payments 71% consider their banking relationship to be transactional rather than relationship-driven Over the next few years, we should see the industry adapt to the increasing expectations of the generation, resulting in quicker payments, simpler personal account management and an overall emphasis on prioritizing customer relationships. Millennials are shaping payments, and businesses have no choice but to evolve with them.

Business owners know their current and prospective customers have expectations. Shoppers have become accustomed to having access to purchase products and services in almost anyway they please. Whether those purchases are made in person, online, over the phone or directly within a mobile app, shoppers have options and they like it that way. Businesses that offer multiple methods for making purchases are operating with an omnichannel payments platform. According to our Senior Vice President of Technology, Nick Aceto, omnichannel payments “allow for an increase in merchant sales, whether it’s through impulse buys or repeat business.” In a recent editorial piece published on PaymentsSource.com, Nick shared this and more of his best advice to businesses thinking about omnichannel payments. These are Nick’s five top reasons a business can benefit from implementing an omnichannel payments platform: 1. Deeper customer engagement. If you want to keep your customers coming back, give them the simple and seamless checkout experience they expect which means giving them options for making payments. 2. Increased sales. When shopping is convenient, customers are more likely to make purchases. The more options you offer, the more opportunity you have to increase sales. 3. Transactions processed anytime, across any channel. We’ve talked about the importance of improving the customer experience, but let’s not forget how helpful multiple sales channels can be to the business itself. If you own a brick-and-mortar but have an online shop, you can still make sales when the store isn’t even open. 4. Merchant flexibility beyond POS. Another win for the business owners! With an omnichannel payment platform, you can manage transactions from more places than just your point-of-sale terminal. 5. Data security. An omnichannel platform with strong security solutions can protect your business and all of its sales channels, while giving your merchants peace of mind. Click to download Nick’s full article from PaymentsSource.