Wind River Financial

Connecting with your Clients

2012-05-16 10:09:23

By Liz Bachhuber

Are you looking for ways to better serve your clients? How can you bring more value to your interactions with them? Here is an interesting article that discusses just that. It promotes the importance of being prepared for each interaction and clearly defining what goals you are trying to help your clients achieve. I hope you find value in this concise article!

Social Media..is now the time?

2012-05-09 09:40:53

Social Media...is now the time?

By Mark Taber

Last month some of us from Wind River attended our annual industry forum, the Electronic Transactions Association(ETA), which is part of our commitment to stay current on industry trends and innovative solutions for our clients. Each year, the majority of the presentations are on technology: new terminal enhancements, point of sale solutions, software, etc. This year, I noticed a trend toward solution development for clients, social networking and value added products and services.

I found most interesting a session on social networking presented by a panel of experts that are practicing it today. Social media has changed the way businesses can connect with their clients, potential clients, the media and general public. Followers develop deeper relationships with the companies, sharing experiences and supporting brands.

At Wind River, one of our strategic initiatives for 2012 and 2013 is to develop a social media strategy to provide more resources to clients beyond our website blog. The ETA presentation outlined specific strategies for each of the main channels: Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google. Relevant, timely content was most important as was a human touch factor. Some businesses use it to support community events and not-for-profit fundraisers. Some Tweet from live events. Others feature clients’ successes, expansions or other significant news.

As we build out our strategy I would be interested in learning how you use social media within your businesses, what type of resources you would like to see from us to help you grow business or become more cost effective, and the pros and cons you have gathered through your various experiences. We believe sharing this information on our Blog will not only provide us insight but also for the other 800 registered blog subscribers. So please, share your thoughts.

Thanks for subscribing to this Blog and for your comments.

2012 Crazylegs Classic - Team Wind River

2012-05-07 12:04:08

On Saturday, April 28, Team Wind River participated in the 31^st annual Crazylegs Classic. It was Wind River’s first ever Crazylegs team, and despite the rainy/windy/cold conditions, we had a great time! Our group included 32 employees, family members and friends who were willing to brave some miserable weather to complete the 8K run or 2 mile walk through downtown Madison.

The Crazylegs Classic is a run/walk held each spring to benefit the UW Athletics Department. It is a uniquely Madison event, and worth trying at least once just for the experience! Team Wind River will definitely be signing up for the 2013 Crazylegs Classic. (Which is just 356 days away, in case you’re wondering.)

If you’re interested in finding out more about the Crazylegs Classic, check out their website at http://www.crazylegsclassic.com/. And if you’re part of a Crazylegs team, we’d love to hear your stories. How many years has your team been running Crazylegs? How does your group get fired up for the race? Let us know!

What is the difference between a partner and a vendor?

2012-05-03 14:52:34

Some people may find that this is a question that they seldom think about when choosing a merchant processor. Many business owners feel that finding a merchant processor is a “necessary evil” that they have to deal with if they choose to accept electronic payments. What if there was a merchant processor out there that changed this notion? What if that merchant processor did more than just process your debit/credit cards? What if they were also looking out for the best interests of your business?

Wind River recognizes that as the methods for payment acceptance become more complex, it is important that our clients have the support that they need to make educated decisions for their payment processing. These methods are what will save them in processing costs and efficiencies.

As a Relationship Manager at Wind River, I am always striving to provide a client experience that is unique to the card processing industry. I feel that it is important to engage with my clients on a meaningful level. There are duties that I perform that are not unlike many customer service agents that work for large processors. However, my role does not just entail supporting my clients, but listening and responding to their business needs.

If you are currently a client with Wind River, I hope that you are taking advantage of the services that your Relationship Manager can provide. If you are currently processing with another company, give us a call to experience a whole new level of customer service 1-800-704-7253

What is VISA FIXED ACQUIRER NETWORK FEE?

2012-05-02 16:15:19

You may have noticed a new fee on your April statement called VISA FIXED ACQUIRER NETWORK FEE. VISA introduced this fee starting April 1, 2012. The fee will vary from month to month and is based upon your previous month’s volume. For example, your FANF fee in April is based upon your VISA volume for the month of March. This fee may also vary depending on your number of merchant IDs and combination of Card Present/Card Not Present transactions. For details on your estimated fee click here.

As with all fees assessed by VISA, Wind River Financial will pass through this rate at cost. Please see our previous blog for more information on FANF. If you have any other questions on the April fees contact your Relationship Manager at 1-800-704-7253.

Feds Seize 36 Criminal Carding Sites

2012-04-27 08:24:09

By Doug

Yesterday, as part of a two year investigation with the cooperation or international law enforcement agencies, the FBI seized three dozen 'carding' websites used to sell credit card data stolen during computer breaches or 'hacks.'

Carding sites are very common on the internet which speaks to the number of breaches that occur. Statistics tell us that about 90% of breaches in which credit card data is compromised occur to small businesses.

Although PCI DSS compliance is not a guarantee that a business cannot be breached, reaching and maintaining PCI compliance is one of the tools that can help prevent it.

The article can be found here.

McDonald's and my mobile phone

2012-04-26 16:32:06

By Nathan Wright

True payments story: Yesterday I tried to use Google Wallet with my NFC-capable phone at a McDonald's. I pulled out my phone, entered my PIN and checked my funds--plenty available. The phone recognized the terminal and started sending data, and the terminal was ready to accept a contactless credit card payment. The cashier was impressed and told me how cool my phone was...

...and then Google Wallet threw an error and the transaction stopped. I reached for my leather wallet and paid with cash, just like the other two times I've tried to pay with my phone. In my experience, NFC payment is 0 for 3 and cash is still batting 1000.

I know Google Wallet works fine for some people, and I'll probably give it another shot before long. I'll also look into AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon's Isis wallet when it rolls out, but I'm not sure what the future holds for NFC phone payments.

What do you think? Are phone payments over NFC ever going to be mainstream, or are they just a fad? Please share your thoughts or experiences!

What keeps you up at night?

2012-04-24 14:45:38

That was the title of a session at last week's Electronic Transaction Association (ETA) annual conference. The consensus response was the ever present risk of fraud and security breaches. As a lead member on the Best Practices Committee of the ETA, Wind River Financial has a long and active history of promoting data security in the payments industry and merchant community.

But while there is no silver bullet to prevent fraud, the risks can be mitigated, and you can rest more comfortably, if you employ a multi faceted security program. A program that often times is simply based upon industry best practices: enforcing security policies, conducting background checks, securing physical and digital data (receipts, reports, files, etc), utilizing network firewalls and conducting periodic scans.

A high profile breach like the credit card data compromise that occurred at Global Payments made national headlines recently and served as another wake up call to the industry. So regardless if you are already awake at night worrying about fraud, or needed a wake up call to remind you that security is an ongoing event, now is a good time for a security audit. Take the opportunity to review your data security program and renew your commitment to act as a guardian of your customers' sensitive data.

Suggested steps include:

verify your hiring policy includes background checks
validate that your external payment partners and processors are PCI compliant
confirm your internal systems and networks (which are in, or connected to, the payment stream) are PCI compliant
ensure your networks are being scanned periodically by a certified scanner (remember you want to scan your network before a hacker does!)
analyze your payment procedures to identify if credit card data is being stored - and follow general guidelines - if you don't need it, don't store it; but if you do need it, encrypt it or tokenize it. (read more about tokenization)

And most importantly, if you do find any holes or weak links in your security policies, commit to closing or reinforcing those vulnerabilities before they are compromised...so we can all sleep better.

eCommerce Left Behind

2012-04-11 14:26:09

Since the Durbin Amendment regulating debit interchange took effect on October 1st, 2011, most eRetailers are not realizing the benefits. An Internet Retailer survey recently revealed only 14.6% of 254 online merchants say they're paying lower fees on debit card transactions; 17.7% say they're paying more and 67.7% say their fees have not changed in the past year (Click here to view article). Why is that?

eRetailers may not be seeing the benefits of the Durbin Amendment since many processors are not passing on the savings as intended by the law, and instead are keeping the extra interchange for themselves. At Wind River Financial, we pass 100% of the Durbin Amendment savings down to our merchants, leading the industry with 100% of our online merchants paying lower fees (Click here for the Debit Calculator)! Why else might eRetailers not be realizing the benefits of Durbin?

Some businesses transitioning to eCommerce will simply use the credit card processor recommended by the web developer. Web developers often recommend processors to leverage prior integration work with other clients, or because of undisclosed referral fees. In any event, there are alternatives, just as there are other critical factors involved in the selection process. Business owners are ultimately responsible for the credit card processing, and thus will select a processor based upon service, support, security, and fees. eRetailers that take an active role in the credit card processor selection, can ensure they are working with a processor that will pass along the Durbin Savings…rather than run the risk of being left behind!

So, if you have any eCommerce projects on the horizon, make sure to give your relationship manager a call at 1-800-704-7253 to discuss how we can work with your web developer and the many online payment solutions we offer at Wind River Financial.

By: Amanda Block

Recent Press on Global Payments Breach

2012-04-04 09:25:43

By Dan DeBraal

Recent Press on Global Payments Breach

Global Payments has been in the press recently due to a breach of its systems that occurred in January and February. Reports vary, but it is believed somewhere between 1.5 and 10 million card numbers were stolen off of the Global system. The reports go on to say that Global has been dropped from the VISA listing of certified PCI-DSS compliant processors. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-04-02/global-payments-visa-breach/53940764/1

Some have confused this de-listing as meaning that Global can no longer process credit cards. Others have incorrectly interpreted this de-listing to mean that customers can no longer use their VISA cards at merchants processing with Global. Neither of these is true. Global is still processing credit cards and customers should be confident and safe using their Visa (and other credit cards) when making purchases.

The payments industry takes great steps to protect and secure credit card data. However, we all know that thieves will continue to try and breach these systems. Our industry is designed to mitigate these breaches and protect consumers from liability and loss. It is imperative that merchants use best practices when handling credit card data, stay PCI complaint, and don’t store card data if at all possible. See more information on security on Wind River Financial’s web site in the Client Resource Library under PCI Security www.windriverfinancial.com or feel free to call us to discuss your questions or concerns.