Payments Blog

Do you know the difference between signature or PIN debit transactions? Debit cards are often the middle child of payments processing, critical, but overlooked. Most merchants only focus on the credit card and ACH rates or don’t realize debit cards are priced separately by payment processors. ...

It’s official, restaurant industry turnover rose to 72.1% in 2015 While the turnover rate running high in the hospitality industry is not surprising, it has increased drastically over the last few years, at least 10% since 2013. Turnover is also expensive on your profits, according to Investope...

They say patience is a virtue, but waiting for money to be deposited into your merchant account doesn’t make you feel particularly virtuous. Waiting extra days to see that money hit your bank account can be agonizing, and sometimes you need access to that cash quicker than a few days. So m...

Theft is one the biggest reasons a restaurant or bar can go under, but a lot of merchants miss out on the best methods to prevent profit loss from internal theft and voided out transactions. While it’s not always easy, if you have the right tools in place, you can save hundreds of dollars per ...

Debit cards and credit cards are often misunderstood to be the same thing, but in regards to how they are processed and charged, they are two separate animals. When you’re signing up for payment processing services, you might make a mistake by assuming your debit card processing rates will be ...

We’re now well into 2017 and EMV has been around over a year. As of the deadline of October 2015, merchants not able to process EMV transactions now own the liability for fraudulent charges. In the world of point-of-sale providers, they were a bit slow on making EMV readily available to mer...

Fundraising is the lifeblood of all non-profits, and contributions are necessary to continue your work. So how can you broaden your horizon and work to gain more donations? Facebook could be your answer. In comparison with the other social media sites, Facebook has been ranked as number one ...

There’s a lot that can be said for practice, and every person will have their own techniques, but there are some general do’s and don’ts of upselling in your restaurant. So let’s review some of the do’s and don’ts of upselling inside your restaurant....

Upselling can make or break a restaurant. If done well, the practice can lead to higher sales, without any increase in the number of covers done. As valuable as upselling is, the practice can be tricky. The key to upselling is awakening a desire in your guest, without appearing pushy. Service ...

A lot of small businesses are still struggling with the chip cards that came out a couple of years ago across the U.S. There are still questions and people can easily fall victim to fraud. In our industry, we have a lot of merchants lose some money due to the switch to EMV technology by not recog...

It’s been over a year since the EMV liability shift was pushed onto merchants for theft, in hopes of adapting to the new chip card reader technology. Chip cards (which have been used in Europe for over a decade) are seen as a safer alternative to the standard magnetic strip. However, experts have ...

Owning an E-Commerce site is wonderful, isn’t it? You don’t have to worry about opening and closing a store every day, and have certain freedoms in managing your business. Although running an E-Commerce site sounds like a breeze, handling payments can dampen the experience. A lot of online...

Trying to split your time between all of your separate businesses can be exhausting. It’s even worse if each venue uses a different point-of-sale system, you can spend several hours of time trying to search through reports. How can you simplify monitoring your restaurants and cafes? Learn how t...

Whether you received an email notification from your processor, or noticed unfamiliar fees on your credit card statement, you’ve heard about it. PCI compliance is a bit of a confusing topic for merchants since they aren’t really sure what they should do to be compliant. Most probably think they ...

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, meaning that the Holidays season is officially here. So what can you do to take the most advantage of this time of year? The answer is to use your greatest money making piece of technology, your point-of-sale system....

As 2016 comes to a close and the Holiday season is upon us, we wanted to go over some key guidelines to keeping your customer's data safe. Here are our tips for PCI Compliance security around the Holidays. Before we dive in, let us clear the air to what PCI compliance applies too. Any business [&hel...

Every business has a slow season, and it can be especially rough for restaurants and bars. To help make it through the off-season, we’re going to go over some of the best ways to retain as much profit you can when business is slow....

Holiday season is just around the corner, and there’s nothing people love more than gift cards during this time of year. Gift cards are also a great way to make money and increase business in your store. So here's our recommendations to up-sell gift cards....

If you read our previous blog, you know small business owners don’t like credit card processors. Since credit cards are essential for any business to be successful, we decided to explore the top features to consider when looking for a credit card processing company to service your business. Do the...

Fall has come, meaning many local bars and restaurants will be closing down as the summer season comes to an end. If you keep your doors open during the off-season, you understand the struggle of trying to attract customers when business inevitably slows down....

If you mention credit card processing, you’ll often elicit groans and possible rage from merchants. It’s one of the most loathed businesses with a sordid reputation that puts many a business owner in a bad mood. However, as much as it’s disliked, credit card processing is a vital and important...

Welcome back, readers! Last time, we went over why your Twin Cities restaurant should consider using Instagram as a platform to promote itself socially....

The future is bright for online stores! Technology keeps evolving rapidly, making it easier than ever to open your own business and sell products online as an E-Commerce store. Using a payment gateway to service your online store is essential, but choosing a provider is sometimes tricky. A payment g...

Instagram is no longer just home for basic girls wearing North Face gear and drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes. It’s becoming an amazing way for smaller businesses to increase their reach and gain new followers....

It’s a secret to many, but today we want to share what we’ve seen as the most important factor in making a restaurant work....

Who loves looking over their payment processing rates? Researching and trying to find a payment processor who will give you fair rates is labor intensive and tiring. As tempting as it is to focus your attention only on your percentages, or just one price point. It’s important to figure your total ...

There's special price points that restaurant owners overlook when selecting a credit card processor. Here's two important factors not to overlook....

In August 2014 Minnesota saw the first wave of minimum wage increases, and August 1st of 2016 has marked the next bump of increases. Small employers are now required to pay employees $7.75 per hour, no matter the industry. While workers are celebrating the pay bump, many restaurant owners are dre...

It’s one of the first questions asked by merchants. “How long does it take for funds to be deposited in my merchant account?” Even though it’s a common question, there’s no for sure one answer we can give to all merchants. First off, it’s going to revolve on whether you’re waiting on c...

We talked about chargebacks previously, but there’s a subject that appeared lately known as chargeback protection services. We’ve seen a lot of these businesses pop up, and they claim to offer protection for merchants against chargebacks. The problem with these sites is they are perpetuating a l...