A brand-new year is here and a great way to start 2019 is by staying up to date on all the latest credit card processing trends! Having access to a complete overview regarding the latest payment trends, shopper behavior, security, and information from both the point of view of the customer and business owners is pivotal to staying well-informed on all fronts.
At North, we have more than 25 years of experience in the payments industry. We partner with hundreds of thousands of merchants each year and we want to help keep you up to date on the latest goings on within the credit card processing industry heading into the New Year.
What is a credit card processing company?
A credit card processor is essentially a company that handles all transactions between a customer and a business. For example, when you buy a new television online and enter in your credit card information, or even insert your chip card at the store, this is made possible by the payment processor safely and accurately transmitting all of the payment information.
Given the surge in online shopping in recent times, the payment processing industry has had to pick up on (and adapt to) the newest trends of people shopping from home on their desktop computer or even right from mobile devices.
Credit card processing industry trend #1: Mobile payments.
Well the times are changing and mobile payments are taking over. The number one trend is (and this may seem surprising to the uninformed) in-store mobile payments are projected to surpass credit cards and predicted to grow from 75 billion to 503 billion by 2020 according to the Business Insider. Mobile payments haven’t taken over yet but mobile wallets are a big deal to merchants and consumers. It’s just as the name suggests, a wallet in your phone, so you can’t forget it at home, and it also offers the perk of a speedier checkout! It’s also safer because the data is stored and encrypted in the cloud, not the actual device.
Credit card processing industry trend #2: Digital wallets.
This brings us to the second trend: Digital wallets make mobile payments even more versatile to consumers by linking multiple digital payment options under the same login credentials. That means you’ll never have to sift through a wallet full of credit cards again even if you make various trips to different stores on the same shopping trip, because it’s all in your mobile wallet!
Credit card processing industry trend #3: Customer loyalty programs.
Third, but certainly not least of these trends is customer loyalty programs. A majority of today’s shoppers find customer loyalty programs important. Why wouldn’t they? If you like Starbucks and go there often, you want to be rewarded for your loyalty, otherwise, what’s to keep you from going to their competitor if the benefits are better?
Credit card processing industry trend #4: Continued emphasis on security.
You can’t talk about credit card processing without going further in depth on security. We glossed over the benefits of mobile payments, with payment-sensitive information being stored in the cloud, but biometric authentication adds that extra layer of security to help consumers sleep well at night.
What is biometric authentication? An example is fingerprint ID and it’ll be used in more than 18 billion transactions by 2021. It’s still a relatively new tech so only a few platforms offer these new levels of security but the technology is cost-effective and with the growing number of credit card fraud and security breaches among large companies, it’s only a matter of time before said companies fully adopt biometric authentication.
However, being we’re not quite there yet, it’s important to stress how to stay safe without biometric authentication. It’s not common for most customers to willingly hand over their credit or debit cards to strangers, but this is common practice in the food and hospitality business. This also makes restaurants especially vulnerable to credit card theft. Cybercriminals working in a restaurant setting are usually able to skim the magnetic strip to extract data in order to create counterfeit cards. So how do you stay protected of credit card fraud at your favorite restaurant?
Well, with the introduction of chip cards, customers are automatically better protected because EMV transactions are based on unique digital data that can’t be duplicated. This is still not 100% foolproof because not all businesses are yet EMV compliant and fraudsters know this. The takeaway? Not being EMV complaint can put your customers and business at serious risk.
EMV is much safer than the previous magnetic strip swipe cards that could be universally counterfeited and until biometrics authentication is in full practice, chip cards will remain the best way to feel secure in regards to your payment information.
An important tidbit of information to know along with chip cards is, they do not require signatures so don’t be alarmed if you inset your chip card for payment and are not prompted for a signature. This change started back in October of 2017 because signatures for payment processing never provided much protection anyway. Most signatures aren’t even legible, can be forged, and most cashiers neglected their responsibility to compare signatures anyway.
North: One of the biggest credit card processors.
As one of the biggest credit card processors, we take pride in standing apart from other merchant service providers. We are committed to the success of our merchants. That’s why we provide the most up-to-date technology and customer solutions to ensure the prosperity of our customers’ businesses.
So how does credit card payment processing work? Setting up payment processing services with NAB is easy! You can be approved within hours, and your equipment will arrive pre-programmed for your business. We also offer a diverse assortment of free processing equipment tailored to your specific needs.
Payments are processed swiftly with rates as low as 0.29%, while encrypted credit card authorization along with fraud detection will protect your customers and your business with an enhanced security commitment plan. We also offer the best EMV chip card acceptance at a much smaller cost than other credit card processing companies so your business can be both EMV compliant and EMV ready. This includes offering state-of-the-art credit card terminals and the most reliable POS systems, countertop or mobile.
To top it all off, reliable, US-based live customer support means North is there for you whenever you need it with a full customer support team available for assistance around the clock.
Want to learn more about the credit card processing industry? Contact us today!
We use a consultative approach with the merchants we work with in order to provide the best credit card processing service suggestions possible with the goal to help businesses increase efficiency at the lowest possible cost. This has allowed North to be a trusted partner that will work for you since 1992 and beyond. If you would like apply for payment process services with us, give us a call at 877.840.1952 or apply by contacting us.
