FREE Second Look

 Get a Free Second Look at Your Processing Statement

Are you sure you're getting the best value from your payment processor?

Many business owners assume they have a great rate, only to discover hidden fees, unnecessary charges, or opportunities to save when they take a closer look. That's why Bankcard Processors offers a complimentary Second Look Review of your current merchant processing statement.

We'll review your statement, explain what you're paying, identify potential savings, and help you determine whether your current solution is truly the best fit for your business.

There's no cost, no obligation, and you may be surprised by what we find.

Send us your latest processing statement and let us give it a second look!

Using Debit Cards

 

A debit card lets you pay with money that’s in your checking account. Debit cards aren’t the same as credit cards. Here’s how to know the difference.

What’s the difference between a debit card and a credit card?

When you open a checking account at a bank or credit union, you usually get a debit card. Debit cards look like credit cards, but they use money you already have. Credit cards use money you borrow.

With debit cards:

• You don’t get a bill every month. Money comes out of your checking account right away.
• You don’t pay extra money in interest.
• You don’t build a credit history.

With credit cards:

• You get a bill every month.
• You might pay extra money in interest if you don’t pay the whole bill every month.
• You can build a credit history if you pay your bill on time. It helps even more if you can pay the whole bill each month when it’s due.

Prepaid cards are a different kind of debit card. You buy a prepaid card and load money on it to spend. Many have extremely high fees.

When would I use a debit card?

Debit cards help you:

• buy things without using a check or cash
• get cash back when you buy something at a store
• get cash at an ATM
• Some debit cards are free to use, but some have fees.

What if I use all the money in my checking account?

Your debit card will be declined if your account doesn’t have enough money. You won’t be able to buy things. Some banks and credit unions have overdraft protection. This lets you use your debit card even when there’s not enough money in your account. But you might have to pay an overdraft fee and interest.

How can I keep my debit card safe?

Keep your debit card and PIN private. A PIN is a security code that you type in when you use a debit card. Never share your PIN or card numbers. If you lose your debit card, let your bank or credit union know right away. Ask them to cancel the card and send a new card. Ask your bank or credit union for account alerts by email or text. These remind you of how much money is in your account.

Your debit card use will show up on the statement you get every month from your bank or credit union. If you see a charge on your statement that you didn’t make, tell your bank or credit union right away. If you wait, you might not get your money back. Source

Network Tokenization 101

 

Today, network tokenization is crucial for businesses that accept card payments, whether online or in person. As a vital part of eCommerce fraud prevention, merchants must understand how these tokens work and simplify recurring payment processes while enhancing transaction security.

Tokenization has safeguarded digital payments since the mid-1990s, starting with the rise of online shopping. Early solutions replaced account numbers and other sensitive information with payment tokens, adding an extra security layer to secure payment pages. By the 2000s, merchants needed to simplify payments by connecting directly with their payment service providers, giving them more control over their customers’ payment experiences.Then, in 2014, modern network tokenization emerged, first used by digital wallet solutions to reduce the risk of data breaches. Card networks issued tokens to protect sensitive data for the first time, introducing global interoperability and dynamic security to help merchants stay ahead of emerging threats.

What is network tokenization?

Network tokens replace sensitive payment and card information throughout the transaction process. These digital payment tokens, unique and generated by card networks like Visa and Mastercard, serve as a secure proxy for sensitive data. They replace primary account numbers (PANs) and other sensitive details rather than being managed by merchants or their payment service providers (PSP).

Though often used interchangeably, network tokens and payment tokens serve different purposes. Network tokens are issued by card networks and are widely recognized across the entire payment ecosystem. In contrast, payment tokens encompass any tokens utilized in digital payments. There are several types of tokenization techniques, like payment gateway tokenization, PAN tokenization and PCI tokenization. That means network tokens are a type of payment token, but not every payment token is a network token.

Several key features define network tokens:

• They are created by card networks, not by merchants or payment processors.
• Each token is unique and linked to a specific customer and account number, making it useless if intercepted.
• Tokens are generated when customers start a transaction.

Network tokens can be used across channels and devices, providing more versatility than other payment tokenization methods. Unlike merchant or payment gateway tokens, network tokens are widely recognized across the payments ecosystem because they come directly from the card networks. A cryptogram – a security code – is typically included in each token transaction to authenticate the transaction. This means that if someone intercepts the token, it’s useless without the cryptogram, adding an additional layer of security to the payment process.

How does tokenization work?

All network tokenization processing occurs behind the scenes to facilitate frictionless payments for customers and enhanced transaction security for merchants. Tokenization begins when a customer initiates a transaction. Once they provide their payment details, information is sent to their card issuer, which generates a network token that is then shared with both the customer’s bank and the merchant’s PSP. Since the merchant can store this information to streamline and protect future transactions, network tokenization is sometimes called card-on-file tokenization.

Network Tokenization, Step by Step

Step 1; The customer enters their card details into the merchant’s system

Step 2; The merchant sends the request to the card network and requests a network token

Step 3; The card network works with the customer’s bank to approve or deny the request

Step 4; If approved, the card network generates a token and shares it with the merchant’s gateway

Step 5; The merchant stores the network token for future use

For example, if Jess saves her Discover card information in her account on an e-commerce site, the site can request a network token instead of the PAN. The next time Jess makes a purchase, the merchant submits the token and Discover maps it to Jess’ actual account information to complete the transaction.

Source

Attention Wineries

 

Say goodbye to cumbersome spreadsheets, endless paperwork, and clunky, expensive software. Elevate your winery with Vino and uncork the potential of your wine club like never before. Cheers to efficiency, cheers to growth, cheers to your success!

We have partnered with Vino! They are a POS system specifically designed for wineries.

Features:

• POS Specific to wineries
• Inventory Management
• Customer and Club Member Management

Why We're Different...Escape from your expensive, old-school software.

Existing winery softwares have always been clunky and expensive—we’ve changed that. Here are a few ways we’re accomplishing that:

• An intuitive and elegant user-experience that maximizes efficiency and productivity.
• Keep your hard-earned money. We simplify pricing and eliminate junk fees.
• No contracts. We want you to work with us because you like us, not because you’re forced to.

Pricing designed to fuel growth and success;

Our competitors like to charge you for everything – software, payment processing, additional volume fees, and all kinds of other junk fees. Bankcard Processors keeps things simple, fair, and most importantly affordable.

Contact us today with any questions!

What To Do With Old Credit Cards

 

What are credit cards made of?

A banking card is usually composed of the following raw materials:

• Several layers of laminated plastic, usually using PVC, alternatively PET  or a bio-sourced material.  
• Inks for printing credit cards with a magnetic stripe. 
• Metal oxide particles with solvents are often the basis for inks.
• There are different types of cards, all using different materials (plastic, plastic substitute, metal, and chips…). 

As a consequence, the way we should dispose of them should be adapted to each component. We can easily imagine the metal within the card shall go to a different recycling stream than the plastics.

The toxic journey of a credit card

What happens to the banking cards after we throw them into the trash bin?

Every year we use 30 million kg PVC for banking card issuance, the equivalence of the weight of about 150 Boeing 747s. 

In most cases, banking cards will either go to the landfill or be thrown into nature. This is the worst-case scenario as it will gradually turn into microplastic and gets back to us.

It will get back to us because we will ingest the particles through the food chain. It's already happening now. In fact, according to a study by the World Wildlife Fund, you are probably swallowing micro plastic equal to the weight of a credit card each week! That's where recycling fits in.

Can plastic credit payment cards be recycled? The answer is YES, but it's not that obvious.

Every banking card is a well-designed compound made up of metals (copper, nickel, gold, aluminum, iron), resin, glass, silicon, and plastics (PVC, PET). This complexity makes recycling payment cards challenging.

How does the recycling process work?

This is what happens in the recycling facility:

Recover plastic and metal: 

• The cards contain plastic (like PVC, PLA, PET): during the separation of materials, plastic and metal are isolated... Recycling metals and plastic and selling them to the second-hand market allows for the recovery of essential resources, which can then be reused in the industry.
• As an alternative, all can be incinerated to recover the energy, meaning the recovered heat can be injected to an industrial installation or to an institution.
• In incineration process, Bio-sourced material such as PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) is a better option than PVC, as it will not generate toxic gas during incineration.

Recycle metals: 

The metal will be sent to manufacturing for a second life: depending on the metal recycling processor, metal will be valued and re-injected into the metal industry. Source

Credit Card Networks: What Are They and How Do They Work?

 

When you use your credit card or a digital wallet to make a purchase, a credit card network goes to work behind the scenes. In seconds, it connects your card issuer and the merchant’s bank to process the transaction. In general, credit card networks manage the systems needed for credit card transactions. But there’s plenty more to understand.

What is a credit card network?

Credit card networks build and maintain the technology behind credit card authorization and payment processing. These networks connect card issuers and banks to help make purchases possible. For example, the network must check with the issuing bank to make sure there’s enough available credit to approve the purchase. American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa are the four major credit card networks in the U.S. The credit card network logo can usually be found on the front or back of a credit card.

Credit card network vs. credit card issuer: What’s the difference?

Credit card issuers are financial institutions that supply credit cards. Credit card networks run the technology that processes card payments—among other functions. In other words, the credit card issuer is the one you’ll be paying back for your purchases. For example, Capital One is a credit card issuer that works with the networks Mastercard and Visa.

Can a credit card issuer also be a credit card network?

Credit card issuers and networks are usually separate entities. But there are two exceptions—American Express and Discover. These credit card networks also issue credit cards. And they’re referred to as closed credit card networks. Networks that also issue cards act as the acquirer, which means they process the transactions and also pay the merchant for what’s owed for each transaction, minus any fees.

Types of card networks

Generally speaking, there are two major types of credit card networks:

Four-party networks: In a four-party network—also known as an open network—the credit card network relies on third-party financial institutions, such as banks, to issue and distribute cards to customers. Examples of four-party credit card networks include Visa and Mastercard. 

Three-party networks: In a three-party network—also known as a closed network—the credit card network acts as the card processing network and the card issuer. Three-party networks process payments on behalf of merchants and generally don’t allow third-party institutions to issue their credit cards. Examples of three-party credit card networks include Discover and American Express.

How do credit card networks work

To better understand how credit card payment networks work, it may help to look at an example transaction.

Let’s say you’re filling up your car at the gas station. Here’s how a credit card network makes the purchase happen:

• Using a card or digital wallet, you tap, swipe or insert a credit card at the gas pump or inside the store at the register. 
• The gas station’s point-of-sale (POS) system reads your card information and sends it to the gas station’s bank—called the acquiring bank—to request a charge.
• The acquiring bank sends the request to the credit card network.
• The credit card network contacts the card issuer to authorize and approve the transaction.
• If the card issuer approves, the credit card network gives the go-ahead to the POS system and charges a processing fee.

Credit card networks work with credit card issuers and merchant banks to process cardholder transactions quickly and securely. It helps to know which credit card network is linked to your card—just check the logo on the front or back. And keep in mind that it can be smart to have cards from different networks so you’re more likely to be able to pay with a card anywhere you go. Source

Happy Labor Day!

 

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe

Happy Labor Day from us at Bankcard Processors LLC to all of you. Enjoy your weekend.

CA 916-518-5195

jphaire@bankcardprocessors.biz