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# UniBul's Money Blog

UniBul covers the world of money making online, analyzing news and trends and offering insights and best practices.

## Posts

- [MasterCard Chargeback Reason Codes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-chargeback-reason-codes/) - Chargebacks are identified by a code specifying the reason a transaction is disputed; listed here are MasterCard's chargeback reason codes.
- [Consumer Debt Rises in Canada](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-debt-rises-in-canada/) - While Americans have been systematically reducing their outstanding overall and credit card debt since Sept. 2008, Canadians have been increasing it.
- [How a Sophisticated Amazon Scam Destroys a Successful Business](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-a-sophisticated-amazon-scam-destroys-a-successful-business/) - Scammers destroy a successful Amazon seller in a sophisticated operation, which ends with the suspension of the seller account and bankruptcy of their business.
- [Can You Split Payments On Amazon?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-you-split-payments-on-amazon/) - Can You Split Payments On Amazon? The quick answer is you can not. You can use either a credit or debit card, or gift cards. There is more to say on the topic.
- [Does Amazon Take Apple Pay?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/does-amazon-take-apple-pay/) - Does Amazon Take Apple Pay? Unfortunately, Amazon does not take Apple Pay, but accepts other apple payments like Apple Card and Apple Wallet.
- [How To Use Amex Gift Card On Amazon?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-use-amex-gift-card-on-amazon/) - How to Use Amex Gift Card On Amazon? You can follow several easy steps, but there are and few problems that you can face. Keep reading to find out what.
- [How Much Does Amazon Flex Pay Per Block?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-much-does-amazon-flex-pay-per-block/) - How Much Does Amazon Flex Pay Per Block? It is possible to earn between $18 to $25 per hour, but there are many either things that you should know.
- [Amazon Credit Card Review: Why to choose it](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/amazon-credit-card-review-why-to-choose-it/) - You can check our Amazon Credit Card Review and find out what rewards you will receive if you use it.
- [When Does Amazon Charge You?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/when-does-amazon-charge-you/) - When Will Amazon Charge My Card? There are many different ways how Amazon will charge you and how it will charge you. We cover most of them.
- [Can I Use Amazon Gift Card At Amazon Fresh?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-i-use-amazon-gift-card-at-amazon-fresh/) - Can I Use Amazon Gift Card At Amazon Fresh?The quick answer is no, but in 2022 there is a possibility to use your gift card even if this is not a common practice
- [Can I Transfer Amazon Gift Card Balance To Paypal?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-i-transfer-amazon-gift-card-balance-to-paypal/) - Can I Transfer Amazon Gift Card Balance To Paypal? Directly you can not transfer the balance, but there is a way with which you can make it. You will need
- [How To Redeem Roblox Gift Card From Amazon in 2022?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-redeem-roblox-gift-card-from-amazon-in-2022/) - How To Redeem Roblox Gift Card From Amazon? You can do it in several very easy steps.In this article, you will see not only the answer but visualization as well
- [Does Walmart Sell Amazon Gift Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/does-walmart-sell-amazon-gift-cards/) - Does Walmart Sell Amazon Gift Cards? The answer is very straightforward, but it is also interesting can you find Amazon products in Walmart and other gift cards
- [Do Amazon Gift Cards Expire if Not Redeemed?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-amazon-gift-cards-expire-if-not-redeemed/) - Do Amazon Gift Cards Expire if Not Redeemed? If you check their website, you will see that Amazon gift cards do not have an expiration day.
- [Can You Use Afterpay On Amazon?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-you-use-afterpay-on-amazon/) - Can You Use Afterpay On Amazon? The short answer is that you can not use it at this point. But there are other alternatives that you can use on Amazon.
- [How to Transfer Amazon Gift Card Balance to Bank Account?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-transfer-amazon-gift-card-balance-to-bank-account/) - It is very easy to Transfer Amazon Gift Card Balance to Bank Account. You just have to follow a few steps, and you will succeed.
- [How to Check Your Amazon Gift Card Balance Without Redeeming?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-check-your-amazon-gift-card-balance-without-redeeming/) - How to Check Your Amazon Gift Card Balance Without Redeeming? You can do it in a few easy steps. You can also check the balance and if the gift card is valid.
- [FICO Score vs Credit Score: The Differences](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fico-score-vs-credit-score-the-differences/) - Find out the differences between FICO Score vs Credit Score. Did you know that around 90% of lenders use FICO scores to evaluate your credit?
- [Annual Income for Credit Card Approval](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/annual-income-for-credit-card-approval/) - Annual Income for Credit Card Approval can be very tricky. But the most important thing is never to lie to the card issuer about your income.
- [What APR Means (Annual Percentage Rate)?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-apr-means-annual-percentage-rate/) - What APR Means? It is the interest that has to payed on loans. There are several APR types that will give you a different rate.
- [What Is Amazon Prime: Benefits and is it Worth it](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-amazon-prime-benefits-and-is-it-worth-it/) - What Is Amazon Prime? With it, you will receive a lot of benefits. The price for this service is $14.99 per month and $139 per year.
- [What is Amazon Digital Charge? [2022] ](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-amazon-digital-charge-2022/) - What is Amazon Digital Charge? Those are the charges for Amazon digital products like Amazon Prime, Audible, Kids+, Kindle Unlimited, and more.
- [Should You Sign the Back of Your Credit Card? Is it Safe?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-you-sign-the-back-of-your-credit-card-is-it-safe/) - Should you sign the back of your credit card? You can hear that it is unnecessary nowadays, but it would be better if you did it. Regardless of the credit card.
- [PAYE vs REPAYE for Student Loan Repayment](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paye-vs-repaye-for-studen-loan-repayment/) - If you're having difficulty making those federal loans, then you might want to consider an Income-driven Repayment (IDR) program such as the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or the Revised Payment As You Earn (REPAYE) could be a solution. PAYE vs REPAYE are repayment programs to repay federal student loans. They make your monthly payment
- [Can You Buy a Car Without a License?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-you-buy-a-car-without-a-license/) - Can You Buy a Car Without a License? Yes, you can do it, but you will face several difficulties. They and the solutions are described in the article.
- [Sephora Visa Credit Card Review and Benefits](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/sephora-visa-credit-card-review-and-benefits/) - Check out the Sephora Visa Credit Card Review and Benefits. Unfortunately, there are terms of this card that are not suitable for everyone.
- [How Much Does a Vending Machine Cost?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-much-does-a-vending-machine-cost/) - Vending machines have become much more popular than ever in recent years. Maybe this is because of their non-contact nature or their immense popularity abroad. For example, in Japan, per every 23 individuals, there is one vending machine. However, how much does a vending machine cost? And is this business still profitable in 2022? Or
- [American Express Platinum Card Review](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-platinum-card-review/) - American Express Platinum Card has a lot of benefits that you can take advantage of. But there are some limitations that you should know.
- [Is Transferwise Safe for Large Amounts?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/is-transferwise-safe-for-large-amounts/) - Is Transferwise Safe for Large Amounts? The short answer is yes. But there are a few things that you should know before starting operating with Wise.
- [Payday Loans Get a Facelift, or Do They?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/payday-loans-get-a-facelift-or-do-they/) - While it's better not to get to the point of needing a payday loan to pay your phone bill, BillFloat is a better option than many of the alternatives.
- [Americans Pay down Credit Card Debt, Take out More Auto, Student Loans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-pay-down-credit-card-debt-take-out-more-auto-student-loans/) - Americans were once again in a credit card debt repayment mood in June, even as they continued to take out more student and auto loans, the Fed tells us.
- [The Issues with Private Student Loans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-issues-with-private-student-loans/) - Americans face difficulties when attempting to reduce their student loan payments in a time of distress, but also when trying to pay them off early.
- [The Private Student Loan Market Is Small but Healthy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-private-student-loan-market-is-small-but-healthy/) - Federal student debt is getting out of control, but the private student loan market is very healthy, with low and improving delinquency and charge-off rates.
- [Americans Like Payday Loans, Even If Their Government Doesn't... And You Will Not Believe Why.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-like-payday-loans-even-if-their-government-doesnt-and-you-will-not-believe-why/) - Not being part of the mainstream financial system is more a matter of personal choice and lack of financial education than the result of being shut out of it.
- [How to Clone a Smart Credit Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-clone-a-smart-credit-card/) - The EMV credit card technology was introduced to make it impossible for criminals to clone our cards, but it turns out that this is all too possible.
- [How to Process E-Commerce Transactions in 11 Steps](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-process-e-commerce-transactions-in-11-steps/) - If you stick to these 11 best practices, you will have far fewer chargebacks, customer disputes and fraudulent transactions to deal with.
- [How to Authenticate Credit Cards in Face-to-Face Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-authenticate-credit-cards-in-face-to-face-transactions/) - Credit and debit cards display unique security elements that enable merchants to verify the card's authenticity in face-to-face transactions.
- [American Express Travelers Cheques: What You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-travelers-cheques-what-you-need-to-know/) - American Express Travelers Cheques are just like cash, with the added benefit of offering more convenience and security.
- [10 Steps to Using Express Checkout at Your Hotel](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/10-steps-to-using-express-checkout-at-your-hotel/) - Express Checkout allows customers to check out of their rooms and return the keys without actually having to wait for their final bill to be produced.
- [19 Steps to Preventing E-Commerce Credit Card Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/19-steps-to-preventing-e-commerce-credit-card-fraud/) - E-commerce businesses are uniquely vulnerable to fraudulent attacks; they need to understand the inherent fraud risks and design protective measures.
- [How to Process Card-Present Transactions in 5 Steps](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-process-card-present-transactions-in-5-steps/) - If you go through each of these 5 transaction processing stages every time you accept a card for payment, you will not have to worry about fraud.
- [13 Signs of a Valid Visa Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/13-signs-of-a-valid-visa-card/) - All genuine Visa credit and debit cards comply with a specific number format and display a set of unique features that make them easy to validate.
- [How to Spot a Fake Credit Card and What to Do about It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-spot-a-fake-credit-card-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - Criminals are turning to cybercrime because it's easier and more profitable, but there are ways to spot a fake credit card and protect yourself from fraud.
- [How to Recognize a Valid Credit Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-recognize-a-valid-credit-card/) - Every valid credit card incorporates security elements designed to enable merchants to verify the card's authenticity and you should know how to inspect them.
- [American Express Merchant Card Acceptance Guide](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-merchant-card-acceptance-guide/) - Merchants accepting American Express cards are required to follow certain rules to keep on the good side of the credit card company and avoid penalties.
- [12 Signs of a Valid MasterCard Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/12-signs-of-a-valid-mastercard-card/) - All valid MasterCard credit and debit cards comply with a specific number format and display a set of unique features that make them easy to validate.
- [10 Signs of a Valid American Express Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/10-signs-of-a-valid-american-express-card/) - American Express\' card number format and security features are unique among the major payment brands, which makes it easy to validate their cards.
- [American Express Security Code: Everything You Need To Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-security-code-everything-you-need-to-know/) - American Express security code is a four-digit number, printed on the front of the card, which provides an extra level of cardmember validation.
- [Wise Transfers: Your Cheaper Way to Send Money Abroad](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/wise-transfers-your-cheaper-way-to-send-money-abroad/) - Wise Transfers (formerly TransferWise) is a financial technology startup, which offers simple, reliable, cheap international money transfers.
- [Processing 24,000 Visa Transactions per Second: How It's Done](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/processing-24000-visa-transactions-per-second-how-its-done/) - Visa handles an average of 150 million transactions per day and the firm claims it is capable of processing more than 24,000 Visa transactions per second.
- [Visa Purchase Alerts: All You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-purchase-alerts-all-you-need-to-know/) - Visa purchase alerts is a tool to notify consumers about potentially fraudulent charges made on their credit and debit cards.
- [Prepaid Visa Gift Cards: What You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-visa-gift-cards-what-you-need-to-know/) - Prepaid Visa gift cards are Visa cards, which can be used for purchases at merchants worldwide that accept Visa debit cards.
- [What is a Payday Alternative Loan (PALs)?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-a-payday-alternative-loan-pals/) - Payday Alternative Loan or PALs is a short-term low-cost (no more than 20$ for fees, and no more than 28% interest rate) credit if you need money before payday.
- [What Does Renters Insurance Cover?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-does-renters-insurance-cover/) - What does renters insurance cover? There are three types of coverage - personal property, liability, and medical bills, additional living expenses.
- [How to Bypass CVV Code?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-bypass-cvv-code/) - How to Bypass CVV Code is a very tricky question. It is not advisable to try to complete an order, especially online, without a CVV code.
- [How Blogging Is Making Us Money (Case Study)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-blogging-is-making-us-money/) - Much as I enjoy blogging (and it is huge fun!), I do it for one reason and one reason only: growing our company's client base and, by extension, our revenue.
- [10 Tips for Buying and Using Gift Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/10-tips-for-buying-and-using-gift-cards/) - Everyone loves gift cards, but they are not risk-free. These 10 tips will help you ensure that you get a good deal for your money when buying one.
- [15 Gift Card Features Everyone Should Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/15-gift-card-features-everyone-should-know/) - Gift cards are prepaid card that cannot be reloaded after the initially added funds are used up; they can be used anywhere their brand is accepted.
- [How to Manage 'Not as Described or Defective Merchandise' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-not-as-described-or-defective-merchandise-chargebacks/) - Both Visa (53) and MasterCard (4853) have Reason Codes designating chargebacks issued when cardholders state a purchased product was not as described.
- [Authorization of Visa Payment Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authorization-of-visa-payment-card-transactions/) - The authorization process enables the card issuer to approve or decline a transaction. In most cases, authorization requests are processed in seconds.
- [Features and Security Elements of a Valid Visa Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/features-and-security-elements-of-a-valid-visa-card/) - Each Visa credit and debit card has a set of unique design features and security elements developed to help merchants verify the card's validity.
- [Sprint Struggles to Keep Pace with Rival Carriers in Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/sprint-struggles-to-keep-pace-with-rival-carriers-in-mobile-payments/) - Left out of the Isis m-commerce party, Sprint launched a Mobile Wallet to keep pace with its rivals in the mobile payments free-for-all.
- [AT&T Launches Direct Mobile Payments Service, no Credit Cards Needed](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/att-launches-direct-mobile-payments-service-no-credit-cards-needed/) - AT&T is launching a mobile payments service where the purchase amount is added to the customer's monthly phone bill and no credit card is needed.
- [What to Do When Your Merchant Account Is Shut Down](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-to-do-when-your-merchant-account-is-shut-down/) - If you follow these suggestions, you stand a very good chance to get a new high-risk merchant account and, crucially, to keep it for as long as you need it.
- [Processing Procedures for Online Gambling Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/processing-procedures-for-online-gambling-transactions/) - Online casinos accept what are known in the payment card industry as "unique transactions," which are subject to special processing procedures.
- [How American Express Manages Fraudulent, Deceptive or Unfair Business Practices, Illegal Activities and Prohibited Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-american-express-defines-fraudulent-deceptive-or-unfair-business-practices-illegal-activities-and-prohibited-merchants/) - American Express may suspend or refuse to allow card acceptance to merchants who engage in fraudulent or unfair practices or fall into prohibited categories.
- [American Express Card Security Features and Fraud Prevention Strategies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-card-security-features-and-fraud-prevention-strategies/) - American Express offers a full suite of tools and programs that can help to mitigate the chances of fraud on AmEx cards and reduce this cost to your business.
- [American Express Transaction Cycle and Authorization Requirements](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-transaction-cycle-and-authorization-requirements/) - Between the time the cardholder presents an American Express card for payment and receives the goods a great deal of transaction data is exchanged and processed.
- [Using a Credit Card Calculator to Compare How Much Interest You Will Pay for Any Given Length Of Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/using-a-credit-card-calculator-to-compare-how-much-interest-you-will-pay-for-any-given-length-of-payments/) - Learn how to use a credit card calculator to compare how much interest you will pay on your debt for any given length of payments.
- [Bluebird, the American Express Debit Card: What You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/bluebird-the-american-express-debit-card-what-you-need-to-know/) - Bluebird is the checking and debit alternative developed jointly by Walmart and American Express and designed to help consumers better manage their finances.
- [How We Made $2.3 MILLION In New Recurring Monthly Revenue And How You Can Benefit From Our Success, Too](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-we-made-2-3-million-in-new-recurring-monthly-revenue-and-how-you-can-benefit-from-our-success-too/) - We've launched a brand new product, which is by far the biggest thing we've done since we started UniBul.
- [High Risk Payment Gateway](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/high-risk-payment-gateway/) - Our high risk payment gateway enables you to accept credit card payments on your website and by phone quickly and securely.
- [How Visa and MasterCard Manage Excessive Chargeback Levels](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-visa-and-mastercard-manage-excessive-chargeback-levels/) - Visa and MasterCard consider chargeback levels to be excessive if in two consecutive months the merchant has a minimum chargeback ratio of 1%.
- [How Much Does It Cost You to Accept American Express Cards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-much-does-it-cost-you-to-accept-american-express-cards/) - Among the four major U.S. payment brands, American Express charges the highest credit card acceptance fees, by far. Here is a complete list of AmEx's charges.
- [We Do Want Chip-and-PIN Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/we-do-want-chip-and-pin-credit-cards/) - The NRF is madly in love with the safer EMV card technology and has been pushing for its adoption for many years. Oh, but they want someone else to pay for it.
- [High Risk Merchant Account with no Monthly Processing Limit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/high-risk-merchant-account-with-no-monthly-processing-limit/) - As long as your business is properly organized and has all the necessary licenses to operate, we can give you a no-limit merchant account.
- [These Hackers Are So Sophisticated, It's Scary... And Yes, They're Out To Get Your Credit Card.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-mules-experts-administrators-and-the-inevitability-of-data-hacking/) - Law enforcement is trying to keep up with the criminals and the number of takedowns is increasing, yet the black market for stolen data is growing fast.
- [Yet Another Infographic Promises A Bitcoin-Dominated World... Do The Cryptocurrency Guys Ever Learn? Anything?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/yet-another-infographic-promises-a-bitcoin-dominated-world-do-the-cryptocurrency-guys-ever-learn-anything/) - The cryptocurrency crowd refuses to learn from reality, history, economics or anything that is not related to the purely algorithmic aspects of cryptomoney.
- [Social Media Have Become The New Frontier For Credit Card Marketing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/social-media-have-become-the-new-frontier-for-credit-card-marketing/) - The guys over at CardHub.com have looked at a lot of data to see how the latest credit card trends are affecting millennials.
- [What Is an Independent Sales Organization (ISO)?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-an-independent-sales-organization-iso/) - Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) perform functions such as soliciting merchant accounts, selling POS terminals and providing customer service.
- [Best Practices for Credit Card Transaction Receipts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/best-practices-for-credit-card-transaction-receipts/) - Receipts must contain sufficient information to help identify the transaction and to serve as reference points whenever a dispute needs to be resolved.
- [Should You Use Verified by Visa or Not? Here Is What You Need to Know About It.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-you-use-verified-by-visa-or-not-here-is-what-you-need-to-know-about-it/) - If you have a problem with fraud-related chargebacks, you would benefit from Verified by Visa; otherwise a traditional merchant account will work just fine.
- [Meet Paymill and Stripe - Authorize.Net's Would-Be Successors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/meet-paymill-and-stripe-authorize-nets-would-be-successors/) - Paymill is a veritable Stripe clone and both start-ups are aiming to eat Authorize.Net's lunch, but they will find it very hard to replicate Square's success.
- [The Basics About MasterCard's Excessive Chargeback Program That You Absolutely HAVE To Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-basics-about-mastercards-excessive-chargeback-program-that-you-absolutely-have-to-know/) - MasterCard's Excessive Chargeback Program sets the rules for acquirers to follow when monitoring their merchants' chargeback performance.
- [Your Merchant Account Is Terminated -- Now What?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/your-merchant-account-is-terminated-now-what/) - If you followed my suggestions you'd be very likely to end up having a new merchant account and, even more importantly, keeping it for as long as you need it.
- [PIN vs. Signature Debit: Which Is More Secure?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pin-vs-signature-debit-which-is-more-secure/) - Though sometimes they do the opposite of what they say, people understand that PIN debit is more secure than signature debit and tend to use it more often.
- [Mobile Shopping Is Already Big. But These Charts Show What Is To Come... And It's Breathtaking.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-shopping-is-already-big-but-these-charts-show-what-is-to-come-and-its-breathtaking/) - Every now and again I will stumble on something that would remind me of the sheer scale of the mobile shopping revolution that is under way.
- [What China Has Done in E-Commerce Is Mind-Boggling. These Graphs Say It All... Astonishing.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-china-has-done-in-e-commerce-is-mind-boggling-these-graphs-say-it-all-astonishing/) - And then something new comes before your eyes and there you go again trying to wrap your mind around things you'd never seen before.
- [How to Raise Profits by Preventing the 3 Most Common Types of Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-raise-profits-by-preventing-the-3-most-common-types-of-chargebacks/) - Here is how to prevent the 3 most common types of e-commerce chargebacks: unauthorized use, authorization not obtained and recurring transactions.
- [How to Get Lower Credit Card Processing Rates for Your Hotel](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-get-lower-credit-card-processing-rates-for-your-hotel/) - It is often difficult for hotels to set up a merchant account on reasonable terms, but there are things you can do to get the best available processing rates.
- [Why We Don't Work with Small Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-we-dont-work-with-small-merchants/) - Working with high-risk international businesses is very hard, but the level of argumentation is higher than what we see at small and inexperienced merchants.
- [The Evils of Payday Lending Visualized](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-evils-of-payday-lending-visualized/) - People have been really busy thinking up ways of visualizing the evils of taking out payday loans and of demonizing the lenders themselves.
- [These 5 Mobile Payment Infographics Will Change The Way You Think of Shopping. Especially #3.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/these-5-mobile-payment-infographics-will-change-the-way-you-think-of-shopping-especially-3/) - Something big is happening in the world of retail: our mobile phones are taking it over. And the biggest transformation in our access to information.
- [Economists Keep Telling Them This Cannot Go On. Yet Americans Keep Slashing Credit Card Debt. Wow.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/economists-keep-telling-them-this-cannot-go-on-yet-americans-keep-slashing-credit-card-debt-wow/) - Americans cut back on their credit card debt yet again in February, but kept piling up student loans and other non-revolving types of credit.
- [People Have Really Had It With Debt Collectors. Yet Life Would Be Worse Without Them. Yes, Really.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/people-have-really-had-it-with-debt-collectors-yet-life-would-be-worse-without-them-yes-really/) - Despite the bad rap they get, debt collectors bring efficiency to the debt recovery process, which is why lenders rely so heavily on them.
- [Submission, Clearing and Settlement of Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/submission-clearing-and-settlement-of-credit-card-transactions/) - The final three stages of the credit card transaction process are the submission, clearing and settlement of the payment.
- [Transaction Authorization Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/transaction-authorization-process/) - Authorization is the first stage of the card payment transaction process. It is the obtaining of permission from the card issuer to accept a card for payment.
- [Mobile Wallets Are Failing So Miserably, It Is Beyond Words. And For Very Good Reasons.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/does-anyone-need-a-mobile-wallet/) - Consumers believe that mobile wallets are plagued by security vulnerabilities, there is no business case for them and no one needs them anyway.
- [Tanzanians Had Enough of Banks Not Doing Their Job. What They Did Will Blow Your Mind.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/from-0-to-90-in-5-years-how-tanzania-does-mobile-payments/) - Whereas in 2008 practically no one had access to mobile financial services in Tanzania, by September 2013 90% of the country's adult population did.
- [This Infographic Is Strikingly Beautiful. What It Tells Us Is Shocking.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-credit-card-fraud-france-and-getting-infographics-right/) - Credit card fraud losses are much higher in France than in the US, even though the French were one of the earliest adopters of the safer smart-card technology.
- [The Chinese Payment Companies Are Colossal... But What They're Up Against Is Epic.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/killing-a-golden-goose-the-chinese-way/) - The big Chinese banks have dealt a huge blow to the country's upstart payments companies (like Alibaba's Alipay) and to the Chinese consumers.
- [You Will Never Realize What Makes Mobile Payments So Fascinating... Til You Take A Closer Look.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-continue-to-fail-in-taking-over-the-world/) - The use of mobile banking and mobile payments in the U.S. is growing, but very slowly and many consumers simply don't think they need them.
- [A Credit Card Payment Is So Incredibly Simple... Until You Take A Closer Look.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/a-credit-card-payment-is-so-incredibly-simple-until-you-take-a-closer-look/) - The card transaction process consists of three distinct, but interrelated, stages: authorization, clearing and settlement.
- [What Americans Are Doing with Their Credit Cards Is Simply Extraordinary. Chart #2 Says It All.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-americans-are-doing-with-their-credit-cards-is-simply-extraordinary-chart-2-says-it-all/) - Americans see credit cards today more as a plastic form of cash than as a source of credit to be tapped now and repaid when we can get around to it.
- [Authorization, Clearing and Settlement: How MasterCard Works](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authorization-clearing-and-settlement-how-mastercard-works/) - MasterCard is processing more than 65,000 credit and debit card transactions every minute and without a hitch! Here is how it does it.
- [Authorization Process for American Express Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authorization-process-for-american-express-transactions/) - American Express requires that merchants obtain an authorization approval on all transactions before processing them, regardless of the amount.
- [Authorization, Clearing, and Settlement of MasterCard Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authorization-clearing-and-settlement-of-mastercard-transactions/) - Authorization, clearing and settlement are the three stages in a MasterCard transaction and you need at least a basic understanding of how they work.
- [Required Information for Credit Card Receipts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/required-information-for-credit-card-receipts/) - Each credit and debit card transaction receipt must comply with regulations and contain certain information. Other data should not be recorder or stored.
- [Card Acceptance Requirements at Cardholder-Activated Terminals](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-acceptance-requirements-at-cardholder-activated-terminals/) - Cardholder-activated terminals are unattended terminals that accept cards for payment at rail and gas stations, parking garages, and other locations.
- [Credit Card Processing Floor Limit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-processing-floor-limit/) - Floor limit is the amount, specified in the merchant agreement, above which credit card transactions must be authorized before being processed.
- [Would You Accept a Credit Card Offer from a Debt Collector?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/would-you-accept-a-credit-card-offer-from-a-debt-collector/) - Debt collectors are issuing credit cards to debtors on the condition that they agree to use a portion of the new credit line to repay an old debt.
- ['90 Percent of the Credit Card Lawsuits Are Flawed'](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/90-percent-of-the-credit-card-lawsuits-are-flawed/) - In 90% of the credit card lawsuits, the creditors present flawed evidence and yet, 95% of them result in default judgments in favor of the creditors.
- [Affirming Your Intention to Pay and the Bane of Debt Collection](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/affirming-your-intention-to-pay-and-the-bane-of-debt-collection/) - A famous entrepreneur has launched a start-up that enables users to complete purchases immediately if they promise to pay for them later. But there is an issue.
- [On the CFPB, Debt Collection and Credit Worthiness](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-the-cfpb-debt-collection-and-credit-worthiness/) - The CFPB tells us that not paying off a credit card collection account may have no effect on a consumer's future borrowing prospects. The CFPB is very wrong.
- [Stricter Debt Collection Laws Reduce Credit Availability](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/stricter-debt-collection-laws-reduce-credit-availability/) - Even marginally stricter regulation leads to a substantial reduction of the number of new revolving lines of credit -- available credit card balances.
- [On CFPB, Debt Collection and Wasting Government Resources](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-cfpb-debt-collection-and-wasting-government-resources/) - Debt collection is already properly regulated and monitored and, by wading into the territory, the CFPB is wasting government resources and money.
- [The CFPB, Debt Collection and Consumer Complaints Revisited](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-cfpb-debt-collection-and-consumer-complaints-revisited/) - Debt collection is a perfectly well regulated and monitored area as it is and the CFPB is wasting governmental resources and money in dealing with it.
- [Credit Card Transaction Processing Basics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-transaction-processing-basics/) - The processing of a credit card transaction is the result of a series of interactions among several participants: cardholders, issuers, acquirers, merchants.
- [How Do You Like Your Prepaid Card?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-do-you-like-your-prepaid-card/) - Prepaid is not only unique as the only type of payment card available to the nation's unbanked population, but it also seems to have its unique uses.
- [Shaping the M-Payments Future: Kenya vs. the U.S.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/shaping-the-m-payments-future-kenya-vs-the-u-s/) - Kenya's economy is 83rd in the world, but when it comes to mobile payments, it is in the company of big, developed countries like the U.S. and Canada.
- [MasterCard's Global Clearing Management System](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercards-global-clearing-management-system/) - MasterCard uses the Global Clearing Management System for transaction clearing - the process of exchanging information between issuers and processors.
- [Visa Chargeback Reason Codes and Time Limits](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-chargeback-reason-codes-and-time-limits/) - Visa uses two-digit numbers called Chargeback Reason Codes to identify the reason a card issuer is disputing the validity of a particular transaction.
- [Americans Revert to Valuing Mortgages Higher than Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-revert-to-valuing-mortgages-higher-than-credit-cards/) - Reversing a post-Lehman trend, Americans are once again paying their mortgages ahead of credit cards, but auto loans take the highest priority.
- [American Express Merchant Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-merchant-fees/) - Merchants accepting American Express cards are subject to various fees that can be assessed for a number of reasons. See a list of these fees.
- [How Visa's Payment System Works](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-visas-payment-system-works/) - Visa\'s payment system facilitates the exchange of information and funds among banks, merchants, consumers, businesses, non-profits and governments.
- [Payment Processing for Payday Lenders: The Solution](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/payment-processing-for-payday-lenders-the-solution/) - Payment processors are once again willing and able to serve payday lenders on reasonable terms and things are slowly beginning to normalize.
- [The Digital Future of Retail Banking](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-digital-future-of-retail-banking/) - If present trends hold long enough, traditional banks will buy up all of their start-up challengers and adopt the best new digital banking technologies.
- [Our Credit Cards Have Become Cheaper, or Have They?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/our-credit-cards-have-become-cheaper-or-have-they/) - The CARD Act of 2009 has reduced Americans' credit card borrowing costs by 1.7% of average daily balances, or about $12.6B in annual savings, or has it?
- [The Payday State of the Union](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-payday-state-of-the-union/) - A wonderful interactive payday lending map of the U.S. gives us each state's payday usage rate and a summary of their payday lending laws.
- [How to Validate Credit Card Numbers in E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-validate-credit-card-numbers-in-e-commerce-transactions/) - The Mod 10 algorithm is used to verify credit card numbers by detecting all single-digit errors, before submitting transactions for authorization.
- [MasterCard's Card Validation Code 2 - CVC 2](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercards-card-validation-code-2-cvc-2/) - The CVC 2 is a 3-digit number, printed on the back of MasterCard cards. It is used in card-not-present transactions to ensure that the card is valid.
- [Visa Card Verification Value 2 - CVV2](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-card-verification-value-2-cvv2/) - Visa's Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2) helps card-not-present merchants verify that their customer is in a physical possession of the card.
- [Banks Pay Colleges $50.4M for Issuing Credit Cards to Students](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-pay-colleges-50-4m-for-issuing-credit-cards-to-students/) - College organizations were paid $50.4M for the issuance of credit cards to students by 23 issuers in 2012; $35.6M of that was paid by a BofA subsidiary.
- [Should You Use the Card Security Codes: CVV2, CVC 2 and CID?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-you-use-the-card-security-codes-cvv2-cvc-2-and-cid/) - Card security codes are 3- and 4-digit numbers used by the card brands to verify that a customer is in possession of her card during an e-commerce transaction.
- [How We Use Our Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-we-use-our-credit-cards/) - A new infographic visualizes the current state of credit cards in the U.S. and provides statistics on things like number of active cards, purchase volumes, etc.
- [Trending Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/trending-mobile-payments/) - Google Trend is the most reliable source of data about consumer attitudes toward businesses, products and services, including mobile payments.
- [12 Content Features Every E-Commerce Website Must Include](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/12-content-features-every-ecommerce-website-must-include/) - Your e-commerce websites should communicate how you protect personal information and what your shipping, billing, return and refund policies are.
- [What Everyone Selling Prepaid Phone Cards Should Know about Payment Acceptance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-everyone-selling-prepaid-phone-cards-should-know-about-payment-acceptance/) - Merchants selling prepaid phone cards often find it difficult to set up a U.S.-based merchant account and need to be prepared to do some extra work.
- [5 Ways to Avoid Credit Card Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/5-ways-to-avoid-credit-card-fraud/) - Credit card fraud is frustrating and disheartening, but there are things we can do every day to keep very low the odds of it happening to us.
- [Owing Debt to the U.S. Government](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/owing-debt-to-the-u-s-government/) - In the post-Lehman years, the U.S. government and government-sponsored enterprises have become the biggest holders of consumer debt and their lead is widening.
- [VeriFone Gets into the Mobile Payments Mix with PAYware](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/verifone-gets-into-the-mobile-payments-mix-with-payware/) - VeriFone PAYware comes in two forms: an NFC-based service and a physical one that adds a sleeve to your phone, turning it into a mobile POS terminal.
- [France Takes over as Europe's Top Location for Credit Card Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/france-takes-over-as-europes-top-location-for-credit-card-fraud/) - Credit card fraudsters seem to be making progress in breaking down the new smart-chip technology's defenses in France, Germany, Italy and Europe as a whole.
- [Americans Cutting Back on Credit Card Debt Again](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-cutting-back-on-credit-card-debt-again/) - Americans unexpectedly cut back on their credit card debt in January, but kept piling up student loans and other non-revolving types of credit.
- [Americans Load up on Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-load-up-on-credit-card-debt/) - Americans took on more credit card debt in December than it was expected and the same was true for non-revolving credit.
- [What Do We Say about Mobile Payments?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-do-we-say-about-mobile-payments/) - Consumer sentiment toward mobile payments is rapidly improving and consumer usage is growing, as is merchant acceptance of the new payment methods.
- [What Does the Future of Virtual Banking Look Like?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-does-the-future-of-virtual-banking-look-like/) - Plenty of start-ups want to become the PayPal of virtual banking. Whether they'll be able to turn that ambition into reality is yet to be seen.
- [Mobile Money Remains Largely Confined to Developing Markets](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-money-remains-largely-confined-to-developing-markets/) - Mobile money remains a largely developing world phenomenon, which is unlikely to change, even as the number of users continues its rapid increase.
- [On Square's 'Run Rate' Trouble, Na?»vet?? and PayPal](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-squares-run-rate-trouble-naivete-and-paypal/) - If Square's own employees see no brighter prospects for the mobile payments start-up's future, why should the rest of us be any more excited about it?
- [Which Mobile Payments Technology Will Dominate the World?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/which-mobile-payments-technology-will-dominate-the-world/) - From a consumer's perspective, the type of mobile payments technology is irrelevant, what matter are things like consumer experience and data security.
- [Will MasterCard Be a Player in the Bold New Mobile Payments World?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/will-mastercard-be-a-player-in-the-bold-new-mobile-payments-world/) - MasterPass, MasterCard's hugely inadequate in-app payment offering is entering an already-crowded sub-industry, which is dominated by direct carrier billing.
- [The Cost of Mobile Payment Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-cost-of-mobile-payment-fraud/) - Mobile payment adoption is surging, as are the fraud challenges faced by the merchants, financial institutions and consumers who are participating in them.
- [How to Increase Profits by Changing Your Merchant Account Set-Up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-increase-profits-by-changing-your-merchant-account-set-up/) - How to get a merchant account for a company incorporated in Central America, with a European owner and a bank account in a Mediterranean island.
- [Prepaid Cards Are Getting Better, Much Better](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-cards-are-getting-better-much-better/) - Many prepaid card users have access to other payment products like credit cards, but have nevertheless chosen prepaid and have made the right choice.
- [Things You Shouldn't Do When Looking for a High-Risk Merchant Account](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/things-you-shouldnt-do-when-looking-for-a-high-risk-merchant-account/) - It is easy to get frustrated when you are asked to provide one document after another, but keeping a working relationship with a prospective processor is vital.
- [Should You Opt for an Offshore Merchant Account if You Can Get a Domestic One?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-you-opt-for-an-offshore-merchant-account-if-you-can-get-a-domestic-one/) - If your domestic accounts only last for a few months, and your funds get held for several months following each termination, offshore is where you should go.
- [10 Square Clones That Are Doomed to Fail Miserably](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/10-square-clones-that-are-doomed-to-fail-miserably/) - Not even Intuit, VeriFone and PayPal have been able to slow Square down. How likely is it that any start-up would succeed where the giants have failed?
- [Why You Should not Use Dwolla Credit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-you-should-not-use-dwolla-credit/) - Dwolla is offering a line of credit on unknown terms, which we can only use inside the company's small network of merchants and we get no benefits for doing so.
- [The Definitive Guide to High-Risk Merchant Accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-definitive-guide-to-high-risk-merchant-accounts/) - What to look for in a merchant account, how to select a payment processor and how to get the best out of your payment processing service.
- [Square, Customer Service and Angry Merchants Revisited](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/square-customer-service-and-angry-merchants-revisited/) - Square is generating a huge amount of negative customer reviews. But why should the processor care: its investors are happy and merchants are still signing up.
- [Why Europe Is not a Paragon of Credit Card Security](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-europe-is-not-a-paragon-of-credit-card-security/) - The US can't be blamed for European ineptitude: there are simple things EU banks should be doing to minimize cross-border credit card fraud, but are not doing.
- [On Survival of the Fittest, Square and Whole Foods](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-survival-of-the-fittest-square-and-whole-foods/) - Square's Whole Foods deal shows that in the course of just three years the low-risk end of the credit card processing industry has changed beyond recognition.
- [Cupcakes, Credit Card Processing and Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/cupcakes-credit-card-processing-and-square/) - A story about a sleepy Midwestern town, cupcakes (fantastic ones at that), the biggest US payment processor, credit card fees and, of course, Square.
- [Debit Interchange Fee Limit by the Numbers (Infographic)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/debit-interchange-fee-limit-by-the-numbers-infographic/) - There are significant differences in the way the debit interchange limit affects the two types of debit transactions: PIN-based and signature-based.
- [Why You Need a Separate Merchant Account for Each E-Commerce Website](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-you-need-a-separate-merchant-account-for-each-e-commerce-website/) - If you have several e-commerce websites, you should set up dedicated merchant accounts for each one of them, even if they all sell the same products.
- [9 Telltale Indicators of E-Commerce Credit Card Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/9-telltale-indicators-of-e-commerce-credit-card-fraud/) - 9 telltale indicators of e-commerce credit card fraud that will help merchants recognize high-risk transactions that need closer examination.
- [How Mobile Payments Should Be Done: Apple's iBeacon vs. NFC](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-mobile-payments-should-be-done-apples-ibeacon-vs-nfc/) - So new and untested are the technologies that power the various m-payment platforms that you can get away with saying pretty much anything about your service.
- [U.S. Household Debt up by Most since 2007](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-household-debt-up-by-most-since-2007/) - The fourth quarter of 2013 saw the biggest increase in U.S. household debt since the third quarter of 2007.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies, Debt Remain at Record-Lows](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-debt-remain-at-record-lows/) - The credit card delinquency rate, as well as the credit card debt burden of U.S. consumers remained at record-low levels in 2013 Q4.
- [Striping up Credit Card Acceptance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/striping-up-credit-card-acceptance/) - Stripe - a new payments service provider for web-based businesses - does credit card processing the way it's done by the very companies it is vying to replace.
- [On Multi-Currency Credit Card Processing and Stripe](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-multi-currency-credit-card-processing-and-stripe/) - Payment processor Stripe has been in the media spotlight ever since it raised $80M in venture funding, but multi-currency processing is making the news now.
- [Merchant Account Considerations for Online Tech Support Businesses](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-account-considerations-for-online-tech-support-businesses/) - Online tech support merchants fall squarely into high-risk territory, but as long as they are focused on meeting the right challenges, they'll be in good shape.
- [What Do People Really Think about Mobile Payments?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-do-people-really-think-about-mobile-payments/) - Consumers in Asia-Pacific and the U.S. were found to be most optimistic about mobile payments, whereas the most skeptical ones live in Europe and Canada.
- [Why Do We Use Prepaid Cards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-do-we-use-prepaid-cards/) - Most prepaid card users have previously struggled with credit card debt, overspending and unpredictable fees and have found a "safe haven" in prepaid cards.
- [U.S.-Based vs. Offshore Merchant Account](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-based-vs-offshore-merchant-account/) - Whether or not offshore merchant accounts can favorably compare to domestic ones, the fact is that for many businesses they represent the only available option.
- [Why Do You Get Credit Card Offers?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-do-you-get-credit-card-offers/) - The number of credit card offers you receive is mostly a function of the cost of sending these offers and is much less dependent on the level of competition.
- [Americans still Sparing with Their Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-still-sparing-with-their-credit-cards/) - The economy is growing and unemployment is down, but Americans were once again conservative with their credit cards in November.
- [How We Work with High-Risk Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-we-work-with-high-risk-merchants/) - Setting up a high-risk merchant account is complicated enough as it is and we need all the help we can get to find a solution you will be happy with.
- [Free Credit Scores for All, Discover Edition](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/free-credit-scores-for-all-discover-edition/) - Discover has now made good on its promise to give all of its customers free access to their FICO credit scores, following a partial rollout last year.
- [On the Evolution of E-Commerce and the Rise of E-Wallets](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-the-evolution-of-e-commerce-and-the-rise-of-e-wallets/) - As the e-commerce evolves, consumers are increasingly embracing "alternative payments", such as e-wallets, mobile payments and digital currencies.
- [How Many Credit Cards Do You Use?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-many-credit-cards-do-you-use/) - Americans tend to concentrate the majority of their transactions and a large value of their card spending on a single type of card and one card network.
- [What Is American Express SafeKey and Should You Be Using It?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-american-express-safekey-and-should-you-be-using-it/) - Built on the 3-D Secure protocol, American Express SafeKey helps e-commerce merchants to authenticate their customers during online transactions.
- [Apple's iPad and iPhone Dominate Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/apples-ipad-and-iphone-dominate-mobile-payments/) - Google's Android-powered devices, much more numerous than Apple's, account for only 26.6% of all mobile payments transactions, compared to Apple's 72.6%.
- [How to Print Dollars: A Visual Guide](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-print-dollars-a-visual-guide/) - In the U.S., the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is creating paper money for the Federal Reserve, using special paper and inks; here is how the BEP does it.
- [Developing Markets Continue to Drive Global Non-Cash Payments Growth](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/developing-markets-continue-to-drive-global-non-cash-payments-growth/) - Mature markets in America and Europe remain the largest non-cash payments markets in the world, but developing markets are growing three times as fast.
- [Americans Get Higher Credit Card Spending Limits and Are Using Them](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-get-higher-credit-card-spending-limits-and-are-using-them/) - Even as Americans have been getting higher credit card limits and using their cards ever more freely, they haven't become any more tolerant to credit card debt.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Issued when Ordered Goods Are not Received](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-issued-when-ordered-goods-are-not-received/) - Visa uses two different codes to designate chargebacks resulting from the non-receipt of goods and services: 30 and 90. Here is how to manage each one of them.
- [Do We Really Care about Credit Card Security?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-we-really-care-about-credit-card-security/) - Americans' perception of credit card security does not influence credit card adoption, but it does affect the actual usage of the cards for payment.
- [On Tagging Mobile Payments and Starbucks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-tagging-mobile-payments-and-starbucks/) - Microsoft attempts to expand on Starbucks' use of 2-D barcodes as the basis for the coffee chain's hugely successful mobile payments platform.
- [Why Is Capital One the Most Complained-About Credit Card Company?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-is-capital-one-the-most-complained-about-credit-card-company/) - Capital One accounted for 21% of all credit card-related consumer complaints in the CFPB's database, followed by Citibank, BofA, JPMorgan Chase and GE Capital.
- [Americans Use Credit Cards More, but Stick to Cash as Well](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-use-credit-cards-more-but-stick-to-cash-as-well/) - Americans are increasing their usage of credit and debit cards, as well as cash, but are writing fewer paper checks, a new Boston Fed study tells us.
- [On Rising Inequality, Household Borrowing and the Financial Crisis](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-rising-inequality-household-borrowing-and-the-financial-crisis/) - The "keeping-up-with-the-Joneses" hypothesis of dramatically rising household debt in the build-up to the financial crisis of 2008 is wrong.
- [Square, Mobile Payments, Customer Service, Phone Numbers and Money Holds](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/square-mobile-payments-customer-service-phone-numbers-and-money-holds/) - Square should make available a customer service phone number and do a better job at communicating its policy on holding the money of its users.
- [On Mobile 3.0, Super Apps and Africa's M-Commerce Edge](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-mobile-3-0-super-apps-and-africas-m-commerce-edge/) - Two African countries lead their developed-world counterparts in the adoption of mobile phones for the purchasing of digital and, increasingly, physical goods.
- [On Debt, Credit Scores, the North-South Divide and Making Payments on Time](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-debt-credit-scores-the-north-south-divide-and-making-payments-on-time/) - If you want to keep your credit score high, you can either use common sense or move to Boston; if you want to kill it and do it immediately, just move to Texas.
- [Should You Use a 3-D Secure Merchant Account?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-you-use-a-3-d-secure-merchant-account/) - If you have a big problem with fraud-related chargebacks, you would benefit from a 3-D solution. For everyone else, a traditional merchant account would do.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Cancellations and Returns](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-cancellations-and-returns/) - Visa uses three different codes to designate chargebacks resulting from cancellations and returns: 41, 53 and 85. Here is how to manage each one of them.
- [What Type of Customers Should You Target?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-type-of-customers-should-you-target/) - Through their interminable sales events, retailers are giving deals to a sizable group of shoppers who neither seek, nor care much for them.
- [Who Is Overindebted in Britain and Where Do They Live?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/who-is-overindebted-in-britain-and-where-do-they-live/) - Britain's overindebted population is spread disproportionately across the country, with a skew towards the cities of the north of England and Northern Ireland.
- [Who Is Most Likely to Receive a Mobile Payment?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/who-is-most-likely-to-receive-a-mobile-payment/) - The sole reason 82% of Americans use their phones to go to a utility provider's website is to make a payment. If only that were true for e-commerce websites...
- [Americans Pile up Some Credit Card Debt for a Change](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-pile-up-some-credit-card-debt-for-a-change/) - In a rare break from the post-Lehman trend, Americans racked up quite a bit of credit card debt in October, as they also did with auto and student loans.
- [Intuit Tweaks Its GoPayment Mobile Payment Service to Compete with Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/intuit-tweaks-its-gopayment-mobile-payment-service-to-compete-with-square/) - Intuit tweaks its GoPayment mobile payments offering in a challenge to Square, but the latter is still the better option for small businesses and consumers.
- [Does Going to College Make You Richer?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/does-going-to-college-make-you-richer/) - Paying off a $150,000 student debt would be much easier with a starting salary of $100,000 than paying off a $50,000 debt with a starting salary of $37,000.
- [How to Find the Right Merchant Account for Your High-Volume, High-Risk Business](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-find-the-right-merchant-account-for-your-high-volume-high-risk-business/) - There are processors, which specialize in serving the high-risk, high-volume end of the merchant spectrum and they are always looking for new business.
- [What Is the Most Popular Type of Mobile Payment?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-the-most-popular-type-of-mobile-payment/) - It may not be as glamorous as Square, nor as well-funded as Google Wallet, but the lowly direct carrier billing approach to mobile payments beats them both.
- [What Every Merchant Needs to Know about Payment Gateways](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-needs-to-know-about-payment-gateways/) - Payment gateway is an e-commerce application that provides transaction authorization and clearing services to web-based merchants.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Caused by Processing Errors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-caused-by-processing-errors/) - Visa uses six different codes to designate chargebacks caused by processing errors: 74, 76, 80, 82, 86 and 96. Here is how to manage each one of them.
- [On Market Irrationality, Solvency, History and Bitcoin](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-market-irrationality-solvency-history-and-bitcoin/) - A beautiful infographic illustrates Bitcoin's history - a digital currency failing as a medium of exchange, but thriving on its promise as a store of value.
- [Why the U.S. Has not Adopted Chip-Based Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-the-u-s-has-not-adopted-chip-based-credit-cards/) - U.S. issuers have preferred taking huge mag-stripe-related fraud losses, because a switch to the more secure EMV card technology would've been even more costly.
- [The Origins of Electronic Payments Redux](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-origins-of-electronic-payments-redux/) - An infographic is tracing the concept of e-payments all the way back to 1887 when the concept of using a card for purchases is described in a utopian novel.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Caused by Authorization Errors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-caused-by-authorization-errors/) - Visa uses four different codes to designate chargebacks caused by authorization errors: 71, 72, 73 and 77. Here is how to manage each one of them.
- [How to Manage Fraud-Related Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-fraud-related-chargebacks/) - Visa uses four different codes to designate fraud-related chargebacks: 57, 62, 81 and 83. Here is what you need to know about how to manage each one of them.
- [Using a PIN at the Checkout Reduces Debit Card Fraud by a Factor of 5.5](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/using-a-pin-at-the-checkout-reduces-debit-card-fraud-by-a-factor-of-5-5/) - Using a PIN to authenticate a debit cardholder at the checkout reduces losses from debit card fraud by a factor of 5.5, compared to using a signature.
- [Pricing Disclosures, Straightforwardness and Intuit GoPayment vs. Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pricing-disclosures-straightforwardness-and-intuit-gopayment-vs-square/) - GoPayment has now integrated QuickBooks - the most powerful accounting software for small businesses -- but Square Register may be the better choice.
- [Why Are Ever More Americans Turning to Quick Cash?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-are-ever-more-americans-turning-to-quick-cash/) - 15M Americans are taking out payday loans, pawn loans, deposit advance loans, title loans and non-bank installment loans every year and their number is growing.
- [On Pizza Deliveries, the Origins of Money and Bitcoin](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-pizza-deliveries-the-origins-of-money-and-bitcoin/) - Are you reassured by the thought that a bunch of financial types have now gotten involved with Bitcoin -- a commodity with a hugely volatile price?
- [The 2013 Holiday Shopping Season by the Numbers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-2013-holiday-shopping-season-by-the-numbers/) - We've had a yuletide buying spree on an epic scale. It's hard to find a metric on which this year's shopping extravaganza did worse than any preceding period.
- [On Holiday Shopping, Free Shipping and E-Commerce Marketing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-holiday-shopping-free-shipping-and-e-commerce-marketing/) - A beautiful infographic shows the way e-tailers approached this holiday shopping season, their top marketing channels and most successful promotional tactics.
- [Dissecting $1T in Student Debt, Again](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/dissecting-1t-in-student-debt-again/) - Few things can be relied on to catch people's attention as safely as big, round numbers and $1 trillion of student debt has been doing as good a job as any.
- [Do We Need Credit Card Companies?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-we-need-credit-card-companies/) - A new infographic has done an exceptionally poor job at illustrating the need for having payment processing companies around. Here is what they should've done.
- [The State of Mobile 2013](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-state-of-mobile-2013/) - An excellent new infographic tells a beautifully illustrated story of the latest in the adoption of mobile technologies for commercial purposes.
- [Where Do Your Credit Card Fees Go?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/where-do-your-credit-card-fees-go/) - Understanding the make-up of the credit card processing fees you pay will help you select the right pricing model, which may save you quite a bit of money.
- [Should Federal Student Loans Be Tied to Creditworthiness?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-federal-student-loans-be-tied-to-creditworthiness/) - Taking creditworthiness into account when making decisions about the amount of educational loans students can borrow may a good idea after all.
- [Credit Cards Keep Getting Cheaper](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-cards-keep-getting-cheaper/) - Credit cards' cost is falling and Americans are using them more freely than they've done in years, yet there isn't a correlation between these two trends.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Caused by Missing Transaction Information](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-caused-by-missing-transaction-information/) - Visa uses three different codes to designate chargebacks caused by non-receipt of transaction information by the card issuer: 60, 75 and 79.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 77](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-77/) - Chargeback Reason Code 77 is issued when a transaction wasn't authorized and was processed using an account number that isn't on file with the issuer.
- [How to Get a U.S. Merchant Account for Your Non-U.S. Business](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-get-a-u-s-merchant-account-for-your-non-u-s-business/) - Your non-U.S. business could settle your transactions in U.S. dollars and have your money deposited into a U.S. bank account at the beginning of each day.
- [UniBul's Credit Card Processing Solution for U.S.-Based High-Risk Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/unibuls-credit-card-processing-solution-for-u-s-based-high-risk-merchants/) - If your business is properly incorporated, has all necessary licenses and follows the rules, there'll be a high-risk merchant account solution available for it.
- [How to Survive Your First Three Months of High-Risk Credit Card Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-survive-your-first-three-months-of-high-risk-credit-card-processing/) - In the high-risk credit card processing world, the most frustrating thing to deal with is a merchant's inability to cope with his newly-set-up merchant account.
- [3 Ways to Fight Fraudulent Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/3-ways-to-fight-fraudulent-chargebacks/) - A fraudulent chargeback results from a successful customer dispute of a legitimate transaction in which he knowingly and purposely participated.
- [UniBul's High-Risk Merchant Account Solution](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/unibuls-high-risk-merchant-account-solution/) - New additions to our list of acquiring banks have enabled us to provide credit card processing services to very high-risk types of merchants.
- [Why Do Merchant Account Discount Fees Vary over Such a Wide Range?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-do-merchant-account-discount-fees-vary-over-such-a-wide-range/) - Credit card transaction fees vary widely from one processor to another and the primary factor in determining them is the risk of potential losses.
- [Why You Can't Get a High-Risk Merchant Account and What to Do about It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-you-cant-get-a-high-risk-merchant-account-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - There are very good reasons why high-risk merchant accounts are difficult to get, but there are processors that operate precisely in that range of the spectrum.
- [How to Get a Merchant Account for a Brand New High-Risk Business](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-get-a-merchant-account-for-a-brand-new-high-risk-business/) - Very high-risk merchant accounts are hard to obtain, but the objective is well within reach for the well-qualified, so long as they follow my suggestions.
- [Do You Need a Second High-Risk Merchant Account?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-you-need-a-second-high-risk-merchant-account/) - High-volume businesses should set-up multiple merchant accounts, so as to spread the risk. Smaller merchants should focus on growing their business instead.
- [Why Small High-Risk Businesses Are out of Luck and What to Do about It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-small-high-risk-businesses-are-out-of-luck-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - Being small is a severe disadvantage in the high-risk world, but there are things you can do to improve your chances of getting a merchant account.
- [How Risky Are Young Borrowers?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-risky-are-young-borrowers/) - Contrary to the conventional wisdom, young borrowers are not bad borrowers. In fact, they are more current on credit card payments than middle-aged Americans.
- [How Visa Manages Chargebacks and What You Should Do to Minimize Them](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-visa-manages-chargebacks-and-what-you-should-do-to-minimize-them/) - Some chargebacks are beyond your control, but there is quite a bit you can do to protect yourself against them and minimize losses and you should do it all.
- [On 'Click Frenzy', Holiday Shopping and the U.S. vs. Australia](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-click-frenzy-holiday-shopping-and-the-u-s-vs-australia/) - Both in the UK and Australia mobile traffic and sales have grown faster this Cyber Monday / Click Frenzy than in the US. The UK led the field by a margin.
- [QR, NFC and Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/qr-nfc-and-mobile-payments/) - Even after billions of dollars have been poured into them, the QR and NFC technologies have made remarkably little headway into mobile payments.
- [Did Our Grandparents Have It Easier?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/did-our-grandparents-have-it-easier/) - Our parents and grandparents were paying much less for college tuition than we do. And higher education keeps getting ever more expensive. Where does it end?
- [How Are Free Checking Accounts Faring?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-are-free-checking-accounts-faring/) - After the Federal Reserve placed a cap on debit interchange fees in 2011, there has been an increase in the availability of free checking accounts in the U.S.
- [American Express Chargeback Reason Codes and Procedures](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-chargeback-reason-codes-and-procedures/) - American Express uses three-digit chargeback codes to identify the reason a cardholder is disputing or inquiring about a particular transaction.
- [The U.S. Government Is Our Biggest Creditor and Other Statistics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-u-s-government-is-our-biggest-creditor-and-other-statistics/) - In the post-Lehman years, the U.S. government and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) have teamed up to become the biggest holders of consumer debt, by far.
- [How Should Debit Interchange Fees Be Set?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-should-debit-interchange-fees-be-set/) - Setting caps on interchange fees may help to improve market outcomes. However, setting the cap too low may result in unintended consequences.
- [Minimizing Credit Card Processing Fees Again](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/minimizing-credit-card-processing-fees-again/) - An infographic illustrates why the interchange-plus pricing model for accepting credit card payments is the best option available to merchants.
- [How Cyber Monday Eclipsed Black Friday](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-cyber-monday-eclipsed-black-friday/) - Cyber Monday capped the highest online sales period on record -- from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday -- whose volume grew by 16.5% on an annual basis.
- [6 Fascinating Black Friday Stats](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/6-fascinating-black-friday-stats/) - For now Thanksgiving is being lumped together with Black Friday, but one wonders whether one of these years it will earn its own place in the shopping calendar.
- [This Is a Great Time to Be a Credit Card Company in America](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/this-is-a-great-time-to-be-a-credit-card-company-in-america/) - Low as they already were, US issuers' charge-off and delinquency rates fell further in 2013 Q3, even as Americans kept increasing their credit card spending.
- [How the Shift from Paper Checks to E-Payments Is Reducing Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-the-shift-from-paper-checks-to-e-payments-is-reducing-fraud/) - Payment fraud in the U.S. has declined, but the leading cause for the improvement is the ongoing shift away from paper checks and toward electronic payments.
- [On Holiday Shopping and the Merger of Black Friday and Cyber Monday](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-holiday-shopping-and-the-merger-of-black-friday-and-cyber-monday/) - Black Friday marks the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season, but it is now being overtaken by a much more recent phenomenon -- Cyber Monday.
- [The State of Mobile Payments According to Google](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-state-of-mobile-payments-according-to-google/) - Google Trend is the best source of data about shifts in consumer attitudes toward businesses, products and services. Here is what it tells us about m-payments.
- [On Infographics, Holiday Shopping and Credit Scores](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-infographics-holiday-shopping-and-credit-scores/) - A nice infographic is tracking the latest holiday shopping trends and projections for us and another is visualizing some of the latest credit score data.
- [Young Americans Have Fewer Credit Cards, but Bigger Problems Managing Them](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/young-americans-have-fewer-credit-cards-but-bigger-problems-managing-them/) - Millennials are excessively reliant on credit cards, which holds their credit scores down and prevents them from getting the most favorable terms on new loans.
- [Financial Education Makes Prepaid Cards Cheaper for the Unbanked](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/financial-education-makes-prepaid-cards-cheaper-for-the-unbanked/) - Financial education helps recipients of governmental funds to use their prepaid cards in the best possible way and avoid paying unnecessary fees.
- [Americans Continue to Pay down Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-continue-to-pay-down-credit-card-debt/) - Americans continued to pay down credit card debt in September, even as they kept taking out more auto and student loans, the latest Fed data tell us.
- [Credit Card Delinquencies Fall in Every U.S. State](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-delinquencies-fall-in-every-u-s-state/) - Both the credit card delinquency rate and the average credit card debt per borrower in the U.S. dropped on an annual basis during 2013 Q3.
- [How Our Credit Cards Are Breached and What to Do about It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-our-credit-cards-are-breached-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - Companies that are victims to data breaches suffer damage to their reputations and lose customers. Yet, data breaches in the U.S. are exploding in number.
- [Independent Sales Organization (ISO) vs. Sales Agent](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/independent-sales-organization-iso-vs-sales-agent/) - ISO, MSP and sales agent are terms which in the payment card industry are often used interchangeably, yet each one of them designates a unique entity.
- [Will Cell Phones Replace Credit Cards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/will-cell-phones-replace-credit-cards/) - Three mobile phone carriers, a credit card company and a large bank are teaming up to enable consumers to make payments with their cell phones.
- [U.S. Household Debt up by Most since 2008](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-household-debt-up-by-most-since-2008/) - The third quarter of 2013 saw the first substantial increase in U.S. household debt since the financial crisis of September 2008.
- [Credit vs. Debit and China vs. the U.S.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-vs-debit-and-china-vs-the-u-s/) - In the US, Visa and AmEx are growing faster than their domestic rivals - MasterCard and Discover - but globally, China UnionPay is expanding faster than anyone.
- [Why Math Rules and the End of Square's Flat-Rate Pricing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-math-rules-and-the-end-of-squares-flat-rate-pricing/) - Square has handled the discontinuation of its flat-monthly-fee model in an appalling fashion and its merchants have every right to be as unhappy as they are.
- [Americans Keep Paying down Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-keep-paying-down-credit-card-debt/) - Americans kept paying down credit card debt in August, even as they continued to take out more auto and, especially, student loans, the latest Fed data tell us.
- [The Problem with Cash and the Rise of the Digital Dollar](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-problem-with-cash-and-the-rise-of-the-digital-dollar/) - You can't store digital dollars under your mattress, but if someone could figure out how to do it, its victory over the paper dollar would be complete.
- [How MasterCard Processes 74B Transactions a Year](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-mastercard-processes-74b-transactions-a-year/) - MasterCard processes more than 160 million payment card transactions per hour with an average network response time of 130 milliseconds. Here is how.
- [Why E-Commerce Is Tough and What to Do about It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-e-commerce-is-tough-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - If people can't find your online store, it doesn't matter how good your product is. Fortunately, there are things you can do to bring customers to our website.
- [Free Credit Scores for All](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/free-credit-scores-for-all/) - FICO is giving credit card customers of Barclaycard and First Bankcard free access to their credit scores; other card companies are expected to join in soon.
- [Crediting the Holiday Season](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/crediting-the-holiday-season/) - Whether retailers choose to recognize it or not, there is only one holiday shopping month - December - when card spending is 38% higher than the annual average.
- [Square Goes Online, Takes on Amazon, eBay](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/square-goes-online-takes-on-amazon-ebay/) - In a direct challenge to Amazon and eBay, Square Market enables small businesses to sell their products and services on Square's new, sleek e-commerce platform.
- [How Much Does Halloween Cost?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-much-does-halloween-cost/) - 158M Americans celebrated Halloween this year, down from a high of 170M people last year. Those who did celebrate spent $6.9B on d??cor, costumes, candy and fun.
- [Exploiting the Credit Card Hell](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/exploiting-the-credit-card-hell/) - Cain Motter continues to creatively destroy credit cards in the name of art by melting them into visions of what he believes they truly represent.
- [UniBul's Merchant Account Solution for International Businesses](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/unibuls-merchant-account-solution-for-international-businesses/) - If your international business has the minimum processing volume required and all the necessary paperwork, there will be a merchant account available for it.
- [Mobile Payments Industry Is Hyped up but Minuscule](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-industry-is-hyped-up-but-minuscule/) - Mobile payments have been growing fast for years, yet in 2013 their overall volume is projected to make up only 2% of all U.S. credit and debit card volume.
- [Halloween Credit Card Art](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/halloween-credit-card-art/) - Los Angeles-based artist Cain Motter is creatively destroying credit cards by melting them into visions of what he thinks they really represent.
- [Squaring up Mobile Payments: 3 Years Later](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/squaring-up-mobile-payments-3-years-later/) - So far Square has been focused on the annihilation of its clones and when the dust settles, it will be the undisputed champion of the world of mobile payments.
- [PayNearMe vs. Prepaid Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paynearme-vs-prepaid-cards/) - PayNearMe enables consumers to make online payments by taking cash to the nearest 7-Eleven, but the best prepaid cards are incomparably more convenient.
- [Interchange Fees: How Much Do U.S. Merchants Pay?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/interchange-fees-how-much-do-u-s-merchants-pay/) - Here are the averages for Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit and debit card interchange fees in the U.S., going as far back as the mid-1990s.
- [Why Dwolla's E-Cash Business Model Will Not Work](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-dwollas-e-cash-business-model-will-not-work/) - Dwolla's e-cash P2P service faces huge challenges from banks that offer it for free and from PayPal who spends heavily on its own version of it.
- [Looping into Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/looping-into-mobile-payments/) - Loop is offering an imaginative solution to mobile payments, but technological changes and a lack of a viable business model doom the start-up to failure.
- [TransferWise and the Challenge of Cheap International Money Transfers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/transferwise-and-the-challenge-of-cheap-international-money-transfers/) - TransferWise charges 0.5% for international money transfers, which is great for consumers, but is not enough to make the company profitable.
- [How Private Is Bitcoin?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-private-is-bitcoin/) - There is enough publicly available data in Bitcoin transactions to enable law authorities to obtain subpoenas and to identify who is paying money to whom.
- [The TransferWise Way to Skyping Money](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-transferwise-way-to-skyping-money/) - A London-based start-up, co-founded by Skype's first employee, is applying the peer-to-peer (P2P) principle to money transfers and is doing it very cheaply.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquency, Default, Repayment Rates Set New Records](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquency-default-repayment-rates-set-new-records/) - U.S. credit card charge-offs fell to 3.44% in 2013 Q3; the 60-day delinquency rate dropped to 1.30%; the monthly payment rate (MPR) spiked to 26.27%.
- [How the CARD Act Saves Us $3.5 Billion a Year in 'Other Fees'](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-the-card-act-saves-us-3-5-billion-a-year-in-other-fees/) - The CARD Act has reduced the fees we pay for debt suspension, balance transfers, cash advances, returned payments and other transactions by $3.5 billion a year.
- [The Evolution of Money: From Shells to Bitcoin](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-evolution-of-money-from-shells-to-bitcoin/) - Learn what our forebears used for currency to help them transact with one another when they were not too busy bashing each other over the head.
- [The CARD Act Has Made Credit Cards Cheaper](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-card-act-has-made-credit-cards-cheaper/) - The total cost of credit cards has declined by almost 2% between 2008, the last full year before the CARD Act's gradual implementation began, and 2012.
- [How to Survive a Merchant Account Termination](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-survive-a-merchant-account-termination/) - A shutdown of your merchant account is a big deal and can take a long time to recover from it, but if you follow these suggestions, you can succeed.
- [CARD Act Saves Americans $21B a Year](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-act-saves-americans-21b-a-year/) - The CARD Act's fee reductions have saved American consumers $20.8 billion a year; consumers with the lowest FICO scores have experienced the greatest benefits.
- [The Clash of Credit Card Titans: How China UnionPay Is Surging Ahead](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-clash-of-credit-card-titans-how-china-unionpay-is-surging-ahead/) - China UnionPay - the Chinese credit card champion - is about to overtake MasterCard by processing volume and is likely to surpass Visa in as few as 2 - 3 years.
- [Sinking Deeper into the Debt Hole](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/sinking-deeper-into-the-debt-hole/) - Even as Americans as a whole have been paying off debt since Lehman's collapse, the debt owed by consumers who have been late paying their bills has increased.
- [Credit Cards Are Getting Cheaper](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-cards-are-getting-cheaper/) - Americans are paying less to use credit cards, as consumer behavior changes and the risk profile of open credit lines shifts away from high-risk accounts.
- [Is Pricing Really the Deciding Factor in the Mobile Payments War?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/is-pricing-really-the-deciding-factor-in-the-mobile-payments-war/) - Should Square ever decide to cross the Atlantic, iZettle, SumUp and the U.S. processor's other European clones will find it impossible to compete on price.
- [How to Minimize the Credit Card Processing Fees You Pay](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-minimize-the-credit-card-processing-fees-you-pay/) - A very nice infographic illustrates why it is about time you called your processor and asked him to switch you to an interchange-plus pricing model.
- [Who's Freezing Your Money?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/whos-freezing-your-money/) - PayPal may be the best known money freezer in the payments world, but it is not alone and there are things you can do to avoid falling victim to such a plight.
- [UniBul's High-Risk E-Check Acceptance Solution](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/unibuls-high-risk-e-check-acceptance-solution/) - UniBul provides e-check acceptance services, in addition to credit card processing, to even the highest-risk types of merchants in the U.S. and abroad.
- [Payday Lending vs. Credit Unions: A U.K. Update](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/payday-lending-vs-credit-unions-a-u-k-update/) - Payday lenders serve a niche, which no one else would touch -- not on the types of terms politicians and regulators, or Archbishop Welby, would want to see.
- [Reversing Trend, Americans Value Mortgages More than Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/reversing-trend-americans-value-mortgages-more-than-credit-cards/) - Americans are increasingly placing more value on paying their mortgages ahead of credit cards -- a reversal of the trend observed during the housing downturn.
- [PayPal Goes to Russia: How Will It Fare?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-goes-to-russia-how-will-it-fare/) - Having obtained its license, PayPal has now officially entered Russia through 13 large e-tailers, but it faces stiff competition from Yandex, Qiwi and WebMoney.
- [Would You Trust the CFPB with Your Credit Card?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/would-you-trust-the-cfpb-with-your-credit-card/) - The CFPB is collecting vast amounts of credit card transaction information and it won't tell us how it is using it. The program must be discontinued.
- [Verified by Visa](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/verified-by-visa/) - Verified by Visa (VbV) is an authentication service for Visa cards developed to help protect merchants accepting cards over the internet.
- [E-Commerce Privacy Policy and Information Security Best Practices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/ecommerce-privacy-policy-and-information-security-best-practices/) - Your privacy policy and information security procedures should help assure consumers that you are doing your best to protect their personal information.
- [Visa Chargeback Monitoring](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-chargeback-monitoring/) - Visa monitors chargeback levels for all merchants accepting their cards. It requires that chargeback rates are kept below 1% of total transactions.
- [MasterCard's Excessive Chargeback Program](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercards-excessive-chargeback-program/) - MasterCard's Excessive Chargeback Program sets the rules that processors must comply with when monitoring their merchants' chargeback performance.
- [Interchange Plus Pricing vs. Tiered Pricing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/interchange-plus-pricing-vs-tiered-pricing/) - Interchange is a fee that Visa and MasterCard assess for every credit or debit card transaction processed by merchants. It is collected by card issuers.
- [MasterCard SecureCode](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-securecode-2/) - MasterCard SecureCode is an e-commerce security feature that enables card issuers to authenticate cardholders through a preselected personal code.
- [Qualified, Mid-Qualified and Non-Qualified Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/qualified-mid-qualified-and-non-qualified-credit-card-transactions/) - Credit card transactions are qualified based on the type of card being used and whether the payment is processed according to the merchant agreement.
- [Express Checkout Best Practices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/express-checkout-best-practices/) - Hotels using the Express Checkout service for credit cards must follow a set of procedures to ensure that cardholders understand and accept the charges.
- [E-Commerce Transaction Settlement](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-transaction-settlement/) - Settlement of a card payment is the process of exchanging the funds between the card issuer and the acquiring bank to complete a cleared transaction.
- [E-Commerce Risk Management](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-risk-management/) - Web-based merchants should create a dedicated e-commerce risk management department to implement internal fraud prevention measures and controls.
- [15 Steps to Managing E-Commerce Risk](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/15-steps-to-managing-e-commerce-risk/) - 15 steps to managing e-commerce risk to help you detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, reduce customer disputes and minimize fraud-related chargebacks.
- [E-Commerce Product Description Guidelines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-product-description-guidelines/) - E-commerce merchants must go into much greater lengths when describing the products and services that they offer, than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.
- [Recurring Payment Plans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/recurring-payment-plans/) - Recurring payment plans exist when multiple transactions are processed at predetermined intervals for products or services that are provided over time.
- [Preventing E-Commerce Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/preventing-e-commerce-fraud/) - There are a number of fraud prevention services which, if combined with a set of fraud prevention guidelines, will help significantly decrease fraud rates.
- [Split Sales and Split Tender Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/split-sales-and-split-tender-transactions/) - Splitting sales transactions is the process by which a merchant uses two or more sales drafts for a single transaction to avoid authorization limits.
- [E-Commerce Data Security Best Practices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-data-security-best-practices/) - E-commerce data security best practices: implement the necessary fraud prevention measures; educate consumers how their account information is protected.
- [Merchant Account Application Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-account-application-process/) - The merchant account application process involves examining a number of documents and a credit check to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- [Processing E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/processing-e-commerce-transactions/) - E-commerce merchants are required to provide consumers with certain information and to process transactions in compliance with applicable regulations.
- [E-Commerce Shipping Policy Guidelines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-shipping-policy-guidelines/) - E-commerce shipping policy guidelines: avoid customer disputes and chargebacks resulting from a misunderstanding over the shipment of a purchased item.
- [Interchange Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/interchange-fees/) - Interchange is the fee that a processing bank pays to a card issuing bank when a payment card is used by a consumer to pay for a product or a service.
- [US-Based Merchant Accounts for Foreign Organizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/us-based-merchant-accounts-for-foreign-organizations/) - Foreign organizations that need a US-based merchant account have to first establish a legal presence, a physical office and a bank account in the US.
- [Merchant Account Reserve](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-account-reserve/) - Reserve is a percentage of a merchant's sales, retained by the processor as a protection against future exposure or to cover existing chargebacks.
- [Code 10 Call](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/code-10-call/) - Code 10 is an authorization call that card-present merchants should make to alert card issuers to a suspicious activity - without alerting the customer.
- [Fraud Scoring](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fraud-scoring/) - Fraud scoring is a system of predictive fraud detection models that processors use to identify the highest-risk transactions for additional verification.
- [Card Verification Procedures](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-verification-procedures/) - Merchants are responsible for verifying the validity of each card they accept. Processing unverified cards can lead to fraudulent transactions.
- [Card Account Updater](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-account-updater/) - Card account updaters enable merchants processing recurring payments to automatically update cardholder account information they have on file.
- [Managing E-Commerce Customer Service Access](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-e-commerce-customer-service-access/) - E-commerce businesses need to establish and strictly monitor customer service guidelines to ensure that customer concerns are addressed promptly.
- [E-Commerce Shipping Policy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-shipping-policy/) - Your shipping policy should answer two questions before customers are taken to the checkout: "How long does the shipping take?" and "How much does it cost?".
- [E-Commerce Risk](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-risk/) - E-commerce businesses are much more vulnerable to fraud than retail stores. Many things can go wrong that a physical interaction would've helped avoid.
- [Processing Card-Present Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/processing-card-present-transactions/) - Processing card-present transactions is more secure than accepting card-not-present payments, leading to less fraud and lower transaction fees.
- [Dealing with Fake Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/dealing-with-fake-chargebacks/) - Chargebacks are not always caused by fraud or processing errors. Often customers charge back legitimate transactions for which they are responsible.
- [PCI Data Security Standard Compliance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pci-data-security-standard-compliance/) - PCI Data Security Standard is a set of requirements for security management, procedures, network architecture, software design and other protective measures.
- [Using the Address Verification Service (AVS)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/using-the-address-verification-service-avs/) - The Address Verification Service verifies the validity of the billing address provided by a cardholder by comparing it to the one on file with the card issuer.
- [Recovering Cards at the Point of Sale](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/recovering-cards-at-the-point-of-sale/) - If a merchant believes that a card is being used fraudulently or is altered or counterfeit, the card should be recovered, but only by peaceful means.
- [Managing the E-Commerce Authorization Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-the-e-commerce-authorization-process/) - Managing the e-commerce transaction authorization process effectively will help reduce fraud risk, limit chargebacks and minimize customer disputes.
- [How to Select a Processing Bank for your E-Commerce Business](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-select-a-processing-bank-for-your-e-commerce-business/) - When selecting a processor you will need to look beyond the processing rates at factors that will influence your chargeback and risk management capabilities.
- [Credit Card Sales Receipt Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-sales-receipt-processing/) - Sales receipts must be processed and deposited in a way that minimizes customer disputes, limits chargebacks and is compliant with industry regulations.
- [E-Commerce Check-out Form Guidelines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-check-out-form-guidelines/) - The check-out payment information form should be designed to collect all data that is needed to verify that both the card and the cardholder are genuine.
- [Payment Gateway](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/payment-gateway-1/) - Payment gateway is a web-based service that transmits transaction information between an e-commerce website and the merchant's processing bank.
- [Minimizing Key-Entered Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/minimizing-key-entered-transactions/) - Key-entered transactions are associated with higher fraud and chargeback rates, mostly because they circumvent certain security mechanisms.
- [Requirements for Merchant Account Providers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/requirements-for-merchant-account-providers/) - Merchant accounts can be provided by banks members of Visa and MasterCard, but more often they contract with third parties to provide the service.
- [Managing E-Commerce Payment Choices at the Checkout](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-e-commerce-payment-choices-at-the-checkout/) - Support for multiple payment choices helps ensure that you can accommodate every customer's favorite option and that no sale is lost at the last moment.
- [E-Commerce Recurring Payment Plans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-recurring-payment-plans/) - An e-commerce recurring payment plan exists when a customer authorizes a merchant to automatically charge his or her card, on a pre-defined schedule.
- [How Travel Agencies Can Manage Credit Card Risk](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-travel-agencies-can-manage-credit-card-risk/) - Travel agencies produce some of the highest rates of credit card fraud and need to develop risk management systems to reduce their risk exposure.
- [How to Handle Charged-off and Delinquent Accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-charged-off-and-delinquent-accounts/) - Delinquent and charged-off accounts are listed as derogatory items on your credit report, remain there for seven years and destroy your credit score.
- [Validating Cardholder Information in E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/validating-cardholder-information-in-e-commerce-transactions/) - E-commerce merchants bear the financial responsibility for fraudulent transactions and should validate cardholder information prior to processing payments.
- [12 Signs of E-Commerce Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/12-signs-of-e-commerce-fraud/) - 12 signs of e-commerce fraud: characteristics that are statistically very likely to be present when credit card fraud is being committed online.
- [Overview: Accepting Credit Card Payments Online](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/overview-accepting-credit-card-payments-online/) - Payment gateway is a service that connects an e-commerce website's shopping cart with the merchant's processing bank to transmit transaction data between them.
- [Screening International E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/screening-international-e-commerce-transactions/) - If you choose to accept orders from abroad, you should consider screening high-risk international transactions to limit your risk exposure and minimize fraud.
- [Merchant Account Qualifications and Requirements](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-account-qualifications-and-requirements/) - Merchant account applicants must meet industry qualifications and prove their credit worthiness before they can accept credit card payments.
- [How to Handle a Data Security Breach](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-a-data-security-breach/) - Merchants should implement security measures to help detect suspected breaches, respond quickly and minimize the damage in case data is compromised.
- [E-Commerce Transaction Currency Conversion](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-transaction-currency-conversion/) - Merchants cannot convert transaction amounts into a different currency, but they can provide an estimate of the equivalent amount in a different currency.
- [Fraud Prevention Guidelines for MO / TO Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fraud-prevention-guidelines-for-mo-to-merchants/) - MO / TO merchants must verify the identity of their cardholders and the validity of the transaction prior to processing each card payment.
- [Understanding E-Commerce Risk](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/understanding-e-commerce-risk/) - Understanding e-commerce risk will help you better design your business and operational policies and in selecting the right fraud prevention tools.
- [Card Identification in E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-identification-in-e-commerce-transactions/) - Credit and debit cards bear several identification features that make them unique and help both merchants and cardholders prevent their fraudulent use.
- [Wireless Credit Card Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/wireless-credit-card-processing-1/) - Wireless credit card processing solutions enable merchants to accept bank cards on mobile devices, at locations outside of stores and offices.
- [How to Handle Multiple Sales Receipts and Partial Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-multiple-sales-receipts-and-partial-payments/) - Merchants may be tempted to use multiple receipts when the total sale's amount significantly exceeds the authorized average transaction amount.
- [Managing Credit Card Processing Risk in an E-Commerce Start-Up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-credit-card-processing-risk-in-an-e-commerce-start-up/) - Before launching an e-commerce business, you need to make sure that your risk management procedures can protect it from fraud and chargebacks.
- [How to Handle Credit Card Processing on Multiple Websites](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-credit-card-processing-on-multiple-websites/) - Unless you sell the same products on each one of them, setting up a separate merchant account for each individual website is the right way to go.
- [How to Manage your Hotel's Guaranteed Reservations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-your-hotels-guaranteed-reservations/) - Guaranteed reservation of a hotel room is a reservation paid in advance. Participating hotels must have a room available when the cardholder arrives.
- [U.S.-Based Merchant Account Restrictions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-based-merchant-account-restrictions/) - Certain types of businesses are not allowed to set up US-based merchant accounts. The black list is compiled by Visa and MasterCard and is mandatory.
- [Requirements and Best Practices for Truncating Card Account Numbers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/requirements-and-best-practices-for-truncating-card-account-numbers/) - Industry regulations require merchants and their processing banks to truncate all but the last four digits of a personal card account number.
- [Return and Credit Policies for Retail Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/return-and-credit-policies-for-retail-merchants/) - Retail merchants need to set up and stick to credit and return policies for the processing of returned merchandise and issuing credit for it.
- [General Requirements for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/general-requirements-for-automated-teller-machines-atms/) - ATMs are cardholder-activated terminals that provide clients of financial institutions with access to their accounts and the ability to process transactions.
- [Managing Risk in Recurring Payment Plans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-risk-in-recurring-payment-plans/) - The terms of each recurring plan and the processing of each payment should be done in a way that helps minimize customer disputes and chargebacks.
- [How Should E-Commerce Businesses Handle Chargebacks?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-should-e-commerce-businesses-handle-chargebacks/) - However good your chargeback prevention mechanisms may be, you will still receive chargebacks every now and then. You should know how to handle them.
- [General Requirements for In-Flight Commerce Terminals](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/general-requirements-for-in-flight-commerce-terminals/) - Transactions such as shopping or gaming activity that a cardholder initiates during a flight are known as in-flight commerce (IFC).
- [How Accepting Credit Cards Issued by Foreign Banks Is Different and Should You Be Settling in Foreign Currencies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-accepting-credit-cards-issued-by-foreign-banks-is-different-and-should-you-be-settling-in-foreign-currencies/) - Visa and MasterCard issuers can add surcharges to foreign transactions that can range between 0.50% - 1.00%, on top of the regular processing fees.
- [How Payment Gateways Work and Integrate with E-Commerce Merchant Accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-payment-gateways-work-and-integrate-with-e-commerce-merchant-accounts/) - Payment gateways are services that integrate with e-commerce website shopping carts to collects and transmit payment information at the checkout.
- [Dedicated Merchant Accounts vs. Third-Party Payment Services](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/dedicated-merchant-accounts-vs-third-party-payment-services/) - There are two distinct types of services to enable businesses to accept card payments: dedicated merchant accounts and third-party merchant accounts.
- [Handling E-Commerce Transaction Authorization Responses](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/handling-e-commerce-transaction-authorization-responses/) - E-commerce merchants need to develop a process for handling transactions after the authorization response is received and apply it consistently.
- [Requirements for Self-Service Terminals](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/requirements-for-self-service-terminals/) - Self-service terminal is a cardholder-activated terminal (CAT), especially one including the functions both of delivering and paying for goods.
- [How to Handle Returned Merchandise and Canceled Services](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-returned-merchandise-and-canceled-services/) - Merchants need to establish terms and conditions for handling returned merchandise and canceled services and for issuing credits, when applicable.
- [How to Manage Invalid Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-invalid-chargebacks/) - Invalid chargebacks are charged-back transactions for which the merchant is not responsible and are most often caused by frivolous customer disputes.
- [How to Develop Your E-Commerce Customer Service Policy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-develop-your-e-commerce-customer-service-policy/) - E-commerce businesses should develop a customer service policy to allow customers to communicate their questions and concerns easily and conveniently.
- [Credit Card Skimming](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-skimming/) - Skimming is the fraudulent copying, or "skimming," of the account information stored in the magnetic stripe of a credit or debit card.
- [Managing Credit Card Processing Risk at Car Rental Companies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-credit-card-processing-risk-at-car-rental-companies/) - Car rental companies tend to generate higher than average levels of customer disputes and chargebacks, placing them among the highest-risk merchants.
- [How Credit History Influences Merchant Account Applications](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-credit-history-influences-merchant-account-applications/) - Typically, your credit history will only be an issue in a merchant account application if it shows many derogatory items, especially a bankruptcy.
- [How to Set up and Use E-Commerce Transaction Velocity Limits and Controls](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-set-up-and-use-e-commerce-transaction-velocity-limits-and-controls/) - Implementing transaction velocity limits and controls helps determine whether a cardholder or a transaction should be more thoroughly investigated.
- [Chargeback Monitoring](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chargeback-monitoring/) - Chargeback monitoring programs serve to help merchants identify and address credit card processing issues as early as possible.
- [What Would Be Reasonable Credit Card Processing Rates for Store-Front Merchants?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-would-be-reasonable-credit-card-processing-rates-for-store-front-merchants/) - Transaction fees paid by merchants are the sum of the interchange fee charged by the issuer, and the processing fee charged by the acquiring bank.
- [Understanding Credit Card Processing Risk for Travel Agencies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/understanding-credit-card-processing-risk-for-travel-agencies/) - Travel agencies are among the highest-risk merchants, as far as payment processors are concerned and may find it very difficult to set up a merchant account.
- [How to Recover Credit Cards when Suspecting Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-recover-credit-cards-when-suspecting-fraud/) - If there is enough evidence that a fraudulent credit card transaction may be under way, and if safe to do so, the merchant should pick up the card.
- [Credit Card Fraud Prevention Guidelines for Airlines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-fraud-prevention-guidelines-for-airlines/) - To get the best credit card processing terms, merchants selling airline tickets need to understand the associated risk and know how to manage it.
- [10 Suspicious E-Commerce Transaction Characteristics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/10-suspicious-e-commerce-transaction-characteristics/) - Fraudulent e-commerce transactions typically display certain high risk characteristics, which should be used as trigger points for a more detailed examination.
- [How to Handle Potentially Fraudulent E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-potentially-fraudulent-e-commerce-transactions/) - Once your fraud prevention system identifies suspicious e-commerce transaction characteristics, you need to be able to review them quickly and cost effectively.
- [How to Use Web Cookies with E-Commerce Websites](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-use-web-cookies-with-e-commerce-websites/) - Web cookie is a text string, stored in a web browser to facilitate a quicker information submission on e-commerce websites during repeat visits.
- [Credit Card Payment Processing and Information Disclosure Guidelines for Airlines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-payment-processing-and-information-disclosure-guidelines-for-airlines/) - A clear disclosure of the terms and conditions of an airline ticket sale will help avoid unnecessary and costly customer disputes and chargebacks.
- [How to Manage Installment Payment Plans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-installment-payment-plans/) - Installment payment plans are set up when a single purchase is billed to an account in multiple segments (installments), over a period of time.
- [MasterCard Rules for Merchant Chargeback Liability](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-rules-for-merchant-chargeback-liability/) - The chargeback liability period is for a minimum of six months, however MasterCard can increase it to 12 months, under certain circumstances.
- [Chargeback Re-Presentment Rights for E-Commerce Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chargeback-re-presentment-rights-for-e-commerce-merchants/) - Re-presentment is a chargeback that is rejected and returned to a card issuer by the merchant's processing bank on the merchant's behalf.
- [Guidelines for Authorizing Credit Card Transactions at Restaurants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/guidelines-for-authorizing-credit-card-transactions-at-restaurants/) - Merchants are not allowed to estimate the tip amount. Authorization must be obtained for the sum of the bill and the tip, as decided by the customer.
- [How Does an E-Commerce Merchant Account Work?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-does-an-e-commerce-merchant-account-work/) - Merchant accounts enable merchants to accept credit and debit cards for payment. They are provided by processing banks members of Visa and MasterCard.
- [Are There Any Alternatives to Payday Lending?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/are-there-any-alternatives-to-payday-lending/) - Ii is time that people at least start considering the possibility that for a certain type of borrowers there simply aren't any alternatives to payday.
- [Leave Payday Lenders Alone](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/leave-payday-lenders-alone/) - Payday lenders serve a large consumer group, which no one else wants to deal with -- the unbanked -- and they should not be prevented from doing their job.
- [Payday Lenders Fight Back Against New York and They Do Have a Point](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/payday-lenders-fight-back-against-new-york-and-they-do-have-a-point/) - The Archbishop of Canterbury understands something New York's prosecutors do not: payday lenders serve a market that is neglected by the traditional lenders.
- [What Makes Some Businesses Higher Credit Card Processing Risk than Others?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-makes-some-businesses-higher-credit-card-processing-risk-than-others/) - When assessing credit card processing risk, Visa and MasterCard rely on historical transaction data, specifically fraud and chargebacks.
- [How to Protect E-Commerce Merchant Accounts from Intrusion](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-protect-e-commerce-merchant-accounts-from-intrusion/) - Among the favorite targets for cyber criminals looking for credit card account data are an e-commerce website's shopping cart and payment gateway.
- [Rewards for Recovering Counterfeit MasterCard Cards at the Point of Sale](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/rewards-for-recovering-counterfeit-mastercard-cards-at-the-point-of-sale/) - MasterCard's program for rewarding merchants for picking up invalid cards mandates that the person who captured the card should receive the reward.
- [Guidelines for Accepting Advance Resort Deposits with Credit or Debit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/guidelines-for-accepting-advance-resort-deposits-with-credit-or-debit-cards/) - Hotels and motels that participate in the Advance Resort Deposit service for credit and debit cards must follow specific procedures when accepting payments.
- [How to Use the Merchant Direct Access Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-use-the-merchant-direct-access-service/) - The Merchant Direct Access Service (MDAS) provides AVS authorization services to smaller merchants operating in card-not-present environment.
- [How to Manage Duplicate E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-duplicate-e-commerce-transactions/) - Duplicate orders occur more often than one might expect. They are expensive to deal with and merchants need to develop procedures to minimize them.
- [How to Process Zero-Percent-Tip Credit Card Transaction Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-process-zero-percent-tip-credit-card-transaction-authorizations/) - When processing credit card transactions, merchants are not allowed to estimate the amount of the tip and include it in the authorization request.
- [How Cruise Line-Related Credit Card Payments Should Be Processed](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-cruise-line-related-credit-card-payments-should-be-processed/) - Credit card transactions processed for cruise line-related charges have some unique features and require that merchants follow specific procedures.
- [How to Minimize Fraudulent E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-minimize-fraudulent-e-commerce-transactions/) - Credit card fraud affects everyone involved: the consumer whose card is stolen, the merchant whose product is purchased, the processor and the issuer.
- [Chargeback Supporting Documentation](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chargeback-supporting-documentation/) - In order to initiate the chargeback process, an issuer will request that its cardholder provides several documents in support of his or her claim.
- [MasterCard Procedures for Card Recovery and Return](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-recovery-and-return/) - After recovering a MasterCard card, the merchant should notify its processor's authorization center and receive instructions for returning the card.
- [How to Manage Credit Card Reservations for Car Rentals](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-credit-card-reservations-for-car-rentals/) - The reservation policy of your car rental company needs to reflect the high-risk characteristics of the transactions you will be processing.
- [How to Select a Merchant Account Provider](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-select-a-merchant-account-provider/) - When selecting a merchant account provider, look for: pricing, experience, customer service, chargeback management, fraud prevention capabilities.
- [Screening Fraudulent E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/screening-fraudulent-e-commerce-transactions/) - E-commerce merchants should develop a mechanism for screening transactions with high-risk characteristics for a more detailed examination.
- [Billing Policy Guidelines for E-Commerce Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/billing-policy-guidelines-for-e-commerce-merchants/) - E-commerce merchants should develop and implement a clear and detailed policy to communicate the terms and conditions of their billing procedures.
- [Managing Billing Descriptors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-billing-descriptors/) - The way your company's name appears on your customer's credit card statement is called a billing descriptor. It is set up and managed by your processor.
- [Managing Transaction Copy Requests](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-transaction-copy-requests/) - Merchants should respond to all transaction copy requests within 30-days or lose the dispute, regardless of whether the transaction was valid or not.
- [When Should Merchants Deposit Credit Card Payments?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/when-should-merchants-deposit-credit-card-payments/) - Credit card payments should not be deposited before the transaction date, which for e-commerce merchants is the date on which the item is shipped.
- [How to Handle Chargebacks Resulting from not Received Merchandise](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-chargebacks-resulting-from-not-received-merchandise/) - Both Visa (Reason Code 30) and MasterCard (RC 4855) use special reason codes for chargebacks resulting from a non-receipt of purchased merchandise.
- [How Processors Manage Merchant Accounts with High Levels of Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-processors-manage-merchant-accounts-with-high-levels-of-fraud/) - Visa and MasterCard maintain the Global Merchant Audit Program, which is a rolling six-month database that identifies merchants with high levels of fraud.
- [Cardholder-Merchant Collusion Program and Bust-out Accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/cardholder-merchant-collusion-program-and-bust-out-accounts/) - The Cardholder-Merchant Collusion Program enables card issuers to file claims against processors associated with identified fully collusive merchants.
- [Limits on Merchant Account Credit Card Processing Volumes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/limits-on-merchant-account-credit-card-processing-volumes/) - One of the processor's major objectives is to estimate its potential liability and the merchant's annual credit card volume is key to achieving it.
- [How to Build and Use an Internal Negative File](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-build-and-use-an-internal-negative-file/) - Internal negative files record data from fraudulently used accounts to protect merchants from possible future fraud committed by the same person.
- [Verifying Signatures in Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/verifying-signatures-in-credit-card-transactions/) - Merchants are required to compare signatures on sales receipts to the ones on the back of credit cards and ensure they belong to the same person.
- [Credit Card Acceptance Considerations for Travel Agencies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-acceptance-considerations-for-travel-agencies/) - Travel agencies need to pay more attention to their card acceptance procedures than most other merchants, because they tend to generate more chargebacks.
- [3 Reasons Why You Can Have Your Merchant Account Suspended](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/3-reasons-why-you-can-have-your-merchant-account-suspended/) - There are circumstances that can result in the suspension of a merchant account, including fraud, excessive chargebacks and having multiple merchant accounts.
- [Authentication of E-Commerce Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authentication-of-e-commerce-credit-card-transactions/) - Authentication of an e-commerce transaction is the process through which a merchant verifies the validity of the payment information provided be the customer.
- [Managing Passwords for E-Commerce Website Accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-passwords-for-e-commerce-website-accounts/) - E-commerce businesses should establish a simple and straightforward procedure for creating, managing and retrieving customer passwords.
- [Managing Payment Choices at the E-Commerce Checkout](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-payment-choices-at-the-e-commerce-checkout/) - Credit cards are the dominant payment choice, but customers have plenty of other checkout options that you need to be able to manage.
- [Credit Card Acceptance When the Terminal Is Down](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-acceptance-when-the-terminal-is-down/) - Store-front merchants are often faced with situations where their POS terminal cannot read the customer's card or an authorization cannot be obtained.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Declined Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-declined-authorizations/) - Chargebacks associated with declined authorization requests result when merchants try to circumvent the issuer's negative authorization response.
- [Managing Card-Present Transaction Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-card-present-transaction-authorizations/) - Authorization is the process through which a card issuer approves or declines a card transaction, based on the information provided by the merchant.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Caused by a Cardholder Non-Recognition of a Transaction](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-caused-by-a-cardholder-non-recognition-of-a-transaction/) - Visa uses chargeback reason code 75 to designate chargebacks caused by non-recognition of a credit card transaction by the cardholder.
- [Return and Credit Policy Guidelines for Card-Present Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/return-and-credit-policy-guidelines-for-card-present-merchants/) - Return and credit policies set the rules on whether a merchant accepts returns, under what circumstances and what the customer gets in return.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Multiple Fraudulent Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-multiple-fraudulent-transactions/) - Visa uses chargeback reason code 57 to designate chargebacks caused by multiple transactions posted by a merchant on a single credit card account.
- [Managing E-Commerce Credit Card Transaction Post-Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-e-commerce-credit-card-transaction-post-authorizations/) - Once an issuer compares the information it receives in an authorization request to what it has on file for its cardholder, it will either approve or decline it.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Processing Counterfeit Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-processing-counterfeit-transactions/) - Visa and MasterCard use special reason codes for chargebacks resulting from processing counterfeit credit card transactions: 62 and 4862 respectively.
- [5 Suspicious Card-Present Transaction Characteristics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/5-suspicious-card-present-transaction-characteristics/) - Customers who attempt to fraudulently use a credit card for payment at the checkout are often betrayed by specific signs of suspicious behavior.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Processing Transactions with Missing Card Information](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-processing-transactions-with-missing-card-information/) - Visa uses chargeback Reason Code 81 to designate chargebacks caused by processing card-present transactions where required account information is missing.
- [How to Minimize Errors at the E-Commerce Checkout](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-minimize-errors-at-the-e-commerce-checkout/) - Card security features can be used to detect errors and alert cardholders when wrong data is entered in payment forms at the e-commerce checkout.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Processing Transactions without Authorization](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-processing-transactions-without-authorization/) - Chargeback Reason Code 83 is issued for processing a payment, which the cardholder either did not authorize or did not participate in.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Accepting Cards with Account Numbers on the Exception File](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-accepting-cards-with-account-numbers-on-the-exception-file/) - Chargeback Reason Code 70 is issued when a transaction is below the merchant's floor limit and the account number is listed on the exception file.
- [Bank Responsibilities in the Clearing and Settling of Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/bank-responsibilities-in-the-clearing-and-settling-of-credit-card-transactions/) - Clearing and settlement of credit card transactions are the processes that facilitate the exchange of data and money between processors and issuers.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Processing Transactions for which Authorization was Declined](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-processing-transactions-for-which-authorization-was-declined/) - Visa uses Reason Code 71 to designate chargebacks that result from processing credit card transactions for which authorization was declined.
- [MasterCard Chargeback Stages](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-chargeback-stages/) - MasterCard's chargeback cycle includes: First Presentment, First Chargeback, Second Presentment, Arbitration Chargeback, and Arbitration Case Filing.
- [Member Alert to Control High-Risk Merchants (MATCH)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/member-alert-to-control-high-risk-merchants-match/) - Member Alert to Control High-Risk Merchants (MATCH) is a database of information about merchant accounts that have been terminated for cause.
- [Understanding 'Possible MATCH Results'](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/understanding-possible-match-results/) - All positive MATCH responses are considered "possible matches" because the search system cannot guarantee an exact match with absolute certainty.
- [MasterCard's Site Data Protection (SDP) Program](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercards-site-data-protection-sdp-program/) - The Site Data Protection Program is designed to ensure that processors, merchants and service providers adequately protect account data against compromises.
- [How to Manage 'No Authorization' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-no-authorization-chargebacks/) - Visa chargeback Reason Code 72 results from processing transactions, which were above the merchant's floor limit, but authorization was not obtained.
- [2 Reasons to Monitor Your Daily Credit Card Batches](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/2-reasons-to-monitor-your-daily-credit-card-batches/) - Merchants should monitor their average transaction amount and count in each credit card batch and alert their processor if either is substantially exceeded.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting from Processing Expired Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-from-processing-expired-cards/) - Chargeback Reason Codes 73 and 4835 are issued when two conditions were met: a payment is made with an expired card and the transaction is not authorized.
- [Merchant Audit: Initiation, Review Process and Consequences](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-audit-initiation-review-process-and-consequences/) - A merchant audit can be initiated whenever there are reasons to believe that the merchant may be high risk or is processing invalid transactions.
- [How to Manage Chargebacks Resulting when a Credit is Posted as a Purchase](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargebacks-resulting-when-a-credit-is-posted-as-a-purchase/) - Reason Codes 76 (used by Visa) and 4850 (MasterCard) designate chargebacks resulting when a credit is posted on a cardholder's account as a purchase.
- [How to Manage Transaction Authorizations for Discover Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-transaction-authorizations-for-discover-cards/) - All Discover card transactions need to be authorized; authorizations are valid for 90 days and can be obtained electronically or over the telephone.
- [Credit Card Debt Continues to Fall, Student Loans Go the Other Way](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-debt-continues-to-fall-student-loans-go-the-other-way/) - Americans shed $1.3 billion of debt in June, according to the latest Federal Reserve Statistical Release, a drop of 0.7 percent at an annual rate.
- [Requirements for Acceptance of Card-Present Discover Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/requirements-for-acceptance-of-card-present-discover-transactions/) - Accepting Discover card payments is broadly similar to accepting Visa, MasterCard or American Express payments, with a few differences.
- [Prepaid Card Use is Rising and That is not a Bad Thing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-card-use-is-rising-and-that-is-not-a-bad-thing/) - Prepaid cards are probably the least costly card you can have and the best supporting evidence is that the big banks are staying away from them.
- [How to Manage 'Non-Matching Account Number' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-non-matching-account-number-chargebacks/) - Visa's Reason Code 77 designates chargebacks resulting when the account number on the card does not match the one on file with the card issuer.
- [Dental Offices Now Offer Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/dental-offices-now-offer-credit-cards/) - This week we learned that 10 health care providers in New York, mostly dental offices, have been hard at work offering credit cards to patients.
- [Requirements for Acceptance of MO / TO Discover Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/requirements-for-acceptance-of-mo-to-discover-transactions/) - MO / TO merchants should not submit Discover transaction for processing until the merchandise or services have been shipped, delivered or provided.
- [The Overdraft Dilemma](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-overdraft-dilemma/) - Overdraft fees are charged when a cardholder completes a card transaction which puts his or her account's balance beyond its credit limit.
- [Fed: Credit Card Rewards Programs Subsidized by the Poor](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fed-credit-card-rewards-programs-subsidized-by-the-poor/) - A recent report from the Boston Fed concluded that America's lower-income consumers are in fact subsidizing the cost of credit card rewards programs.
- [How to Manage 'Late Presentment' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-late-presentment-chargebacks/) - Both Visa (74) and MasterCard (4842) use special Reason Codes to designate chargebacks resulting from late presentment of credit card transactions.
- [Credit Card Debt: Location, Location, Location](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-debt-location-location-location/) - On average, New Yorkers have the most credit cards in the U.S. - 3.77, but owe $1,040 less than the residents of the most indebted region - Atlanta.
- [How to Manage 'Incorrect Transaction Amount or Account Number' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-incorrect-transaction-amount-or-account-number-chargebacks/) - Reason Code 80 designates chargebacks where an account number or a transaction amount posted with an issuer differs from the one on the sales receipt.
- [On Marrying and Divorcing Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-marrying-and-divorcing-credit-card-debt/) - Dealing with credit card debt is difficult enough on its own, but it can get even more complicated when marital considerations enter the equation.
- [How to Manage 'Duplicate Processing' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-duplicate-processing-chargebacks/) - Both Visa (82) and MasterCard (4834) use special Reason Codes to designate chargebacks issued when the same transaction is deposited more than once.
- [Falling Consumer Debt Troubles Credit Card Companies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/falling-consumer-debt-troubles-credit-card-companies/) - Falling consumer credit card debt levels are forcing banks to look for new sources of revenue and they have started to show their creative side.
- [How to Manage 'Paid by Other Means' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-paid-by-other-means-chargebacks/) - Visa Reason Code 86 designates chargebacks caused by a failure of the merchant to void a card transaction where payment was made by other means.
- [New Overdraft Rules About to Get Even Tougher](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/new-overdraft-rules-about-to-get-even-tougher/) - New rules would require banks to place an "appropriate" limit on overdraft fees, e.g. limiting the amount or the number of times the fee is assessed.
- [How to Manage 'Canceled Recurring Transaction' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-canceled-recurring-transaction-chargebacks/) - Both Visa (41) and MasterCard (4841) use special Reason Codes to designate chargebacks issued in connection with canceled recurring transactions.
- [Private Label Credit Card Industry Thrives](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/private-label-credit-card-industry-thrives/) - The private label credit card industry is surging ahead, as issuers are reporting higher profits and falling levels of late payments and charge-offs.
- [Swipely Wants to Broadcast Your Credit Card Purchases](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/swipely-wants-to-broadcast-your-credit-card-purchases/) - Swipely is entering the increasingly crowded field of social networks who offer users the ability to share their credit card purchases with friends.
- [Bank of America Teams up with Visa to Test Contactless Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/bank-of-america-teams-up-with-visa-to-test-contactless-payments/) - Another huge bank is teaming up with a giant credit card company for a contactless payment project. This time the names are Bank of America and Visa.
- [How Scammers Stole $10M from the Credit Cards of 1.3M Americans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-scammers-stole-10m-from-the-credit-cards-of-1-3m-americans/) - Criminals steal $10M from 1.3M Americans through an elaborate scheme, involving more than 16 dummy corporations and more than 100 merchant accounts.
- [Final Provisions of CARD Act Take Effect](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/final-provisions-of-card-act-take-effect/) - The final batch of credit card rules completes a truly comprehensive reform of how card issuers do business and it really is a big win for consumers.
- [How to Manage 'Credit Not Processed' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-credit-not-processed-chargebacks/) - Visa (85) and MasterCard (4860) have special Reason Codes for chargebacks resulting when cardholders claim a refund was not issued for a returned product.
- [CARD Act Pushes Credit Card Interest Rates to Record Highs](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-act-pushes-credit-card-interest-rates-to-record-highs/) - The average interest rate on existing credit cards reached 14.7% in the second quarter, the highest level since 2001, up from 13.1% a year earlier.
- [How to Manage 'Requested Copy Illegible or Invalid' Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-requested-copy-illegible-or-invalid-chargebacks/) - Visa uses Reason Code 60 to designate chargebacks resulting when a copy of a sales receipt, requested by the card issuer, is illegible or incomplete.
- [Alabama Leads the Nation in Credit Card Debt Repayment](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/alabama-leads-the-nation-in-credit-card-debt-repayment/) - The average credit card debt in Alabama was down in the second quarter by 22.4% from the same period last year, to an average of $4,753 per person.
- [Requirements for Acceptance of Recurring and Installment Discover Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/requirements-for-acceptance-of-recurring-and-installment-discover-transactions/) - A recurring or installment payment plan exists when a series of charges, either of a fixed or variable amount, are paid over a period of time.
- [Verizon Backs a Loyalty Card Startup](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/verizon-backs-a-loyalty-card-startup/) - Verizon is investing $400K in CardStar, a developer of mobile apps, which allow users to consolidate their loyalty and membership cards in one place.
- [Settlement of Discover Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/settlement-of-discover-card-transactions/) - The settlement of a Discover transaction is the process of reimbursing a merchant for the amount of each card sale that the merchant has submitted.
- [Credit Card Companies Struggling to Turn the Corner](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-companies-struggling-to-turn-the-corner/) - Record-high default and delinquency rates may have subsided, but consumers are now much more conservative in their spending and debt management.
- [American Express Liked Best by Credit Card Users](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-liked-best-by-credit-card-users/) - American Express is the highest-ranked credit card company in J.D. Power and Associates' Credit Card Customer Satisfaction Study for a fourth year in a row.
- [Intuit Teams up with Mophie to Offer Credit Card Processing for iPhone](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/intuit-teams-up-with-mophie-to-offer-credit-card-processing-for-iphone/) - Intuit has teamed up with mophie to launch the Complete Credit Card Solution, a service that enables iPhone users to accept credit card payments.
- [Consumer vs. Small Business Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-vs-small-business-credit-cards/) - Small business credit cards are not covered by the protections of the recently passed CARD Act, which are only applicable to consumer cards.
- [U.K. Credit Card Companies Suffer Record Losses in 2010 Q2](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-k-credit-card-companies-suffer-record-losses-in-2010-q2/) - For US issuers, both credit card charge-offs and delinquencies have been falling steadily this year, while in the UK the direction is reversed.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Drop to 16-Month Low in July](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-drop-to-16-month-low-in-july/) - Defaults on U.S. credit cards dropped to a 16-month low in July, with late payments on cards falling for all major credit card companies.
- [JPMorgan Chase Weighing Possible Discover Acquisition](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/jpmorgan-chase-weighing-possible-discover-acquisition/) - JPMorgan Chase, the biggest issuer of Visa credit cards, is still considering the possibility of purchasing Discover Financial Services.
- [Business Credit Cards Can Get Tougher to Obtain](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/business-credit-cards-can-get-tougher-to-obtain/) - Placing additional hurdles in the application process will make it harder for entrepreneurs to open business credit cards at a time access to credit is limited.
- [Problem Solved: Under-21s Get Older Students to Co-Sign their Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/problem-solved-under-21s-get-older-students-to-co-sign-their-credit-cards/) - College students under 21 have found a way around a provision of the CARD Act, which makes it much harder for them to open credit card accounts.
- [Managing Discover Ticket Retrievals](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/managing-discover-ticket-retrievals/) - Ticket retrievals are initiated by cardholders who contact Discover to dispute or requests clarification on a particular charge on their accounts.
- [Credit Availability Still Way Short of Consumer Demand](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-availability-still-way-short-of-consumer-demand/) - Access to credit is still very difficult for most Americans and lenders are likely to keep it short of demand through the end of 2010.
- [Credit Card Use in U.S. Falls to Record Low](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-use-in-u-s-falls-to-record-low/) - Americans are turning away from their credit cards in ever increasing numbers, replacing them with cash, checks, debit, prepaid and gift cards.
- [Issuers Brace for Lower Profits from New Rules on Debit Card Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/issuers-brace-for-lower-profits-from-new-rules-on-debit-card-fees/) - As the Federal Reserve is mulling the new rules on debit card fees, which it was tasked to create, issuers are bracing for lower profits.
- [Credit Card Factoring](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-factoring/) - In the Payment Card Industry, factoring occurs when a merchant deposits card transactions with its processing bank on behalf of another merchant.
- [Discover Chargeback Reason Codes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/discover-chargeback-reason-codes/) - If a merchant does not resolve a cardholder complaint about a billing error or the quality of products or services, Discover may issue a chargeback.
- [Visa's Account Data Recovery Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visas-account-data-recovery-process/) - The Account Data Compromise Recovery (ADCR) process enables issuers to recover card account data that have been linked to counterfeit fraud.
- [6 Reasons Why Visa Can Terminate Your Merchant Agreement](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/6-reasons-why-visa-can-terminate-your-merchant-agreement/) - Visa can permanently ban a merchant or one of its principals, from accepting Visa or Visa Electron card payments for a number of reasons.
- [U.S. Credit Card Balances, Late Payments Continue to Fall](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-balances-late-payments-continue-to-fall/) - Americans have reduced their revolving credit lines, comprised mostly of credit card balances, by 6.3% in July from June, a decrease of $4.4 billion.
- [Resolving American Express Cardholder Disputes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/resolving-american-express-cardholder-disputes/) - If an American Express cardholder disputes a transaction, the merchant is asked to either issue a credit or prove that the charge is legitimate.
- [American Express Chargeback Categories](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-chargeback-categories/) - Chargeback is a reversal of a credit card sales transaction, resulting in a debit to a merchant account, after the sale has been settled.
- [Discover's Shopping Spree: Mortgage, Check Processing Deals May Follow Citi's Student Loan Portfolio Purchase](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/discovers-shopping-spree-mortgage-check-processing-deals-may-follow-citis-student-loan-portfolio-purchase/) - Discover Financial Services is entering an expansionary mode and the bank is looking beyond its traditional credit card range of expertise.
- [American Express Chargeback Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-chargeback-process/) - When a cardholder disputes a transaction, American Express sends an inquiry to the merchant, requesting specific information in support of the charge.
- [Credit Card 2.0 Hides Sensitive Data, Links Multiple Accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-2-0-hides-sensitive-data-links-multiple-accounts/) - Card 2.0 hides six digits of a credit card number until it is activated with a PIN. The MultiAccount version links two separate accounts on one card.
- [Visa Joins MasterCard in NY MTA's Contactless Card Payment Test](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-joins-mastercard-in-ny-mtas-contactless-card-payment-test/) - Visa is joining MasterCard in testing a pilot program that allows NY commuters to pay fares by waving their phones by a specially equipped turnstile.
- [Facebook's Virtual Currency is Making Real Dollars](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/facebooks-virtual-currency-is-making-real-dollars/) - Facebook Credits, the social network's virtual currency, will be the top payment choice for buying virtual goods sold on Facebook by the year's end.
- [Chase Moves Upmarket Into American Express Territory](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chase-moves-upmarket-into-american-express-territory/) - Looking for ways to expand its market share, JPMorgan Chase goes after more affluent customers, moving into American Express territory in the process.
- [American Express Chargeback Policy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-chargeback-policy/) - American Express uses various operating policies and business practices to resolve customer disputes and to identify non-compliance chargebacks.
- [Data Show Decrease in Credit Card Debt is Mostly Due to Bank Charge-Offs](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/data-show-decrease-in-credit-card-debt-is-mostly-due-to-bank-charge-offs/) - Issuers have been charging off about $20B per quarter from early 2009 through early 2010, about equal to the drop in outstanding credit card balances.
- [MobilePay Lets you Use Your Phone as a Credit Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobilepay-lets-you-use-your-phone-as-a-credit-card/) - MobilePay has joined a thick crowd of start-ups developing services to enable consumers to use their smart phones as credit cards.
- [American Express Customer Service Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-customer-service-chargebacks/) - In customer service chargebacks, the timeliness and quality of a merchant's response to an American Express inquiry determines a dispute's resolution.
- [Transformation of Cell Phones into Credit Cards to Begin in 2011](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/transformation-of-cell-phones-into-credit-cards-to-begin-in-2011/) - Credit cards will transform cell phones into payment tools and in 2011 many of us will add another form of electronic payments to our arsenal.
- [Credit Card Companies Beef Up Their E-Commerce Presence](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-companies-beef-up-their-e-commerce-presence/) - Changes are being forced on the credit card behemoths and they are reluctantly beginning to expand their offerings and beef up existing ones.
- [American Express Non-Compliance Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-non-compliance-chargebacks/) - A non-compliance chargeback is issued if a charge does not meet the terms of the merchant agreement and the cardholder claims it is fraudulent.
- [Visa and MasterCard to Settle an Antitrust Probe](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-and-mastercard-to-settle-an-antitrust-probe/) - Visa and MasterCard are close to settling an antitrust probe over restrictions the two card associations impose on merchants accepting their cards.
- [American Express Refuses to Settle, DoJ Files an Antitrust Suit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-refuses-to-settle-doj-files-an-antitrust-suit/) - American Express to fight in court government antitrust charges stemming from its policies prohibiting merchants to steer customers to other cards.
- [Prepaid Card Market Explodes, to Reach $118.5B by 2012](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-card-market-explodes-to-reach-118-5b-by-2012/) - Prepaid card use has been growing very rapidly, reaching $18.3 billion in 2009 and is projected to jump to $118.5 billion by 2012.
- [American Express Merchant Restrictions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-merchant-restrictions/) - American Express bans merchants accepting its cards from offering customers discounts for using rival credit cards, a practice disputed by DoJ.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Hit a 23-Month Low](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-hit-a-23-month-low/) - August marked the 23rd consecutive month in which the rate of credit card payments late by 60 days or more decreased; charge-offs rose slightly.
- [15 Steps to Minimizing American Express Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/15-steps-to-minimizing-american-express-fraud/) - Credit card fraud cannot be completely eliminated, but employing adequate card acceptance procedures will help you minimize unauthorized transactions.
- [American Express Card Acceptance Guidelines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-card-acceptance-guidelines/) - When processing American Express credit card transactions, merchants must comply with specific requirements outlined in their merchant agreements.
- [Paying down Credit Card Debt still Tops Americans' Financial Priority List](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paying-down-credit-card-debt-still-tops-americans-financial-priority-list/) - Americans kept paying down their credit card debt in July, even as they continued to take out more student and auto loans, the latest Fed data tell us.
- [Consumer Credit Card Use Falls for 24th Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-credit-card-use-falls-for-24th-consecutive-month/) - Consumers have cut back on their outstanding revolving credit lines, mostly credit card balances, for the 24th month in a row, according to the Fed.
- [Credit Card Skimming Affects One in Five ATM Users](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-skimming-affects-one-in-five-atm-users/) - Skimming is the copying of a bank card information, which is then re-encoded on a counterfeit card and used for processing fraudulent transactions.
- [PayPal Competitors Offer Simpler Payment Alternatives](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-competitors-offer-simpler-payment-alternatives/) - PayPal competitors transfer money directly from the sender's bank account to the recipient's account, without holding on to the funds.
- [Federal Reserve Sued Over Debit Card Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/federal-reserve-sued-over-debit-card-fees/) - TCF Financial, one of the largest issuers of debit cards in the nation, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve over debit card fees.
- [MasterCard Card Acceptance Requirements](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-card-acceptance-requirements/) - MasterCard requires merchants accepting their cards to comply with specific rules, which were recently challenged by the Department of Justice.
- [Citi to Test Chip-Embedded '2G Cards'](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/citi-to-test-chip-embedded-2g-cards/) - Citi will test-pilot a '2G credit card' in November, which will allow cardholders to redeem points or cash rewards as they swipe the card.
- [American Express Card-not-Present Acceptance Guidelines](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-card-not-present-acceptance-guidelines/) - American Express requires merchants accepting card-not-present transactions to create a record of each transaction that has to include specific data.
- [Another Start-up Takes Aim at PayPal](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/another-start-up-takes-aim-at-paypal/) - WePay's co-founders believe they have identified a substantial niche that has been largely neglected by PayPal and have raised $9M to serve it.
- [iPhone 5 to Act as a Debit Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/iphone-5-to-act-as-a-debit-card/) - iPhone 5 may incorporate near field communication technology to enable users to make payments using debit card information pre-stored on the phone.
- [Mag-Stripe Credit Cards vs. Smart Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mag-stripe-credit-cards-vs-smart-cards/) - Smart credit cards, called so because they contain a chip, offer a safer alternative to the old-fashioned magnetic stripe-bearing cards.
- [Federal Reserve to Expand Credit Card Protections](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/federal-reserve-to-expand-credit-card-protections/) - The Fed proposed a rule that would further restrict the ability of credit card issuers to raise interest rates and place new limits on certain fees.
- [In the Long Run All High-Risk Merchant Accounts Are...](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/in-the-long-run-all-high-risk-merchant-accounts-are/) - In the long run, all high-risk merchant accounts are terminated, but it is in everyone's interest that the relationship is made to last for as long as possible.
- [Mobile Payment Company Hopes to Make Text Donations Mainstream](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payment-company-hopes-to-make-text-donations-mainstream/) - A mobile payment company is taking the text donation process into the mainstream, allowing any charity registered in the U.S. to participate.
- [American Express Cozies Up to Merchants, Tries to Prevent a Revolt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-cozies-up-to-merchants-tries-to-prevent-a-revolt/) - American Express is reaching out to merchants in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the 1991 "Boston Fee Party," when it was forced to reduce fees.
- [Processing Recurring Payments on American Express Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/processing-recurring-payments-on-american-express-cards/) - Recurring payment plans are agreements for the purchase of goods that are provided over time, with transactions processed at predetermined intervals.
- [Mobile Credit Card Payment Service Square Goes Live](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-credit-card-payment-service-square-goes-live/) - Square enables users to plug a small square (hence the name) credit card reader into their smart phone and accept credit cards for payment.
- [Millennial Generation Most Open to New Payment Methods](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/millennial-generation-most-open-to-new-payment-methods/) - 12 percent of Millennial Generation consumers (ages 18 to 34) own contactless payment devices, a higher proportion than any other group.
- [PayPal Launches a Mobile Payment System](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-launches-a-mobile-payment-system/) - PayPal unveiled a mobile payment system, called Mobile Express Checkout and, in partnership with VeriFone, an iPhone credit card acceptance service.
- [Bank of America Pays $62M to Market Credit Cards to Students](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/bank-of-america-pays-62m-to-market-credit-cards-to-students/) - Bank of America's FIA Card Services paid a total of $61,968,307 in 2009 to various college-related organizations to recruit students for credit cards.
- [Authorization Guidelines for American Express Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authorization-guidelines-for-american-express-cards/) - American Express requires that merchants accepting its cards obtain an authorization approval for all transactions before processing them.
- [Special American Express Programs for Lodging Merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/special-american-express-programs-for-lodging-merchants/) - American Express, like rivals Visa and MasterCard, has established special rules for lodging merchants accepting American Express cards for payment.
- [Starbucks Widens Mobile Payments Test](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/starbucks-widens-mobile-payments-test/) - Starbucks has expanded its mobile payments pilot to include more than 300 stand-alone stores in New York City and parts of Long Island.
- [Twitter to Merge with Square?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/twitter-to-merge-with-square/) - Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and Square, has spoken in Ireland about the possibility of merging some functionalities of his two creations.
- [Apple and Google on Verge of a Bidding War over Mobile Payments Start-up BOKU](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/apple-and-google-on-verge-of-a-bidding-war-over-mobile-payments-start-up-boku/) - Apple and Google are interested in acquiring mobile payments start-up BOKU, which facilitates online sales charged on cell phone users' monthly bills.
- [Facebook to Integrate with PayPal's New Micropayments Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/facebook-to-integrate-with-paypals-new-micropayments-service/) - Facebook will integrate PayPal's new micropayments service for sales in the range $0.10 - $12 to enable users to pay for small-ticket purchases.
- [U.K. Mobile Payments Soar, Average User Makes 5 per Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-k-mobile-payments-soar-average-user-makes-5-per-month/) - PayPal expects to exceed $700M in mobile payments in 2010, 30 times the global volume of 2008. British customers made 5 m-payments a month on average.
- [American Express' No Signature Program](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-no-signature-program/) - American Express' No Signature program allows certain merchants to process card payments without requiring cardholders to sign the sales receipt.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Fall to 18-Month Low](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-fall-to-18-month-low/) - Credit card defaults, as well as early- and late-stage delinquencies have all dropped in September, while the monthly payment rate remained high.
- [Consumer Credit Card Use Falls for 25th Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-credit-card-use-falls-for-25th-consecutive-month/) - Americans reduced their credit card balances for the 25th month in a row in September, for a total decrease of $159.7 billion since August 2008.
- [Start-up Unveils 'Single-Click Checkout' Mobile App](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/start-up-unveils-single-click-checkout-mobile-app/) - The Single-Click Checkout app will enable users to complete credit card purchases from their mobile phones from any web- or mobile-based merchant.
- [Mobile P2P Payments to Total $7B in 2010](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-p2p-payments-to-total-7b-in-2010/) - Mobile person-to-person (P2P) transfers in the U.S. will total $7 billion this year and consumers aged 18 - 34 will be the most active users.
- [Half of U.S. Banks Offer Mobile Banking Services](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/half-of-u-s-banks-offer-mobile-banking-services/) - Fifty-four of the one hundred biggest U.S. banks offer some type of mobile banking services, through mobile websites applications or SMS.
- [Mobile Bill Payments to Grow by 377 Percent between 2010 and 2013](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-bill-payments-to-grow-by-377-percent-between-2010-and-2013/) - The number of bills Americans pay through their mobile phones will grow by 377% between 2010 and 2013, while bills paid online will grow by only 18%.
- [410M Chinese to be Making Mobile Payments by 2013](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/410m-chinese-to-be-making-mobile-payments-by-2013/) - The Chinese mobile payments market is expected to be growing by 48 percent per year until it reaches 410 million by 2013.
- [AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile Set to Begin Testing Mobile Payments Venture](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/att-verizon-and-t-mobile-set-to-begin-testing-mobile-payments-venture/) - AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have formed Isis, a joint venture that will create a national mobile commerce network using Discover's payment network.
- [Google's Latest Android OS to Support Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/googles-latest-android-os-to-support-mobile-payments/) - Google is entering the increasingly crowded mobile payments space with Gingerbread, the latest version of the search giant's Android operating system.
- [U.S. Mobile Payments to Grow to $214B by 2015](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-mobile-payments-to-grow-to-214b-by-2015/) - The volume of U.S. mobile payments will balloon to reach $214 billion in 2015, up from just $16 billion this year, according to a new study.
- [American Express Transaction Cycle](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-transaction-cycle/) - American Express, unlike Visa and MasterCard, is a bank acting both as an issuer and acquirer for its cards, which simplifies the transaction cycle.
- [Facebook Tests 'Pay Later' Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/facebook-tests-pay-later-payments/) - Facebook is testing "Pay Later," a payment option that enables making purchases through Facebook Credits, which can later be repaid by credit card.
- [PayNearMe to Enable Unbanked Consumers to Make Mobile Cash Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paynearme-to-enable-unbanked-consumers-to-make-mobile-cash-payments/) - PayNearMe has launched a new mobile payments service targeted at the "unbanked" - consumers with no access to credit cards and no bank accounts.
- [Africa Still Has the Edge in Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/africa-still-has-the-edge-in-mobile-payments/) - Over 50% of Kenyans use a mobile money transfer service to send money to relatives, to pay for shopping, utility bills, or for a taxi ride home.
- [Credit Card Companies Buy Up Tech Start-ups, Vow not to Miss M-Payment Wave](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-companies-buy-up-tech-start-ups-vow-not-to-miss-m-payment-wave/) - M-payments are quickly gaining acceptance and credit card companies are this time ready to get in on the action, investing heavily in tech start-ups.
- [Chargeback Resources](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chargeback-resources/) - Chargebacks are by far the number one reason merchants get in trouble with their processors. Use these resources to learn how to minimize them.
- [PayPal's Black Friday Mobile Shopping Up 310 Percent](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypals-black-friday-mobile-shopping-up-310-percent/) - PayPal reported that mobile payments, processed through its platform on Black Friday, jumped by 310 percent, compared to last year.
- [New Start-up Cuts Carriers Out of Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/new-start-up-cuts-carriers-out-of-mobile-payments/) - KreditFly's new mobile payments service relies on consumers' willingness to repay the initial credit extended by the start-up.
- [Start-up Enables E-Cash Mobile Payments on Twitter and Facebook](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/start-up-enables-e-cash-mobile-payments-on-twitter-and-facebook/) - Dwolla users can make person-to-person payments with a text message; the service will soon be enabled on Facebook and Twitter, according to the CEO.
- [Samsung Builds NFC Chips to Enable Mobile Payments in Android Phones](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/samsung-builds-nfc-chips-to-enable-mobile-payments-in-android-phones/) - Samsung builds a NFC chip with embedded flash memory to enable "public transportation payments for bus and subway fares and mobile banking payments."
- [MasterCard Requirements for Transaction Information Documents](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-requirements-for-transaction-information-documents/) - MasterCard has established specific requirements regulating the type of information that can be included in transaction information documents.
- [Mobile Payment Innovations at Odds with Industry Regulations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payment-innovations-at-odds-with-industry-regulations/) - Mobile apps run against existing payment security standards and the PCI Council - the industry security compliance enforcer - is not validating any of them.
- [Faced with Lower Debit Card Revenues, Big Banks to Start Issuing Prepaid Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/faced-with-lower-debit-card-revenues-big-banks-to-start-issuing-prepaid-cards/) - The big U.S. banks are about to enter the prepaid card market, which is expected to reach $118.5B in revenue in 2012, up from $1.8B in 2006.
- [Google Rolls Out New Android, Mobile Payments May not be Supported](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-rolls-out-new-android-mobile-payments-may-not-be-supported/) - Google's latest mobile operating system, called Android 2.3 or "Gingerbread," supports near field communication (NFC) but not mobile payments.
- [UniBul's Merchant Account Solution for Payday Lenders](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/unibuls-merchant-account-solution-for-payday-lenders/) - Payday lenders have been having an extremely difficult time lately, but UniBul has a reliable solution to help you start processing check payments once again.
- [PayPal Is Showing Us the Right Way to Do Mobile Wallets](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-is-showing-us-the-right-way-to-do-mobile-wallets/) - PayPal has taken the lead in the ever more crowded mobile wallet field -- that is, if the processor had ever lost its lead to a competitor in the first place.
- [Wells Fargo to Test Visa's SD Card-Based Mobile Payments Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/wells-fargo-to-test-visas-sd-card-based-mobile-payments-service/) - Wells Fargo is testing Visa's latest NFC mobile payments service, based on the In2Pay microSD card; big banks neglect bigger m-payment opportunities.
- [Half of American Smartphone Owners Use Their Phones for Mobile Shopping](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/half-of-american-smartphone-owners-use-their-phones-for-mobile-shopping/) - Nearly half of smartphone owners are either using or planning to use their devices for mobile shopping and 53 percent use them for mobile banking.
- [Credit Card Data Protection Requirements](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-data-protection-requirements/) - Credit card data protection security standards are mandatory for all processors and merchants that store, process or transmit cardholder data.
- [Google's Android Gingerbread OS Does Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/googles-android-gingerbread-os-does-mobile-payments/) - Google Nexus S, the successor to the Nexus One, sporting Android Gingerbread mobile operating system, can be used for making mobile payments.
- [Consumer Credit Card Use Falls for 26th Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-credit-card-use-falls-for-26th-consecutive-month/) - Americans cut back on their credit card spending in October by $5.6 billion from September, a decrease of 8.4 percent at an annualized rate.
- [Jack Dorsey Rails Against Credit Card Industry's Misleading Pricing, His Square Does the Same](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/jack-dorsey-rails-against-credit-card-industrys-misleading-pricing-his-square-does-the-same/) - Just as the rest of the credit card industry, Dorsey's Square uses a two-tiered pricing model; just as his rivals, he tries to keep it hidden.
- [Google Acquires a Pre-Revenue Stage Mobile Payments Start-up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-acquires-a-pre-revenue-stage-mobile-payments-start-up/) - Google has acquired Zetawire, a small start-up whose patented technology can be used by the search giant to develop NFC-based mobile payments.
- [50 Percent of Finns Use SMS for Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/50-percent-of-finns-use-sms-for-mobile-payments/) - Half of the Finns are making mobile payments through a service called iSMS, bills as the next version of SMS by BookIT Oy, its creator.
- [Authorization of MasterCard Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/authorization-of-mastercard-transactions/) - MasterCard transaction authorization responses typically take the form of a code that specifies the action the merchant should take.
- [PayPal's Holiday Mobile Payments Spike by 300 Percent](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypals-holiday-mobile-payments-spike-by-300-percent/) - This holiday shopping season, PayPal's mobile payments volume has increased by 300 percent, compared to the same period a year ago.
- [Mobile Payments Volume Set to Quadruple by 2014](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-volume-set-to-quadruple-by-2014/) - M-payments will become mainstream in 2011 and quadruple in volume by 2014, reaching $622B, profoundly alter the way businesses interact with customers.
- [220.1M NFC-Enabled Phones Supporting Mobile Payments to Be Shipped in 2014, Up 418% from 2010](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/220-1m-nfc-enabled-phones-supporting-mobile-payments-to-be-shipped-in-2014-up-418-from-2010/) - The sales of phones with built-in near field communication (NFC) capability is set to explode from around 52.6M units sold in 2010 to 220.1M in 2014.
- [Federal Reserve to Reduce Debit Card Fees to $0.12 per Transaction](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/federal-reserve-to-reduce-debit-card-fees-to-0-12-per-transaction/) - The Federal Reserve has proposed a $0.12 cap on debit card transaction interchange fees, about 70% lower than the current average fee of $0.44.
- [Mobile Commerce Breaks Out in 2010, M-Site Number Now Exceeds 3M](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-commerce-breaks-out-in-2010-m-site-number-now-exceeds-3m/) - Mobile websites grew 2,000 percent, to 3.01 million in 2010, while m-commerce sales increased to $3.4 billion in 2010 from $1.4 billion in 2009.
- [MasterCard Interchange Fees and Merchant Category Codes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-interchange-fees-and-merchant-category-codes/) - MasterCard sets its interchange fees based on a series of requirements, all of which need to be satisfied for a transaction to qualify for that rate.
- [iPhone 4 Gets a NFC Tag in Japan, to be Used for Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/iphone-4-gets-a-nfc-tag-in-japan-to-be-used-for-mobile-payments/) - Japanese carrier Softbank has developed a NFC sticker for the iPhone 4 that allows users to make payments by waving it by a NFC-equipped reader.
- [MasterCard Chargeback Basics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-chargeback-basics/) - A chargeback is generated when a cardholder disputes a transaction or the issuer determines that for a specific reason the transaction is not valid.
- [MasterCard Message Reason Codes and Chargeback Categories](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mastercard-message-reason-codes-and-chargeback-categories/) - MasterCard assigns a message reason code to each chargeback initiated by a card issuer, specifying the reason why the transaction is charged back.
- [Cash-Back Rewards Cause Americans to Get Deeper into Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/cash-back-rewards-cause-americans-to-get-deeper-into-credit-card-debt/) - 1% in cash-back rewards result in $25 in monthly rewards, however it also increases spending and debt by $68 and $115 a month, respectively.
- [How to Identify E-Commerce Fraud in 2011: 10 Suspicious Transaction Characteristics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-identify-e-commerce-fraud-in-2011-10-suspicious-transaction-characteristics/) - Most fraudulent e-commerce transactions display at least one of these suspicious characteristics and more often two or more of them.
- [13 Steps to Preventing E-Commerce Fraud in 2011](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/13-steps-to-preventing-e-commerce-fraud-in-2011/) - Fraud-related losses are a constant problem for e-commerce merchants. Implementing these 13 suggestions will help you keep them under control.
- [How to Identify Fraud in 2011: 10 Suspicious Card-Present Transaction Characteristics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-identify-fraud-in-2011-10-suspicious-card-present-transaction-characteristics/) - Card-present fraud is often betrayed by specific signs of suspicious behavior. You should be able to quickly identify them and respond adequately.
- [Jack Dorsey's Square Mobile Payments Start-up Now Worth $200M](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/jack-dorseys-square-mobile-payments-start-up-now-worth-200m/) - Twitter co-founder's latest venture -- the mobile payments company Square -- is raising a large round of funding that values the start-up at $200M.
- [Google to Launch a Mobile Payment and Advertising System](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-to-launch-a-mobile-payment-and-advertising-system/) - Google is working on a mobile payments system that would allow users to pay for their purchases by waving their phones by the checkout register.
- [Mobile Payment Volume to Exceed $1 Trillion in 2014](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payment-volume-to-exceed-1-trillion-in-2014/) - Mobile payment users will number 1.06 billion globally in 2014, when the gross volume of m-payment transactions will reach $1.13 trillion.
- [2 Simple Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/2-simple-ways-to-prevent-credit-card-fraud/) - When suspecting credit card fraud, merchants should make a Code 10 call to their authorization center; no unsigned card should ever be accepted.
- [Consumer Credit Card Debt Falls for 27th Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-credit-card-debt-falls-for-27th-consecutive-month/) - US consumers have reduced their credit card balances by $4.2B in November from October, a decrease of 6.3% and the 27th consecutive month of decline.
- [eBay Revenues from Mobile Sales Triple to $2B in 2010](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/ebay-revenues-from-mobile-sales-triple-to-2b-in-2010/) - eBay's mobile sales have tripled to $2B globally, up from $600M in 2009 and its mobile apps have been downloaded more than 30 million times.
- [Square Raises $27.5M in VC Funding, Adds 50,000 New Accounts per Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/square-raises-27-5m-in-vc-funding-adds-50000-new-accounts-per-month/) - Square adds up to 50K new accounts a day, raises $27.5M from a pool of VCs and strategic investors, which values the start-up at around $240M.
- [4 Steps to Screening Merchant Account Applicants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/4-steps-to-screening-merchant-account-applicants/) - Prior to signing a new merchant agreement or renewing an existing one, processors are required to verify that the applicant is a bona fide business.
- [Limit on Debit Card Fees to Hurt $40B-a-Year Revenue Stream for Issuers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/limit-on-debit-card-fees-to-hurt-40b-a-year-revenue-stream-for-issuers/) - Card issuers now collect more than $40B a year from interchange fees, which will change when debit card fees are limited at $0.12 per transaction.
- [Third of U.S. E-Commerce Shoppers Also Shop from Cell Phones](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/third-of-u-s-e-commerce-shoppers-also-shop-from-cell-phones/) - 33% of visitors to e-commerce websites also shopped from their phones in2010; 11% have actually completed a mobile purchase, 56% compared prices.
- [6 Steps to Processing Card-Present Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/6-steps-to-processing-card-present-transactions/) - Following 6 simple rules for processing card-present transactions will help you eliminate, or at the very least significantly minimize, fraud.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Fall to 20-Month Low](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-fall-to-20-month-low/) - Americans continued paying their credit card bills on time in December, with credit card defaults reaching their lowest level in 20 months.
- [Pay Your Starbucks Latte with Your Phone](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pay-your-starbucks-latte-with-your-phone/) - The Starbucks Card Mobile App is now available at 6,800 stores nationwide enabling customers to buy a latte by waving their phone by the POS terminal.
- [Fraud Prevention Resources](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fraud-prevention-resources/) - The resources on this page will help you understand credit card processing risk and will teach you how to build an effective fraud prevention system.
- [Why Owners of AmEx's Black Card Love Hyundai](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-owners-of-amexs-black-card-love-hyundai/) - The super rich owners of American Express' premium Black card are buying Hyundais to test the reliability of AmEx's system, before moving on to buy a Bentley.
- [How the Viagra Spam Industry Works](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-the-viagra-spam-industry-works/) - The Viagra spam emails we are bombarded with are only the tip of a vast and hugely complicated illegal structure, which has proved impossible to bring down.
- [Banks Stand to Lose $12B from Debit Card Fee Reduction](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-stand-to-lose-12b-from-debit-card-fee-reduction/) - The Fed has ruled to slash debit card interchange fees to $0.12 per transaction, which would cost banks $12B, but is now facing mounting opposition.
- [7 Steps to Preventing Card-Present Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/7-steps-to-preventing-card-present-fraud/) - Card-present payment acceptance allows merchants to examine the card for signs of altering and to match the card's signature to the one on the receipt.
- [13 Must-Have E-Commerce Website Features](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/13-must-have-e-commerce-website-features/) - These 13 e-commerce website features will show to your potential customers that your business can be trusted and that issues are addressed quickly.
- [iPhone 5 and iPad 2 to Support Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/iphone-5-and-ipad-2-to-support-mobile-payments/) - Apple's iPhone 5 and iPad 2 will support mobile payments, enabling users to make payments simply by waving the device by a retailer's cash register.
- [Americans Carry $800B in Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-carry-800b-in-credit-card-debt/) - While US consumer debt has fallen by 8.2% from its peak in Oct. 2008, 54M households with credit cards still owe $800B to credit card companies alone.
- [Credit Card Processing Resources](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-processing-resources/) - Credit card processing resources to help you accept card payments securely to minimize customer disputes, fraudulent transactions and chargebacks.
- [British Smart Phone Owners Get Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/british-smart-phone-owners-get-mobile-payments/) - A new mobile payments service will let British smart phone owners make payments by simply waving their handsets by a retailer's cash register.
- [BOKU and BilltoMobile to Offer Direct Billing Mobile Payments on Verizon's Network](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/boku-and-billtomobile-to-offer-direct-billing-mobile-payments-on-verizons-network/) - BOKU users get access to BilltoMobile's Direct Mobile Billing service to enable Verizon customers to make mobile payments.
- [U.S. Consumers Get More than 90% of All Worldwide Credit Card Offers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-consumers-get-more-than-90-of-all-worldwide-credit-card-offers/) - Globally, credit card solicitations in 2010 rose to 2.73B from 1.39B in 2009. In the US, the numbers for Q2 2010 were 640.3M and 349.1M, respectively.
- [Visa Brings Mobile Payments to iPhones in Europe](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-brings-mobile-payments-to-iphones-in-europe/) - Visa and Wireless Dynamics enable European iPhone users to make purchases by simply touching their phone to any contactless-enabled POS terminal.
- [French Mobile Carriers Form a Mobile Payments Joint Venture](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/french-mobile-carriers-form-a-mobile-payments-joint-venture/) - Three French mobile operators and a large payment processing company have joined forces to create Buyster - a mobile payments platform.
- [7 Steps to Preventing Card-not-Present Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/7-steps-to-preventing-card-not-present-fraud/) - A combination of best practices and fraud prevention tools can provide card-not-present merchants with strong fraud prevention capabilities.
- [U.S. Credit Card Spending Jumps, Visa and MasterCard Profits Follow](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-spending-jumps-visa-and-mastercard-profits-follow/) - Consumers spent $752B on MasterCard and $897B on Visa credit and debit cards globally in the previous quarter, up 11% and 15%, respectively.
- [Start-up Gives ATM, Credit Cards to the Unbanked](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/start-up-gives-atm-credit-cards-to-the-unbanked/) - Plastyc's iBankUP is an online bank account linked to a prepaid card. Its biggest selling point: it doesn't check the applicant's credit history.
- [Mobile Payments Start-up Wants to Compete with Square, GoPayment](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-start-up-wants-to-compete-with-square-gopayment/) - Sage Mobile Payments, similarly to Square and GoPayment, enables users to accept credit card payments through their smart phones, hides pricing.
- [Consumer Credit Card Debt Up 3.5% after 27 Consecutive Months of Decline](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/consumer-credit-card-debt-up-3-5-after-27-consecutive-months-of-decline/) - U.S. consumer credit card debt grew in December by 3.5%, or $2.3 billion, to a total of $800.5 billion, after 27 consecutive months of decline.
- [New Financial Regulations to Cost Credit Card Companies $25B per Year](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/new-financial-regulations-to-cost-credit-card-companies-25b-per-year/) - The effects of the changing regulatory landscape will cost credit card companies 29%, or $25B, of their total yearly retail transaction revenues.
- [14 Reasons Your Merchant Account Can Be Suspended](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/14-reasons-your-merchant-account-can-be-suspended/) - Processors compare each merchant's daily deposits to the average transaction count and amount for the merchant over a period of at least 90 days.
- [Low-Cost European Airlines Probed for 'Rip Off' Credit Card Charges](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/low-cost-european-airlines-probed-for-rip-off-credit-card-charges/) - A British consumer protection group is accusing European low-cost airlines of illegally charging web customers with excessive payment processing fees.
- [Understanding Flat Rate Merchant Account Pricing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/understanding-flat-rate-merchant-account-pricing/) - The flat rate merchant account pricing offers one processing rate for all types of MasterCard and Visa cards, with no mid- and non-qualified fees.
- [Virtual Terminal Credit Card Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/virtual-terminal-credit-card-processing-1/) - Virtual terminals enable merchants to manually process payments by key-entering transaction information into a payment form from within a browser.
- [Mobile Payments Hype in Barcelona](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-hype-in-barcelona/) - Technology companies talk up mobile payments at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona; roll out new services in Europe and the U.S.
- [U.S. E-Commerce Bounces Back, Online Spending Up 9% in 2010](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-e-commerce-bounces-back-online-spending-up-9-in-2010/) - US e-commerce spending rose to $227.6B in 2010, up by 9% from 2009. Consumers spent the most on Cyber Monday - $1.028M, up 19.4% from 2009.
- [Transaction Authorization Resources](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/transaction-authorization-resources/) - Authorization is the process through which a card issuer approves or declines a transaction. Learn when to request one and how to manage the response.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Lowest in 23 Months](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-lowest-in-23-months/) - Americans continued paying their credit card bills on time in January, with credit card charge-offs reaching their lowest level in 23 months.
- [Why Are Chargebacks an Issue?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-are-chargebacks-an-issue/) - Processors keep a close eye on chargebacks, because they get penalized by Visa And MasterCard and hold liability for excessive chargeback levels.
- [9 Steps to Processing Card-not-Present Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/9-steps-to-processing-card-not-present-transactions/) - Following these 9 simple steps for processing card-not-present transactions will help merchants greatly minimize fraud and chargeback levels.
- [Mobile Payments Start-up Square Drops Per-Transaction Fee](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-start-up-square-drops-per-transaction-fee/) - Square has dropped the per-transaction fee from its discount rate in an attempt to put some distance between itself and its biggest competitors.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall by a Third](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-fall-by-a-third/) - The U.S. credit card delinquency rate in Q4 2010 fell to 0.82%, a level lower by close to 32% from the rate during the same period in 2009.
- [Merchant Account Resources](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-account-resources/) - Merchant account is the generic term used to describe the service used by businesses and non-profit organizations to accept cards for payment.
- [What Is the Best Way to Take Credit Cards on Your Website?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-is-the-best-way-to-take-credit-cards-on-your-website/) - Would you prefer a pricing plan that is simple or one that saves you money? If you chose the latter, you should go with an interchange-plus pricing structure.
- [Mobile Payments Volume to Total Nearly $1 Trillion by 2014](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-volume-to-total-nearly-1-trillion-by-2014/) - In 2014 the total global value of mobile payments transactions will reach $984 billion, up from $162 billion in 2010, an increase of more than 600%.
- [It Is Google vs. Telecoms in Mobile Payments Battle](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/it-is-google-vs-telecoms-in-mobile-payments-battle/) - Mobile carriers are fully intent on giving the tech giants a run for their money in the struggle for domination of the mobile payments industry.
- [2 Services to Help E-Commerce Merchants Authenticate Shoppers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/2-services-to-help-e-commerce-merchants-authenticate-shoppers/) - Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode use the 3-D Secure protocol to help e-commerce merchants authenticate the identity of shoppers.
- [How to Design an E-Commerce Privacy Policy Your Customers Will Trust](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-design-an-e-commerce-privacy-policy-your-customers-will-trust/) - Your e-commerce privacy policy should tell consumers what information is collected, with whom it is shared and how they can opt out of communications.
- [Americans Carry an Average of $4,284 in Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-carry-an-average-of-4284-in-credit-card-debt/) - The average American consumer carried $4,284 in outstanding credit card debt in December 2010, a drop of 4% from the same month in 2009.
- [What Everybody Needs to Know About E-Commerce Risk Management](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-everybody-needs-to-know-about-e-commerce-risk-management/) - If you develop a solid e-commerce risk management strategy and continuously work on improving it, you will minimize fraud and reduce chargebacks.
- [U.S. Consumer Credit Card Debt Down 6.4%](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-consumer-credit-card-debt-down-6-4/) - The overall volume of credit card debt in January decreased by 6.4%, or $4.2B, bringing the total down to $795.5B, the lowest level in six years.
- [U.K. Credit Card Fraud Falls to Lowest Level in a Decade](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-k-credit-card-fraud-falls-to-lowest-level-in-a-decade/) - Credit and debit card fraud in the U.K. fell by 17% in 2010 for a second year in a row to ?ú365.4M ($591.7M) - its lowest level in a decade.
- [Competitor Accuses Square of Enabling Criminals to Skim Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/competitor-accuses-square-of-enabling-criminals-to-skim-cards/) - VeriFone alleges that there is a "serious security flaw" in Square's credit card reader that compromises the security of cards swiped through it.
- [Why Every Merchant Should Pay Attention to Their Credit Card Receipts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-every-merchant-should-pay-attention-to-their-credit-card-receipts/) - Look at your credit policy; make sure it is accurately displayed on credit card receipts; obtain customer agreement, before completing a transaction.
- [Banks May Limit Debit Card Transaction Size to Fight Fee Limit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-may-limit-debit-card-transaction-size-to-fight-fee-limit/) - Banks are mulling limits on debit transactions in the latest phase of their battle with retailers and legislators over the size of interchange fees.
- [Apple's Next iPhone Will Not Support Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/apples-next-iphone-will-not-support-mobile-payments/) - Apple has decided to wait for at least another year, before it enables its products, and most notably its iPhone, to accept mobile payments.
- [Google to Test Mobile Payments in San Francisco, New York](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-to-test-mobile-payments-in-san-francisco-new-york/) - Google is about to start testing an ambitious plan for its NFC-based mobile payments service in thousands of stores in San Francisco and New York.
- [Visa Launches iPhone Mobile Payments Trial in Australia](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-launches-iphone-mobile-payments-trial-in-australia/) - Visa and partner ANZ Bank have launched an iPhone mobile payments trial based on NFC technology involving 50 employees in Sydney and Melbourne.
- [Visa to Enable Person-to-Person Credit Card Payments in the U.S.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-to-enable-person-to-person-credit-card-payments-in-the-u-s/) - Visa's new person-to-person (P2P) service will allow transfers and payments to be made to, from or between credit and debit card accounts.
- [What Every Merchant Needs to Know About Splitting Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-needs-to-know-about-splitting-credit-card-transactions/) - One of the most commonly used tricks for circumventing authorization limits is the splitting of credit card sales amounts; you should avoid doing it.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Lowest in 2 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-lowest-in-2-years/) - Americans continued paying down their credit card debt in February, with credit card charge-offs dropping to their lowest level in 2 years.
- [RIM Fights Telecoms over Mobile Payment Customer Ownership](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/rim-fights-telecoms-over-mobile-payment-customer-ownership/) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is locked in a battle with Canadian and U.S. mobile carriers over who should own mobile payments accounts.
- [Should You Be Using Interchange-Plus Pricing to Process Credit Card Payments?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-you-be-using-interchange-plus-pricing-to-process-credit-card-payments/) - With the interchange-plus credit card pricing model the processor charges exactly the same fee for every transaction, regardless of card type.
- [10 Must-Follow Procedures for Accepting Credit Cards in E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/10-must-follow-procedures-for-accepting-credit-cards-in-e-commerce-transactions/) - A list of 10 must-follow credit card acceptance procedures that each payment submitted on your website must go through, before being settled.
- [Aussies Take Up M-Commerce, Mobile Payments Total $155M in 2010](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/aussies-take-up-m-commerce-mobile-payments-total-155m-in-2010/) - Australians completed $155 million worth of mobile payments transactions in 2010; PayPal alone processed $42 million, a 14 fold increase from 2009.
- [Google's Nexus S Can Now Process Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/googles-nexus-s-can-now-process-mobile-payments/) - Google's Nexus S smart phone, offered by T-Mobile, will soon enable users to accept card payments through an application built by CHARGE Anywhere.
- [Banks Discontinue Debit Rewards Programs](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-discontinue-debit-rewards-programs/) - Several big banks, including Wells Fargo and Chase, have decided to discontinue debit rewards programs; others are still considering their options.
- [Americans Still Pay down Credit Cards before Mortgages](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-still-pay-down-credit-cards-before-mortgages/) - Consumers who were delinquent on their mortgages and current on their credit card payments in Q4 2010 was 7.24%, while the inverse ratio was 3.03%.
- [American Express Takes on PayPal with Serve](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-takes-on-paypal-with-serve/) - American Express has launched a service that is pretty much identical with PayPal, allowing users to send and receive money, make purchases, etc.
- [16 Tips for Avoiding E-Commerce Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/16-tips-for-avoiding-e-commerce-chargebacks/) - There is no single silver bullet that would solve your chargeback woes, but these are the most essential 16 tips for avoiding e-commerce chargebacks.
- [The Issue with Downgraded Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-issue-with-downgraded-credit-card-transactions/) - The issue with downgraded transactions is the lack of predictability, which prevents merchants from calculating their processing costs in advance.
- [How to Use the Credit Card Security Codes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-use-the-credit-card-security-codes/) - Card security codes are 3-digit numbers located on the back of Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards and 4-digit ones on the front of AmEx cards.
- [How to Set Up and Manage Billing Descriptors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-set-up-and-manage-billing-descriptors/) - The way your business name appears on a cardholder's monthly statement is managed by your payment processor through a tool called billing descriptor.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquency Rate Falls to Lowest Level in 10 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquency-rate-falls-to-lowest-level-in-10-years/) - Credit card delinquencies in the U.S. fell by 0.36% in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 3.28%, after rising slightly in the previous quarter.
- [AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Find Mobile Payments Test Ground in Utah](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/att-t-mobile-and-verizon-find-mobile-payments-test-ground-in-utah/) - Isis the mobile payments joint venture created by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, has chosen Salt Lake City as a test ground for its new platform.
- [U.S. Consumer Credit Card Debt Down 4.1%](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-consumer-credit-card-debt-down-4-1/) - The overall volume of credit card debt in February decreased by 4.1%, or $2.7B, bringing the total down to $794B, the lowest level in six years.
- [Sprint Poised to Exploit Mobile Payments Opening](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/sprint-poised-to-exploit-mobile-payments-opening/) - Sprint plans to start a mobile payments service later this year that will allow users to link a credit card of their choice to the m-payment account.
- [Mobile Payments Safer than Swiped Credit Card Transactions?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-safer-than-swiped-credit-card-transactions/) - Mobile payments, made with a wave of a phone by a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, will be more secure than swiped credit card transactions.
- [Wells Fargo to Test Chip and PIN Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/wells-fargo-to-test-chip-and-pin-credit-cards/) - Wells Fargo is piloting a chip and PIN type of card, which will be issued to 15,000 globe-trotting Wells Fargo consumer credit card customers.
- [JPMorgan Takes on Wells Fargo in Race for Chip and PIN Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/jpmorgan-takes-on-wells-fargo-in-race-for-chip-and-pin-credit-cards/) - JPMorgan Chase will be issuing chip and PIN cards, which can be used abroad, first to its highest-spending customers and later to the rest of us.
- [The Issue with Interchange Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-issue-with-interchange-fees/) - The biggest reason why we have so many different types of credit card processing pricing models is that there is a wide range of interchange fees.
- [AmEx Invests in Mobile Payments Start-up, Builds on Its Virtual Wallet](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/amex-invests-in-mobile-payments-start-up-builds-on-its-virtual-wallet/) - AmEx is investing in Payfone, a mobile payments start-up that will be integrated with Serve, the credit card company's own virtual wallet.
- [Google Steps Up NFC Push](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-steps-up-nfc-push/) - Google expands its NFC-based local search service to four new cities, goes after rapidly growing U.S. digital advertising market.
- [Mobile Payments Start-up Square Teams Up with Apple](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/mobile-payments-start-up-square-teams-up-with-apple/) - Apple is now offering mobile payments start-up Square's credit card acceptance service through its online store and will soon in its retail outlets.
- [4 Tips for Providing Great E-Commerce Customer Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/4-tips-for-providing-great-e-commerce-customer-service/) - Web-based businesses need to establish and monitor e-commerce customer service guidelines to ensure that customer concerns are addressed promptly.
- [What Everybody Needs to Know About Credit Card Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-everybody-needs-to-know-about-credit-card-processing/) - The processing of a credit card transaction is the end result of a series of interactions involving several parties and various services.
- [Why Is the Merchant Account Application Process So Complicated?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-is-the-merchant-account-application-process-so-complicated/) - The merchant account application process is designed to verify that the applicant is a legitimate business that can responsibly manage its finances.
- [4 Shipping Policy Best Practices for E-Commerce Businesses](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/4-shipping-policy-best-practices-for-e-commerce-businesses/) - An e-commerce shipping policy should communicate that your business is all about keeping customers satisfied and any issues are quickly resolved.
- [How to Validate Credit Cards in 8 Simple Steps](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-validate-credit-cards-in-8-simple-steps/) - Merchants need to verify the validity of both the card and its cardholder for each payment to protect themselves and their customers against fraud.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall for 17<sup>th</sup> Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-fall-for-17th-consecutive-month/) - Americans continued paying their credit card balances on time in March, with credit card delinquencies falling for the 17th consecutive month.
- [Are You Quitting Credit Cards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/are-you-quitting-credit-cards/) - While credit card defaults and delinquencies are falling in the U.S., more than 8M Americans have stopped using credit cards altogether in 2010.
- [Visa Backs Mobile Payments Start-up Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visa-backs-mobile-payments-start-up-square/) - Visa, the biggest credit card payment network in the world, has invested an unspecified amount in mobile payments start-up Square.
- [Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank Worst Credit Card Companies for Small Businesses](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/wells-fargo-u-s-bank-worst-credit-card-companies-for-small-businesses/) - Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank are the worst credit card companies for small businesses, receiving a 0 for offering "Business Credit Card Protections."
- [Basic Facts about Merchant Account Reserves](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/basic-facts-about-merchant-account-reserves/) - Reserve is a proportion of the merchant's monthly revenues that the acquiring bank holds as protection against possible future loss from chargebacks.
- [The Kids Are Alright, Credit Card Edition](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-kids-are-alright-credit-card-edition/) - A more difficult access to credit makes it harder for young borrowers to build their credit files, postponing the day when they become eligible for a mortgage.
- [What Every Merchant Needs to Know About Code 10 Calls](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-needs-to-know-about-code-10-calls/) - Code 10 is an authorization request during a card-present transaction that alerts the issuer to a suspicious activity, without alerting the customer.
- [Carriers Open up Mobile Commerce Platform Isis to Visa and MasterCard](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/carriers-open-up-mobile-commerce-platform-isis-to-visa-and-mastercard/) - Mobile payments start-up Isis, a Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile joint venture, will allow consumers to use existing Visa, MasterCard cards on its network.
- [How to Score High-Risk E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-score-high-risk-e-commerce-transactions/) - Fraud scoring models are used to identify and rate the highest-risk card-not-present transactions that need to be additionally verified.
- [How to Keep Credit Card Account Information Updated for Recurring Billing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-keep-credit-card-account-information-updated-for-recurring-billing/) - MasterCard Automatic Billing Updater and Visa Account Updater allow merchants processing recurring payments to keep card account information current.
- [U.S. Consumer Credit Card Debt Up 2.9%](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-consumer-credit-card-debt-up-2-9/) - The overall volume of credit card debt in March increased by 2.9%, or $1.9B, bringing the total up to $796.1B, reversing a 2.5-year-long trend.
- [Banks, Retailers Fight on over Debit Card Interchange Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-retailers-fight-on-over-debit-card-interchange-fees/) - Retailers and banks continue to bludgeon each other over the size of debit card interchange fees ahead of the law's July 21th enactment date.
- [U.S. Household Debt Holds Steady in 2011 Q1](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-household-debt-holds-steady-in-2011-q1/) - Aggregate debt held by U.S. households at the end of March was $11.5T, 0.3% higher than the level measured at the end of the previous quarter.
- [PayPal Most Trusted Mobile Payments Brand](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-most-trusted-mobile-payments-brand/) - PayPal "has the highest brand preference" among mobile payments service providers, trailed by Visa and MasterCard and wireless carriers at the bottom.
- [How to Pick Up Fraudulently Used Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-pick-up-fraudulently-used-credit-cards/) - If a merchant believes that a card is used fraudulently or is altered or counterfeit, the card should be picked up and the incident reported.
- [Visa's Digital Wallet Coming to the U.S. in the Fall](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/visas-digital-wallet-coming-to-the-u-s-in-the-fall/) - Visa's digital wallet will allow users to make payments by entering an email address, instead of an account number, address, expiration date, etc.
- [545M NFC-Equipped Cell Phones to Be Shipped in 2015](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/545m-nfc-equipped-cell-phones-to-be-shipped-in-2015/) - 79.8 million NFC-equipped smart phones will be shipped worldwide in 2011. This number will grow to 411.8 million in 2014 and 544.7 million in 2015.
- [Are Australians the New Americans in Credit Card Spending?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/are-australians-the-new-americans-in-credit-card-spending/) - Australians have increased their outstanding credit card balances by 42% and now owe $52.3B, while Americans have reduced credit card debt by 18.2%.
- [Can Lower Debit Fees Hurt Mobile Payment Prospects?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-lower-debit-fees-hurt-mobile-payment-prospects/) - Wireless carriers claim lower debit card fees will hurt their mobile payments joint venture, but Isis is suffering from poor planning, not regulation.
- [Americans, Brits Equally Uneasy About Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-brits-equally-uneasy-about-mobile-payments/) - As mobile payments technologies quickly evolve, Americans and Brits want reassurance that these new services are safe, before embracing them.
- [NFC-Based Mobile Payments Service Debuts in U.K.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/nfc-based-mobile-payments-service-debuts-in-u-k/) - Orange customers who also own a Barclaycard, Barclays debit card or Orange credit card can make payments by waving their phones at 500,000 UK stores.
- [Half of Americans Feel 'Awkward' Shopping with Phones](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/half-of-americans-feel-awkward-shopping-with-phones/) - 49% of Americans feel 'awkward' about shopping with their phones, by far the biggest reason for not doing more of it and ahead of security concerns.
- [Americans' Credit Card Payments Timeliest in 15 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-credit-card-payments-timeliest-in-15-years/) - The U.S. consumer credit card delinquency rate in Q1 2011 fell to 0.74%, 10% lower than the Q3 2010 level and the best showing in 15 years.
- [Square Wants to Replace POS Terminals with iPads, Prospects Unclear](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/square-wants-to-replace-pos-terminals-with-ipads-prospects-unclear/) - Square has upgraded its service to enable retailers to accept cards with iPads and send coupons to customers, but is it cool enough to win them over?
- [BofA, Wells Fargo, Chase Challenge PayPal with P2P Payment Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/bofa-wells-fargo-chase-challenge-paypal-with-p2p-payment-service/) - JPMorgan Chase, BofA and Wells Fargo are the latest financial institutions to challenge PayPal's dominance in P2P payments, but don't go far enough.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall for 18<sup>th</sup> Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-fall-for-18th-consecutive-month/) - Americans continued paying their credit card balances on time in April, with credit card delinquencies falling for the 18th consecutive month.
- [Google Joins In the Mobile Wallet Fray](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-joins-in-the-mobile-wallet-fray/) - Google's new mobile wallet and Google Offers services are components of the company's push toward creating a mobile information management platform.
- [What Do Email Spam, Viagra and Credit Cards Have In Common?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-do-email-spam-viagra-and-credit-cards-have-in-common/) - 95 percent of all email spam-related credit card transactions are processed by only three banks, based in Azerbaijan, St. Kitts and Nevis and Latvia.
- [Debit Fee Limit Side Effects Begin to Kick In](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/debit-fee-limit-side-effects-begin-to-kick-in/) - The side effects of the proposed fee limit on debit card transactions are beginning to kick in; consumers will end up paying higher rates and fees.
- [Why Do Cab Drivers Hate Credit Cards So Much?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-do-cab-drivers-hate-credit-cards-so-much/) - The Nevada Senate is about to pas a law penalizing taxi companies $400,000 every 6 months for charging a $3 fee to credit card-paying customers.
- [How to Manage the E-Commerce Check-out Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-the-e-commerce-check-out-process/) - The e-commerce check-out process should be designed to collect all information needed to verify that both the card and the customer are legitimate.
- [3 Tips for Selecting an E-Commerce Payment Processor](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/3-tips-for-selecting-an-e-commerce-payment-processor/) - When choosing a processor you need to look beyond the transaction rates and evaluate its ability to manage disputes, chargebacks, risk and fraud.
- [Outdated Mag-Stripe Technology Helps Credit Card Fraudsters](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/outdated-mag-stripe-technology-helps-credit-card-fraudsters/) - The mag-stripe technology has been around since the 1970s and is now causing rising rates of card skimming and counterfeiting, mostly in the US.
- [How to Use the Address Verification Service (AVS)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-use-the-address-verification-service-avs/) - AVS allows merchants processing card-not-present transactions to verify customers' billing addresses by matching them to what the issuer has on file.
- [Top 3 E-Commerce Risk Categories](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/top-3-e-commerce-risk-categories/) - The top 3 e-commerce risk categories are fraud, data breach and customer disputes and chargebacks; each one needs to be addressed separately.
- [U.S. Consumer Credit Card Debt Down to Lowest Level in 7 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-consumer-credit-card-debt-down-to-lowest-level-in-7-years/) - The overall volume of US consumer credit card debt in April fell by 1.4%, or $1B, bringing the total to $790.1B, the lowest level since August 2004.
- [Senate Hands U.S. Retailers a $16B Win Over Card Issuers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/senate-hands-u-s-retailers-a-16b-win-over-card-issuers/) - The Senate has voted against delaying the cap on debit card interchange fees, handing retailers a $16B win in their fight against card issuers.
- [What Every Merchant Needs to Know About Transaction Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-needs-to-know-about-transaction-authorizations/) - Authorization is the process of approving or declining by a card issuer of a sales transaction involving one of the bank's payment cards.
- [Americans Spend More on Credit Cards, Pay on Time](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-spend-more-on-credit-cards-pay-on-time/) - Credit card spending in the U.S. grew in May, albeit more slowly than in previous periods, while both charge-offs and delinquencies fell again.
- [U.S. Consumer Debt Is Down, but so Are Credit Scores](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-consumer-debt-is-down-but-so-are-credit-scores/) - Even as both credit card and mortgage debt are down in the US, so are consumers' credit scores. There are 5 things you can do to keep your score high.
- [AmEx's New Prepaid Card Shows How Issuers Will Fight Debit Fee Limit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/amexs-new-prepaid-card-shows-how-issuers-will-fight-debit-fee-limit/) - A new prepaid card, just introduced by American Express, shows how issuers will fight the 12-cent interchange fee limit on debit card transactions.
- [How to Manage Key-Entered Credit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-key-entered-credit-card-transactions/) - Key-entered credit card transactions should be kept to a minimum, because they are processed at higher rates than swiped transactions.
- [5 Tips for Managing Payment Options at the E-Commerce Checkout](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/5-tips-for-managing-payment-options-at-the-e-commerce-checkout/) - Support for multiple payment options at the e-commerce checkout ensures that a sale is completed, rather than lost at the last moment.
- [How to Verify E-Commerce Transaction Information](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-verify-e-commerce-transaction-information/) - Verifying transaction information, through industry services and freely available tools, helps e-commerce merchants prevent credit card fraud.
- [8 Items to Monitor when Screening E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/8-items-to-monitor-when-screening-e-commerce-transactions/) - Fraud screening enables e-commerce merchants to detect certain high-risk transaction characteristics and suspend the processing of the payment.
- [Merchant Account Application Requirements](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/merchant-account-application-requirements/) - The merchant account application review is a fairly straightforward process that typically takes a day or two, if all necessary paperwork is provided.
- [5 Steps to Verifying Cardholder Information in Card-not-Present Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/5-steps-to-verifying-cardholder-information-in-card-not-present-transactions/) - Merchants should verify cardholder information prior to processing card-not-present transactions to minimize their exposure to fraud and chargebacks.
- [How to Manage a Credit Card Data Breach](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-a-credit-card-data-breach/) - Merchants should develop a system enabling them to detect suspected breaches, respond quickly and limit the damage if credit card data is compromised.
- [U.S. Credit Card Charge-offs, Delinquencies Fall Again](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-charge-offs-delinquencies-fall-again/) - Americans continued paying their credit card balances on time in May; the charge-off rate is now at its lowest level since February 2009.
- [Your Credit Card Mail Is not Junk Anymore](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/your-credit-card-mail-is-not-junk-anymore/) - About 60% of credit card offers mailed in Q1 2011 contained an incentive and most of them went to Americans with credit scores of 720 or higher.
- [Credit Card Issuers Do Poorly at Detecting, Well at Resolving Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-issuers-do-poorly-at-detecting-well-at-resolving-fraud/) - Criminals are getting better at stealing card account information, while banks and consumers are simply not doing enough to protect their data.
- [Debit Card Fee Limit Lifted to 24 Cents, Consumers Will Still Pay for It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/debit-card-fee-limit-lifted-to-24-cents-consumers-will-still-pay-for-it/) - The Fed has capped debit fees at $0.24, which amounts to government-mandated redistribution of revenues between industries, something it has no business doing.
- [Why Square's Sky-high Valuation, Unlike LinkedIn's or Skype's, Makes Sense](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-squares-sky-high-valuation-unlike-linkedins-or-skypes-makes-sense/) - A high-tech bubble is being inflated, but Square is not a part of it. Unlike LinkedIn and Skype, Square shows you exactly how it will make real money.
- [Why Credit Card Processing Statements Are Complicated](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-credit-card-processing-statements-are-complicated/) - The biggest reason merchant processing statements are complex is that payment processors provide merchants with detailed transaction information.
- [Americans Get More Credit Cards, Much Better Terms](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-get-more-credit-cards-much-better-terms/) - Even as Americans continue paying off credit card debt, they have also begun opening up new accounts at a much faster rate than we've seen in a while.
- [Credit Card Delinquencies Rise Slightly, Still at Historic Low](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-delinquencies-rise-slightly-still-at-historic-low/) - The aggregate delinquency rate on U.S. consumer loans rose slightly to 3.4% in Q1 2011, but is still well below the average of the past 15 years.
- [What Every MO / TO Merchant Needs to Know About Credit Card Acceptance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-mo-to-merchant-needs-to-know-about-credit-card-acceptance/) - Your primary objective when accepting payments over the phone or in the mail must be to verify the cardholder's identity and the validity of the card.
- [U.S. Credit Card Debt Up at Fastest Clip in 3 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-debt-up-at-fastest-clip-in-3-years/) - The aggregate volume of U.S. consumer credit card debt in May rose by 5.1%, the fastest clip since June 2008, or $3.3B, lifting the total to $793.1B.
- [Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fees Going Away](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fees-going-away/) - When it's all added up, the new Citi and Chase card offers are not nearly as competitive as the lack of foreign transaction fees may make them seem.
- [U.S. Credit Card Spending Growth Accelerates](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-spending-growth-accelerates/) - Credit card spending in the U.S. grew again in June by 10.7%, the fastest growth rate in more than a year, but delinquencies and charge-offs are down.
- [Banks Pay $73M in 2010 for Issuing Credit Cards to College Students](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-pay-73m-in-2010-for-issuing-credit-cards-to-college-students/) - College organizations were paid $73M for the issuance of credit cards to students by 19 issuers in 2010; $55.6M of that was paid by a BofA subsidiary.
- [What Everyone Selling Ringtones Should Know About Credit Card Acceptance Pricing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-everyone-selling-ringtones-should-know-about-credit-card-acceptance-pricing/) - Ringtone-selling merchants pay higher transaction fees than their peers in most other industries, because of how the interchange system works.
- [Lessons from a Failed Credit Card Processing Proposal](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/lessons-from-a-failed-credit-card-processing-proposal/) - A failed credit card processing bid for the business of a household-name global non-profit organization offers a lesson for future bidders.
- [Sprint to Help Push AmEx's Mobile Payments Platform](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/sprint-to-help-push-amexs-mobile-payments-platform/) - AmEx has signed up Sprint to help market Serve, a PayPal-like mobile payments platform. Sprint should be developing an open mobile wallet instead.
- [Isis to Allow Consumers to Link Any Credit Card to a Mobile Payments Account](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/isis-to-allow-consumers-to-link-any-credit-card-to-a-mobile-payments-account/) - Isis has opened their system to all card brands, which allows users, not service providers, to choose which card to link to their m-payments account.
- [Google Turns Credit Card Issuer](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-turns-credit-card-issuer/) - Google is about to start issuing credit cards to users of its AdWords advertising program; the card is good, but not for everyone and all the time.
- [How to Manage the CVV2 Card Verification Process](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-the-cvv2-card-verification-process/) - CVV2 is a 3-digit code printed on the back of all valid Visa cards to help verify that a customer is in possession of the card at the time of order.
- [U.S. Credit Card Charge-offs, Delinquencies at Record Lows](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-charge-offs-delinquencies-at-record-lows/) - Americans continued paying their credit card balances on time in June; the charge-off rate is now at its lowest level since early 2008.
- [CARD Act Pushes Credit Card Interest Rates Further Down](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-act-pushes-credit-card-interest-rates-further-down/) - The CARD Act of 2009 has reinforced a downward trajectory in credit card interest rates, according to a new study by the Federal Reserve.
- [Falling Credit Card Debt Result of Higher Consumer Payments, not Charge-offs](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/falling-credit-card-debt-result-of-higher-consumer-payments-not-charge-offs/) - While issuers charged-off huge amounts in the first 2 years after the meltdown, consumers are now repaying credit card balances at record-high levels.
- [How the Interchange Fee Cap Affects Prepaid Card Issuers, Users](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-the-interchange-fee-cap-affects-prepaid-card-issuers-users/) - The Fed's cap on debit interchange fees exempts prepaid cards, with a catch for large issuers; that's great news for consumers with low credit scores.
- [Credit Card Rules for Returns, Refunds and Exchanges You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-rules-for-returns-refunds-and-exchanges-you-need-to-know/) - You may not like it when you have to accept returns and issue refunds or exchanges, but you will need to get over it quickly and do it the right way.
- [Americans Use More Prepaid, Debit Cards, Less Credit and Checks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-use-more-prepaid-debit-cards-less-credit-and-checks/) - Paper checks are fading out as a mainstream payment method and credit card use is flat; non-credit types of cards are quickly gaining ground on both.
- [Verizon Backs AmEx's Serve in a Wrongheaded Decision](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/verizon-backs-amexs-serve-in-a-wrongheaded-decision/) - While Isis lets consumers choose the card brands to use for mobile payments, Serve restricts their choice to AmEx cards; Verizon has backed both.
- [Are Mobile Payments Messy and Insane?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/are-mobile-payments-messy-and-insane/) - Mobile payments are neither messy nor insane; as some m-payments projects aren't even live yet, consumers get to influence their prenatal development.
- [PIN-Based Debit Interchange Fees to Rise under New Fed Rules](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pin-based-debit-interchange-fees-to-rise-under-new-fed-rules/) - Under the new Federal Reserve rules on debit interchange fees, some merchants accepting PIN-based debit will end up paying higher fees than before.
- [Murky Prospects for Mobile Payments Charged on Cell Phone Bills](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/murky-prospects-for-mobile-payments-charged-on-cell-phone-bills/) - There is an easily identifiable niche for mobile payments charged on the cell phone bill but whether the service can go mainstream is much less clear.
- [E-Commerce Dynamic Currency Conversion](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/e-commerce-dynamic-currency-conversion/) - Dynamic Currency Conversion allows US businesses to offer international customers the option to complete card transactions in their own currency.
- [U.S. Credit Card Debt Up Sharply](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-debt-up-sharply/) - The aggregate volume of US consumer credit card debt rose by 7.9%, or $5.2B, in June, the fastest rate since March 2008, lifting the total to $798.3B.
- [Far from Facing Imminent Extinction, Credit Cards Evolve, Go Mobile](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/far-from-facing-imminent-extinction-credit-cards-evolve-go-mobile/) - Far from going extinct, as headlines in the past year have proclaimed, credit cards are at the core of the m-payments wave currently sweeping the US.
- [NFC Ascent Pushes Visa to Speed up Adoption of Smart Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/nfc-ascent-pushes-visa-to-speed-up-adoption-of-smart-credit-cards/) - Visa requires all US processors to support acceptance of EMV cards by 04/01/2013, to prepare the ground for the arrival of NFC-based mobile payments.
- [Can BOKU Survive the Evolution of Direct Carrier Billing?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-boku-survive-the-evolution-of-direct-carrier-billing/) - BOKU's best exit strategy might be to make itself attractive to as many potential buyers as it possibly can and trigger a bidding war among them.
- [16 Signs of Suspicious Customer Behavior at the Checkout](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/16-signs-of-suspicious-customer-behavior-at-the-checkout/) - Accepting card-present payments allows you to look for signs of suspicious customer behavior that can indicate fraud. Here's how to do that.
- [Americans Continue Paying Down Credit Cards before Mortgages](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-continue-paying-down-credit-cards-before-mortgages/) - Americans are now making their credit card payments on time at a substantially higher rate than in 2007; the inverse is true for mortgage payments.
- [U.S. Household Debt Falls, but Very Slowly](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-household-debt-falls-but-very-slowly/) - Aggregate debt held by U.S. households in Q2 2011 fell by 0.4% from the previous quarter; balances on most loan types fell, but by very small amount.
- [Americans' Credit Card Payments Timeliest in 17 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-credit-card-payments-timeliest-in-17-years/) - The U.S. consumer credit card delinquency rate in Q2 2011 fell to 0.6%, 18.9% lower than the Q1 2011 level and the best showing in 17 years.
- [Should We Cut up Our MasterCard and Visa Cards and Switch to AmEx or Discover?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-we-cut-up-our-mastercard-and-visa-cards-and-switch-to-amex-or-discover/) - American Express is ranked highest for customer satisfaction, with Discover a close second and Visa and MasterCard issuers trailing far behind.
- [How to Complete a Card-Present Transaction](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-complete-a-card-present-transaction/) - Never accept cards where the signature is not matching the one on the sales receipt or is missing altogether, or you\'ll be liable to financial losses.
- [Card Issuers' Debit Fee Tests Prove Consumers Will Pay for Interchange Cap](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-issuers-debit-fee-tests-prove-consumers-will-pay-for-interchange-cap/) - Banks are testing various fees, looking for ways to make up for a $7B shortfall in revenue, a result of the Fed\'s decision to cap interchange fees.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Keep Falling, Charge-offs Up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-keep-falling-charge-offs-up/) - Americans continued making their credit card payments on time in July, but the aggregate U.S. charge-off rate was slightly up.
- [Credit or Debit: What's the Difference?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-or-debit-whats-the-difference/) - When using a credit card, you are spending money that is lent to you by the card issuer; when using a debit card, you are spending your own money.
- [What to Do When Chargeback Rights Do Not Apply](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-to-do-when-chargeback-rights-do-not-apply/) - Even if a violation is not covered by a specific Visa or MasterCard chargeback code, you can still get the related transaction charged back to you.
- [GoPayment, Square, Processing Fees and Cupcakes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/gopayment-square-processing-fees-and-cupcakes/) - GoPayment, a Square competitor, has also dropped the fixed per-transaction component of its processing fee, even though that makes no sense at all.
- [How to Handle Credit Card Transactions at Restaurants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-credit-card-transactions-at-restaurants/) - Restaurants need to process card transactions so that credit card rules are complied with, customers are kept satisfied and chargebacks are prevented.
- [Credit Card Processing Fibs](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-processing-fibs/) - A new payment processor is providing some incredibly misleading information on its website, even as its president is someone who should know better.
- [What Every Merchant Ought to Know about Processing MasterCard Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-ought-to-know-about-processing-mastercard-transactions/) - The merchant is actively taking part in the authentication and authorization of transactions, which is where you need to become an expert.
- [How to Manage Partial Transaction Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-partial-transaction-authorizations/) - Partial authorizations enable issuers to approve lower amounts than the total transaction amount when the available card balance is insufficient.
- [What All Face-to-Face Merchants Ought to Know about the Visa Easy Payment Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-all-face-to-face-merchants-ought-to-know-about-the-visa-easy-payment-service/) - Visa Easy Payment Service allows merchants to accept cards without having to obtain a signature or PIN from the cardholder or printing out a receipt.
- [Why Setting Up Multiple Merchant Accounts Is not a Good Strategy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-setting-up-multiple-merchant-accounts-is-not-a-good-strategy/) - You may have set up multiple merchant accounts for a single business, but the termination of any one of them can lead to the closure of the others.
- [The Bare Basics You Ought to Know about Visa's Transaction Processing System](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-bare-basics-you-ought-to-know-about-visas-transaction-processing-system/) - VisaNet connects Visa\'s payment network with Visa\'s member bank\'s and with other networks to facilitate transaction processing and other services.
- [How to Process Credit Card Payments at Hotels](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-process-credit-card-payments-at-hotels/) - There is a set of rules regulating the processing of credit card payments each time a hotel room reservation is made or cancelled.
- [U.S. Credit Card Debt Falls Sharply](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-debt-falls-sharply/) - The aggregate volume of US consumer credit card debt fell by 5.2% in July, after two consecutive monthly increases, bringing the total to $792.5B.
- [What Every Gas Station Owner Ought to Know about Pre-Authorizations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-gas-station-owner-ought-to-know-about-pre-authorizations/) - Gas stations use pre-authorizations to ensure there are sufficient funds on the customer\'s credit card to pay for the fuel, before it is pumped.
- [How Car Rental Companies Should Do Their Credit Card Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-car-rental-companies-should-do-their-credit-card-processing/) - Car rental companies need to follow a set of specific credit card processing procedures to maintain the good standing of their merchant accounts.
- [How to Process Advance Resort Deposits on Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-process-advance-resort-deposits-on-credit-cards/) - The Advance Resort Deposit service enables resorts and hotels to accept bank card deposits from customers for reservation at a particular location.
- [The Basics You Need to Know about Visa's Check Acceptance Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-basics-you-need-to-know-about-visas-check-acceptance-service/) - Visa\'s Check Acceptance Service enables U.S. merchants to accept checks, once the check processing company has authorized the payment.
- [The Basics You Need to Know about Visa's Card Verification Value (CVV)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-basics-you-need-to-know-about-visas-card-verification-value-cvv/) - Visa\'s Card Verification Value (CVV) is a 3-digit number encoded on Visa credit and debit cards, either in the card\'s magnetic stripe or in the chip.
- [Debit Card Processing Basics You Ought to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/debit-card-processing-basics-you-ought-to-know/) - The difference between PIN-based and PIN-less debit processing is in the cardholder authentication method; both types should use interchange-plus.
- [How Visa Processes PIN-based Debit Card Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-visa-processes-pin-based-debit-card-transactions/) - Visa\'s Integrated Debit Service enables US merchants to accept PIN-based payments made with debit cards that bear the logo of a direct debit network.
- [Google Wallet Goes Live, More Consumer-friendly Version to Follow](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-wallet-goes-live-more-consumer-friendly-version-to-follow/) - Opening up their mobile wallet to all payment card brands is exactly the right thing to do and would put Google ahead of the competition.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall for 19th Consecutive Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-fall-for-19th-consecutive-month/) - Americans continued making their credit card payments on time in August, but the aggregate U.S. charge-off rate was marginally up.
- [Batch vs. Real Time Credit Card Processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/batch-vs-real-time-credit-card-processing/) - Credit card transactions can be processed in batches or in real time, depending on the setting, the processor\'s capabilities and local requirements.
- [POS Terminal Risk Management Rules You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pos-terminal-risk-management-rules-you-need-to-know/) - POS terminal risk management rules are used to determine whether a transaction should be approved offline, sent online for authorization, or declined.
- [Basic Prepaid Card Transaction Features You Need to Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/basic-prepaid-card-transaction-features-you-need-to-know/) - Prepaid cards share some similarities with both debit and credit cards, but they also have some significant differences that you need to understand.
- [What Every Merchant Should Know about Prepaid Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-should-know-about-prepaid-cards/) - Prepaid cards combine some debit and credit card features, while at the same time adding to the mix a few of its own in the process.
- [Why the Debit Interchange Limit Is Especially Bad for Low-Income Consumers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-the-debit-interchange-limit-is-especially-bad-for-low-income-consumers/) - The brunt of the new bank revenue-generating push, spurred by the debit interchange limit, will be borne disproportionately by low-income consumers.
- [How to Use the Priority Check-out Service](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-use-the-priority-check-out-service/) - Hotels can use the Priority Check-out Service to provide their guests with the convenience of avoiding delays at peak check-out times.
- [Credit Card Reservation Disclosures Your Hotel's Website Must Provide](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-reservation-disclosures-your-hotels-website-must-provide/) - Your hotel\'s website should be designed to provide complete information about your policies regarding no-shows, advance deposits and cancellations.
- [How to Handle Unembossed Visa Credit Card Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-unembossed-visa-credit-card-payments/) - The processing of unembossed cards is not much different from that of embossed cards. Yet, there are a few minor twists that you need to be aware of.
- [12 Basic Requirements for Keeping Credit Card Data Safe](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/12-basic-requirements-for-keeping-credit-card-data-safe/) - All US merchants must comply with the 12 basic Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requirements to ensure keeping credit card data safe.
- [7 Steps to Preventing MasterCard Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/7-steps-to-preventing-mastercard-fraud/) - Going through a simple 7-step checklist should take a trained person a few seconds and help ensure that you have no fraud-related issues to deal with.
- [How to Handle PIN-based Debit Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-handle-pin-based-debit-transactions/) - Each PIN debit transaction begins by swiping a card through a POS device and then the cardholder authenticates him- or herself by entering their PIN.
- [What to Do When Your Hotel's Customer Requests a Proof of the Transaction](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-to-do-when-your-hotels-customer-requests-a-proof-of-the-transaction/) - The ability to quickly respond to all customer requests to prove that a charge to their credit card is accurate is critical to avoiding chargebacks.
- [Americans Continue Paying Down Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-continue-paying-down-credit-card-debt/) - The aggregate volume of US consumer credit card debt fell in August, by 3.4%, bringing the total down to $790.1B, non-revolving credit also rose.
- [8 Risk Management Services to Help You Fight Fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/8-risk-management-services-to-help-you-fight-fraud/) - There is a wide range of risk management services that merchants and processors can choose from and implement into their fraud prevention strategies.
- [Credit Card Issuers Go After Sub-Prime Borrowers Again](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-issuers-go-after-sub-prime-borrowers-again/) - New credit card originations in the U.S. are growing very rapidly once again and the pace is even faster in the sub-prime borrower segment.
- [What Every Merchant Should Know about MasterCard Chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-should-know-about-mastercard-chargebacks/) - A chargeback is a process through which a card issuer charges the transaction amount back to the processing bank, reversing the associated sale.
- [Chargeback and Re-Presentment Process for PIN-Based Debit Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chargeback-and-re-presentment-process-for-pin-based-debit-transactions/) - Chargeback is a transaction that is returned as a liability by the issuer to the acquirer and merchant after the associated sale has been settled.
- [Everything You Need to Know about Chargeback Reason Code 30](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chargeback-reason-code-30/) - Reason Code 30 chargebacks result when an issuer is notified by a cardholder that a merchant is unwilling or unable to provide goods or services.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 41](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-41/) - Chargeback Reason Code 41 designates chargebacks resulting from cancelled recurring transactions, which are particularly prone to customer disputes.
- [Everything You Need to Know about Chargeback Reason Code 53](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chargeback-reason-code-53/) - Reason Code 53 chargebacks result when an issuer is notified by a cardholder that the merchandise that was received was not the same as described.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 60](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-60/) - Reason Code 60 designates chargebacks resulting when the account number or amount on the sales receipt produced by the merchant is not legible.
- [Why Are Banks Charging New Debit Card Fees?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-are-banks-charging-new-debit-card-fees/) - Sen. Durbin will not accept responsibility for the new debit card fees, but he should stop bullying businesses for acting in their best interests.
- [Do You Know What You Owe on Credit Cards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-you-know-what-you-owe-on-credit-cards/) - What Americans think they owe on credit cards is only half of the actual total. They agree with lenders on the totals in all other debt categories.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 62](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-62/) - Reason Code 62 chargebacks are initiated when the cardholder claims to the issuer not to have authored or participated in the disputed transaction.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 57](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-57/) - Reason Code 57 designates chargebacks resulting when a cardholder acknowledges participation in one transaction at a merchant but disputes the others.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 71](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-71/) - Reason Code 71 designates chargebacks resulting when the card issuer receives a transaction for which authorization has been declined.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 72](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-72/) - Reason Code 72 chargebacks are initiated when authorization is not obtained or authorization is obtained using invalid or incorrect transaction data.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Fall Steeply](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-fall-steeply/) - Americans kept making their credit card payments on time in September; the average charge-off rate fell by 0.75% and is 3.63% lower than a year ago.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 73](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-73/) - Reason Code 73 designates chargebacks resulting when a merchant accepts an expired card and doesn't obtain an authorization approval from the issuer.
- [Credit Unions Muscle in on Big Bank Territory](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-unions-muscle-in-on-big-bank-territory/) - Small credit unions, exempted from the Durbin Amendment, are emerging, alongside big-box retailers, as the big winners of the debit interchange war.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 74](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-74/) - Reason Code 74 designates chargebacks resulting from transactions that were processed more than 180 calendar days from the transaction date.
- [Banks Abandon Debit Card Fees, Will Find More Subtle Ways to Raise Revenue](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-abandon-debit-card-fees-will-find-more-subtle-ways-to-raise-revenue/) - Issuers have abandoned debit card fees but will find more subtle ways to make up for revenues lost as a result of the passing of the Durbin Amendment.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 75](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-75/) - Reason Code 74 designates chargebacks resulting when the cardholder states that a transaction appearing on the billing statement is not recognized.
- [Banks Push Prepaid, Credit Cards to Make up for Lost Debit Revenue](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banks-push-prepaid-credit-cards-to-make-up-for-lost-debit-revenue/) - Prepaid and credit cards are the banks' top choices to make up for a $7B annual revenue loss, which resulted from the passing of the Durbin Amendment.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 76](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-76/) - Chargeback Reason Code 76 is issued when a transaction is posted with an incorrect transaction (e.g. as a sale rather than credit) or currency code.
- [Prepaid vs. Credit and Debit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-vs-credit-and-debit-cards/) - Prepaid cards will never replace either credit or debit cards in the U.S., but can become a very attractive alternative to the latter type.
- [Americans Slash Credit Card Debt to Lowest Level in More than 7 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-slash-credit-card-debt-to-lowest-level-in-more-than-7-years/) - The aggregate volume of U.S. consumer credit card debt fell by 1%, or $627 million, in September, reaching its lowest level in more than 7 years.
- [Issuers Ramp up Credit Card Rewards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/issuers-ramp-up-credit-card-rewards/) - Issuers beef up rewards programs to convert debit card users to credit cards and make up for lost debit interchange fee revenue in the process.
- [Young, Less-Educated and Low-Income Consumers Most Affected by Higher Debit Cost](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/young-less-educated-and-low-income-consumers-most-affected-by-higher-debit-cost/) - Banks' attempts to make up for lost interchange revenues will make debit card use more expensive for less-educated, young and low-income consumers.
- [Why Your Business Presents a Credit Card Processing Risk](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-your-business-presents-a-credit-card-processing-risk/) - From a processor's point of view, a merchant account is a line of credit, extended for the amount of the approved annual bank card processing volume.
- [Debit Card Fees May Be Gone, but Overall Banking Costs Go Up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/debit-card-fees-may-be-gone-but-overall-banking-costs-go-up/) - Debit card fees may be gone, but new bank fees are now popping up all over the place and existing ones are being ramped up.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Up, but still Near Record Lows](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-up-but-still-near-record-lows/) - The U.S. credit card delinquency rate in Q3 2011 rose to 0.71%, but is still 14.45% lower than the Q3 2010 level; credit card debt is also down.
- [Americans' Credit Card Debt Slightly Up, Credit Scores Keep Falling](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-credit-card-debt-slightly-up-credit-scores-keep-falling/) - Americans' credit card debt in October was up 1% from September to $6,600, but is down 11% on a year-over-year basis; credit scores are down to 661.
- [Store Cards vs. Regular Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/store-cards-vs-regular-credit-cards/) - Store card is a type of credit card that is issued by or on behalf of a particular retailer and can be used for purchases only at that retailer.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 81](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-81/) - Reason Code 81 is initiated when the sales receipt is missing required information, indicating a potentially fraudulent transaction.
- [6 Ways to Make Customers Like Your Store-Branded Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/6-ways-to-make-customers-like-your-store-branded-credit-cards/) - Store-branded (private-label) cards present merchants with the unique opportunity to use the cards to influence their customers' buying decisions.
- [4 Gift Card Rules Everyone Should Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/4-gift-card-rules-everyone-should-know/) - The CARD Act restricted all gift card-related fees and whatever charges there still remain must be prominently disclosed at the time of purchase.
- [How New Chip Cards Cure Americans' Headaches at European Checkouts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-new-chip-cards-cure-americans-headaches-at-european-checkouts/) - New Chase credit cards feature a chip and a mag-stripe, which makes them acceptable both in the U.S. and Europe, to the relief of American travelers.
- [Retailers Sue Federal Reserve for not Doing Enough for Them](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/retailers-sue-federal-reserve-for-not-doing-enough-for-them/) - U.S. retail groups -- winners of the debit interchange war -- are suing the Federal Reserve for not lowering the swipe fees enough; ask for more.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 80](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-80/) - Chargeback Reason Code 80 is initiated when the transaction amount is incorrect, it was miscalculated or an incorrect account number was used.
- [Fewer Americans Default on Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fewer-americans-default-on-credit-cards/) - Americans kept making their credit card payments on time in October; the average charge-off rate fell by 0.06% and is 3.69% lower than a year ago.
- [Americans Have Fewer Credit Cards, Lower Credit Limits](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-have-fewer-credit-cards-lower-credit-limits/) - The number of open credit card accounts in 2011 Q3 is 23% below its 2008 Q2 peak and balances on those cards are 20% below their 2008 Q4 high.
- [Western Union's Prepaid Card Goes Global](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/western-unions-prepaid-card-goes-global/) - Even as Western Union and MasterCard are pushing their prepaid cards overseas, they will not neglect the huge and growing domestic market.
- [Americans Spend Big on Cyber Monday, Sales up 33%](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-spend-big-on-cyber-monday-sales-up-33/) - The economy may still be depressed and unemployment at nine percent, but you wouldn't know it if you were an online retailer this past Cyber Monday.
- [The Month in Numbers - November 2011](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-month-in-numbers-november-2011/) - The eight most newsworthy and insightful credit card-related statistics of November 2011, presented in graphs, tables, infographics and charts.
- [Americans' Biggest Credit Card Grievance: Billing Disputes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-biggest-credit-card-grievance-billing-disputes/) - Billing disputes edged interest rates, identity theft and fraud to top the long list of credit card complaints filed by American consumers.
- [Credit Cards Back in Favor with Americans, Gain Ground on Debit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-cards-back-in-favor-with-americans-gain-ground-on-debit/) - Growth in credit card usage has been accelerating in the first three quarters of 2011, while the exact opposite has been true for debit cards.
- [Why Starbucks' Platform Is Not the Best Way Forward for Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-starbucks-platform-is-not-the-best-way-forward-for-mobile-payments/) - Successful as it is, Starbucks' mobile platform is not the most consumer-friendly one that can (and eventually will) be designed.
- [Do You Understand Your Credit Card Agreement?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-you-understand-your-credit-card-agreement/) - The CFPB is attempting to simplify credit card agreements, which was already achieved quite successfully by the CARD Act a couple of years ago.
- [Americans Take on More Credit Card Debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-take-on-more-credit-card-debt/) - The aggregate volume of U.S. consumer credit card debt rose by 0.6%, or $366.2 million, in October, the second consecutive monthly increase.
- [Impact of Durbin Amendment on Consumers Will Be Neutral at Best](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/impact-of-durbin-amendment-on-consumers-will-be-neutral-at-best/) - The impact of the Durbin Amendment, which limited debit card interchange fees, on consumers will be neutral at best and most likely negative.
- [Another Durbin Amendment Side Effect Gets the Limelight](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/another-durbin-amendment-side-effect-gets-the-limelight/) - The nasty side effect the Durbin Amendment is having on small-ticket retailers was predictable and described in detail in this blog and elsewhere.
- [Young Americans May Love Facebook, but Leave Mobile Payments to Banks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/young-americans-may-love-facebook-but-leave-mobile-payments-to-banks/) - Young consumers are giving banks a vote of confidence for managing their mobile payments; social media, technology companies lag behind.
- [Do You Understand Your New Credit Card Agreement?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/do-you-understand-your-new-credit-card-agreement/) - The CARD Act has already succeeded in simplifying credit card agreements and the CFRB is wasting its resources in its attempt to do it all over again.
- [A Brief History of Prepaid Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/a-brief-history-of-prepaid-cards/) - Prepaid cards first appeared in the 1970s; single-purpose cards were adopted by telecoms in the 1980s and were followed by big retailers in the 1990s.
- [7 Tips for Solid Risk Management at E-Commerce Start-ups](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/7-tips-for-solid-risk-management-at-e-commerce-start-ups/) - Everyone involved on operational level in your organization should be well versed in your risk management procedures and be able to implement them.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 82](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-82/) - Card issuers initiate chargeback Reason Code 82 when a merchant processes a single transaction on one of their cards more than once.
- [11 Prepaid Card Facts You Should Know](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/11-prepaid-card-facts-you-should-know/) - Prepaid cards occupy a niche that is largely outside the domains of credit and debit cards, which makes them uniquely well suited for some purposes.
- [Credit Card Debt Falls in 2011, so Do Credit Scores](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-debt-falls-in-2011-so-do-credit-scores/) - Americans reduced credit card debt by 10% in the year to November, to $6,503; credit scores have fallen five points to 661 for the period.
- [Why Cab Drivers Hate Credit Cards, Christmas Edition](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-cab-drivers-hate-credit-cards-christmas-edition/) - Taxi drivers are right to be outraged with exorbitant credit card fees, but the fault lies with cab companies and riders shouldn't pay for it.
- [14 Credit Card Acceptance Rules You Should Stick To](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/14-credit-card-acceptance-rules-you-should-stick-to/) - U.S. merchants are required to comply with a set of basic payment acceptance rules governing all bank card transactions.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 83](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-83/) - Card issuers initiate chargeback Reason Code 83 when a cardholder files a claim that he or she did not authorize or participate in the transaction.
- [12 Tips for Processing Recurring Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/12-tips-for-processing-recurring-payments/) - Recurring payment plans can last for years, during which time many things can and do happen that prevent a monthly payment from being processed.
- [Everything You Need to Know about Credit Card Convenience Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-credit-card-convenience-fees/) - Convenience fees are surcharges to payments made with bank cards - a practice that is typically not allowed - and yet, industry rules permit them.
- [How to Screen Fraudulent Small-Ticket E-Commerce Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-screen-fraudulent-small-ticket-e-commerce-transactions/) - The point of implementing fraud screening procedures is to ensure that we don't spend more trying to prevent it than what makes sense.
- [What Virtual Terminal Is and Who It Is For](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-virtual-terminal-is-and-who-it-is-for/) - Virtual terminal is a web-based service that collects, encrypts and transmits payment information between a merchant and its processor.
- [The Month in Numbers - December 2011](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-month-in-numbers-december-2011/) - The eight most newsworthy and insightful credit card-related statistics of December 2011, presented in graphs, tables, infographics and charts.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Hit an All-Time Low](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-hit-an-all-time-low/) - The U.S. credit card delinquency rate reached an all-time low of 3.03% in November; the average charge-off rate rose by 0.17% to 5.38%.
- [5 Tips for Authorizing Card-Present Transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/5-tips-for-authorizing-card-present-transactions/) - Authorization is the process through which issuers approve or decline a credit card transaction. Here are five tips for you on how to manage it.
- [Citibank Socializes Credit Card Rewards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/citibank-socializes-credit-card-rewards/) - Citibank has launched a Facebook app that allows its customers to pool their credit card rewards to be used in a shared project.
- [Why Are Credit Card Interest Rates at Record Highs?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-are-credit-card-interest-rates-at-record-highs/) - Sub-prime credit card issuance is increasing at a much faster rate than non-sub-prime issuance, pushing up the average national APR in the process.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 85](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-85/) - Reason Code 85 chargebacks result when a cardholder returned merchandise or cancelled services, but the merchant did not issue a credit.
- [Should We All Ditch Our Credit Cards and Opt for Cash Instead?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/should-we-all-ditch-our-credit-cards-and-opt-for-cash-instead/) - I refuse to be scared into ditching my credit cards and opt for cash instead. I choose to keep using them and be rewarded for it.
- [How to Authenticate Cardholders in 4 Quick Steps](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-authenticate-cardholders-in-4-quick-steps/) - It takes seconds to authenticate cardholders and there is no excuse for not doing it. The alternative is equivalent to accommodating fraud.
- [U.S. Credit Card Use up at Fastest Rate since Lehman Fall](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-use-up-at-fastest-rate-since-lehman-fall/) - The aggregate volume of U.S. consumer credit card debt surged by 8.5%, or $5.6 billion, in November, its third consecutive monthly increase.
- [5 Tips for Choosing the Best Credit Card You Can Get and Using It Wisely](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/5-tips-for-choosing-the-best-credit-card-you-can-get-and-using-it-wisely/) - At its core, credit card debt management is all about common sense, which is all you need to keep it in check and make it work in your favor.
- [Why Suze Orman's Prepaid Card Is a Non-Event](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-suze-ormans-prepaid-card-is-a-non-event/) - Suze Orman's is a good prepaid card, as prepaid cards go, but it should only be your third- or second-best choice, depending on your circumstances.
- [U.S. Merchant Accounts for India-Based Companies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-merchant-accounts-for-india-based-companies/) - We love doing business with India-based merchants. Identifying the right solution is often challenging, but we are getting better at it all the time.
- [Why You Should Use Credit Cards as Debit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-you-should-use-credit-cards-as-debit-cards/) - Using a credit card like a debit card - only using it when you have enough funds to fully pay off the sales amount - will help improve credit score over time.
- [Americans Get 4B New Credit Card Offers in 2011, but Are We Interested?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-get-4b-new-credit-card-offers-in-2011-but-are-we-interested/) - Card issuers mailed out a grand total of four billion credit card offers in 2011, the most since 2007 and three times as many as they did in 2009.
- [Zappos Is Giving Us a Lesson on Managing a Data Breach](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/zappos-is-giving-us-a-lesson-on-managing-a-data-breach/) - Zappos is giving us a lesson on managing a data breach that everyone who may ever have to deal with the issue should look to for guidance.
- [Settlement May Cut Credit Card Interchange Fees, Consumers Beware](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/settlement-may-cut-credit-card-interchange-fees-consumers-beware/) - A huge antitrust case filed by 5M retailers against Visa, MasterCard and 13 of their member banks could lead to a cut in credit card interchange fees.
- [How Do You Say 'PayPal Made by American Express' in Chinese?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-do-you-say-paypal-made-by-american-express-in-chinese/) - American Express is licensing its PayPal-like Serve payment platform to a big Chinese mobile payments provider and that makes perfect business sense.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 86](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-86/) - Card issuers initiate chargeback Reason Code 86 when a cardholder files a claim stating that he or she paid for the transaction by other means.
- [Suze Orman's Prepaid Card Will Not Affect Your Credit Score](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/suze-ormans-prepaid-card-will-not-affect-your-credit-score/) - Suze Orman doesn't make it clear and she appears to hint otherwise, but the fact is that her prepaid card doesn't affect your credit score in any way.
- [Who Collects Your Debit Card Fees?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/who-collects-your-debit-card-fees/) - Every time you use your debit card, your card's issuer collects a fee, but so does the company that enables the merchant to accept your card payment.
- [The Zappos Data Breach 10 Days On: The Lessons Continue](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-zappos-data-breach-10-days-on-the-lessons-continue/) - Zappos' response to the data breach crisis has been exceptional, but the real good news is that Zappos customers have suffered no lasting damage.
- [Card.io vs. Jack Dorsey's Square: Scan It or Swipe It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/card-io-vs-jack-dorseys-square-scan-it-or-swipe-it/) - Card.io's success, or lack thereof, will be decided by how favorably its credit card acceptance service compares to Square's, as perceived by users.
- [Prepaid vs. Debit: Which One Is Better?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-vs-debit-which-one-is-better/) - Prepaid is the best card only if no other option is available. Debit cards are a better alternative for consumers who can open a checking account.
- [How to Manage Chargeback Reason Code 96](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-chargeback-reason-code-96/) - Card issuers initiate chargeback Reason Code 96 when they receive a transaction that exceeds the maximum allowed amount at a self-operated terminal.
- [Late Payments on Credit Cards Hit an All-Time Low in the U.S.](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/late-payments-on-credit-cards-hit-an-all-time-low-in-the-u-s/) - The U.S. credit card delinquency rate reached a new all-time low of 2.91% in December; the aggregate charge-off rate fell by 0.34% to 5.04%.
- [How Would You Respond if You Were Forced to Pay a Debit Card Fee?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-would-you-respond-if-you-were-forced-to-pay-a-debit-card-fee/) - Much to the chagrin of many consumers, their payment preferences are shifting precisely in the direction that is most favorable to the card issuers.
- [The Month in Numbers - January 2012](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-month-in-numbers-january-2012/) - Infographics dominate the January 2012 edition of our new rubric -- The Month in Numbers. Their creators have really put their imagination to work.
- [M-Payments Provider Wants to Talk to You, before Accepting Your Payment](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/m-payments-provider-wants-to-talk-to-you-before-accepting-your-payment/) - Shazam's mobile payments platform would enable a cardholder to make a payment only after she first receives a call and confirms her identity.
- [How to Know When You Are Taken for a Ride, Credit Card Fee Edition](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-know-when-you-are-taken-for-a-ride-credit-card-fee-edition/) - Self-proclaimed "new-age" payment processors are employing some of the worst practices, and charging some of the highest fees, the industry is known for.
- [How to Manage Transaction Retrieval Requests](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-manage-transaction-retrieval-requests/) - When a card issuer needs to obtain information about a transaction charged to one of its cardholders, it sends a retrieval request to the merchant.
- [How Criminals Can Steal Your Credit Card without Ever Touching It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-criminals-can-steal-your-credit-card-without-ever-touching-it/) - Criminals are exploiting the wireless capability of your credit card to read your account information without ever touching the card itself.
- [Did Zappos Get a Lucky Break in Its Data Breach?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/did-zappos-get-a-lucky-break-in-its-data-breach/) - Was Zappos lucky that its hackers did not get access to its customers' credit card and other payment information or was the retailer well prepared?
- [Citi Goes to China, Will Issue Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/citi-goes-to-china-will-issue-credit-cards/) - Citi is the first Western bank to be allowed to issue credit cards in China under its own name, but the bank still faces huge challenges there.
- [U.S. Credit Card Debt on the Rise Again, up for 4<sup>th</sup> Straight Month](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-debt-on-the-rise-again-up-for-4th-straight-month/) - The aggregate volume of U.S. consumer credit card debt rose by 4.1%, or $2.8 billion, in December, its fourth consecutive monthly increase.
- [Facebook Signs Mobile Payments Deal, Battles with Apple, Google Loom](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/facebook-signs-mobile-payments-deal-battles-with-apple-google-loom/) - Facebook signs a deal with a mobile payments provider that would enable users to buy Facebook apps and charge the sale's amount to their phone bills.
- [How to Minimize Transaction Retrieval Requests](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-minimize-transaction-retrieval-requests/) - Retrieval requests should be kept below 0.5% of total sales and there are several best practices you can implement to help you achieve that goal.
- [App Cracks Your Google Wallet PIN in Seconds](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/app-cracks-your-google-wallet-pin-in-seconds/) - An app enables anyone to retrieve your Google Wallet PIN, if they can get their hands on your phone. There is even a video to show you how it's done.
- [How the Acceptance of U.S. Credit Cards in Europe Will Reduce Fraud Losses](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-the-acceptance-of-u-s-credit-cards-in-europe-will-reduce-fraud-losses/) - The planned adoption of chip-and-PIN cards in the U.S. next year will reduce fraud and will also cure our headaches at European credit card checkouts.
- [PayPal Is Coming to Your Grocery Store](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-is-coming-to-your-grocery-store/) - PayPal is offering subsidized credit card processing to physical retailers in a direct challenge to Visa's and MasterCard's dominance of the market.
- [Facebook Credits Will not Replace Credit Cards, but Will Challenge Payment Processors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/facebook-credits-will-not-replace-credit-cards-but-will-challenge-payment-processors/) - Facebook will not displace credit cards, used for the purchasing of many of its credits, but the social network will compete with payment processors.
- [Why PayPal's Coming to Your Grocery Store Irks Visa and MasterCard](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-paypals-coming-to-your-grocery-store-irks-visa-and-mastercard/) - Making merchants an offer they can't refuse, PayPal is once again challenging Visa and MasterCard in their own backyard. And I like PayPal's chances.
- [What Every Merchant Should Know about Transaction Receipts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-should-know-about-transaction-receipts/) - Transaction receipts must contain all of the information needed to describe the associated transactions and be provided to cardholders per request.
- [Credit Card Rates and Fees: What Your Bank Can and Cannot Do](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-rates-and-fees-what-your-bank-can-and-cannot-do/) - The rules on credit card rates and fees brought about by the CARD Act achieved the goal of protecting consumers against unfair credit card practices.
- [Why Square Is Winning the Mobile Payments War](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-square-is-winning-the-mobile-payments-war/) - It is no surprise that Square is winning the mobile payments war. The company has put everything on the table and is hiding nothing underneath it.
- [Who Loses from Credit Card Fraud?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/who-loses-from-credit-card-fraud/) - US card issuers absorb 59% of bank card fraud losses, 41% belong to the merchants. The fraud rate will decline when we switch to EMV cards next year.
- [Barclays Pingit Shows why Dwolla-like Start-ups Stand no Chance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/barclays-pingit-shows-why-dwolla-like-start-ups-stand-no-chance/) - Barclays' Pingit shows why Dwolla's business model of facilitating instantaneous P2P payments stands no chance against what the big banks can offer.
- [One-upping Google, Facebook Has Become a Payments Platform](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/one-upping-google-facebook-has-become-a-payments-platform/) - Exploiting its monopolistic status as the sole issuer and processor of its virtual currency, Facebook has found a second major revenue source in payment fees.
- [The CFPB, Penalty Boxes, Highlighting and the Issue with Overdraft Fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-cfpb-penalty-boxes-highlighting-and-the-issue-with-overdraft-fees/) - The CFPB wants to have overdraft fees listed in a "penalty fee box" on consumers' checking account statements; it is a waste of government resources.
- [What Every Merchant Needs to Know about Exception Items](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-every-merchant-needs-to-know-about-exception-items/) - Exceptions are alternative processes for recovering credit card transaction funds that are handled outside of the chargeback processing cycle.
- [Cab Drivers vs. Credit Cards, Data Security Concern Edition](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/cab-drivers-vs-credit-cards-data-security-concern-edition/) - Cabbies don't like credit cards and will employ ingenious tricks to dissuade you from using them, as a story in Dallas demonstrates.
- [A Non-News from Isis Tells Us why Google Leads the Digital Wallet Field](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/a-non-news-from-isis-tells-us-why-google-leads-the-digital-wallet-field/) - Mobile wallet start-up Isis has announced a partnership with three card issuers, while it should be building relationships with its future users.
- [Facebook Partners with Carriers, Moves toward Closed-Loop Payments Platform](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/facebook-partners-with-carriers-moves-toward-closed-loop-payments-platform/) - Developing its own direct billing system, Facebook is moving toward a closed-loop payments platform in which there is no room for outsiders like BOKU.
- [U.S. Credit Card Defaults Fall to Lowest Level in 4 Years](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-defaults-fall-to-lowest-level-in-4-years/) - The U.S. charge-off rate fell to 4.98% in January, the lowest level since November 2007; the credit card delinquency rate rose slightly to 2.93%.
- [Challenging Google Wallet, BOKU Makes the NFC Field Even More Crowded](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/challenging-google-wallet-boku-makes-the-nfc-field-even-more-crowded/) - BOKU's new NFC-based mobile payments service is not nearly as appealing to consumers as Google's Wallet, but merchants will find it irresistible.
- [The Month in Numbers - February 2012](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-month-in-numbers-february-2012/) - The Month in Numbers tells us that China is going through an explosion in the number of active credit card; Facebook has become a payments platform.
- [How Banks Are Recouping Lost Debit Card Fee Revenue](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-banks-are-recouping-lost-debit-card-fee-revenue/) - The big banks are making progress toward recouping the huge revenue losses that resulted from the enactment of the CARD Act and the Durbin Amendment.
- [The Cost of Regulation: Free Checking Gone, Bank Fees Up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-cost-of-regulation-free-checking-gone-bank-fees-up/) - The Durbin Amendment and other regulation have caused banking fees to rise by 26% in the past decade, free checking accounts are largely gone.
- [Square Register and the Issue with Credit Card Processing Rates](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/square-register-and-the-issue-with-credit-card-processing-rates/) - Square is targeting bigger merchants with its new Register app, but to make its offering appealing the company will have to adjust its pricing model.
- [Americans Look for, Get More New Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-look-for-get-more-new-credit-cards/) - The number of open credit card accounts rose in 2011 Q4, but is still 22% below its 2008 Q2 peak and balances are 19.1% below their 2008 Q4 high.
- [Why Americans Slash Credit Card Debt, Even as Overall Indebtedness Rises](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-americans-slash-credit-card-debt-even-as-overall-indebtedness-rises/) - Americans are using their credit cards more freely than at any time since the financial crisis struck, but they are also repaying them much faster.
- [How to Keep Your Customers' Debit Card PINs Secure](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-keep-your-customers-debit-card-pins-secure/) - Compliance with 5 PIN security requirements is critical to a merchant's ability to protect customers' PINs from falling into the wrong hands.
- [Tabbedout Gives PayPal another Entry into Physical Checkouts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tabbedout-gives-paypal-another-entry-into-physical-checkouts/) - PayPal takes another stab at the brick-and-mortar checkout with help from Tabbedout, a start-up facilitating mobile payments at restaurants and bars.
- [Google Wallet and the Bane of Multiple Payment Choices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-wallet-and-the-bane-of-multiple-payment-choices/) - Google is forcing Android app developers to only accept its Wallet for payment and charges 30% of the sales amount, racking up huge profits.
- [Can Credit Cards Be Crowdsourced?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/can-credit-cards-be-crowdsourced/) - Barclaycard Ring cardholders get a voice in setting the terms of their credit cards and a chance to be sharing in the bank's profits from the program.
- [Tweet Your Way to Credit Card Rewards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tweet-your-way-to-credit-card-rewards/) - In exchange for a promotional tweet about a discount, American Express rewards its customers by allowing them to get the discount they tweeted about.
- [Who Pays for Your Credit Card Rewards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/who-pays-for-your-credit-card-rewards/) - For as long as rewards programs are available, it makes no sense for consumers who can get approved for rewards cards to choose regular ones.
- [Why You Should Use MasterCard SecureCode and How to Do It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-you-should-use-mastercard-securecode-and-how-to-do-it/) - MasterCard SecureCode is a cardholder authentication system that protects merchants from the type of chargebacks they are most likely to suffer from.
- [PayPal Here vs. Square: What's the Difference?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypal-here-vs-square-whats-the-difference/) - PayPal has finally released a Square-like mobile phone-based credit card acceptance service, which stacks up pretty well against its opponent.
- [Chargebacks and Why It Pays to Use a Credit Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/chargebacks-and-why-it-pays-to-use-a-credit-card/) - The chargeback process favors consumers, giving them the best insurance for getting their money back when a credit card transaction goes wrong.
- [More on PayPal Here vs. Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/more-on-paypal-here-vs-square/) - PayPal Here has set new standards for the industry and there may even be a question of whether Square, big as it already is, will manage to keep up.
- [Eventbrite Shows Us how to Become a Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/eventbrite-shows-us-how-to-become-a-square/) - Eventbrite At The Door shows us how easily certain B2B service providers can turn into a Square or PayPal Here, under the right circumstances.
- [Google Wallet's Survival Strategy: Bribe the Carriers or Sidestep Them](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/google-wallets-survival-strategy-bribe-the-carriers-or-sidestep-them/) - Google doesn't really need to share revenues with the carriers. If payments could be reliably authenticated without the carriers' help, why do it?
- [How Visa Account Updater Works and How Much It Should Cost You](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-visa-account-updater-works-and-how-much-it-should-cost-you/) - Visa Account Updater enables merchants that process transactions from filed information to keep this information current by automatically updating it.
- [American Express and the Prepaid Way to Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-and-the-prepaid-way-to-credit-cards/) - American Express' prepaid card gives users with a good track record a chance to upgrade to a credit card, even if their credit scores are sub-par.
- [Credit Card Rewards Are Better than Ever](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-rewards-are-better-than-ever/) - There are issuers out there who are luring customers with $1,000 sign-up bonuses and there is really no good reason to turn down such an offer.
- [Are Facebook and Twitter Enablers for the Credit Card Companies?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/are-facebook-and-twitter-enablers-for-the-credit-card-companies/) - Rather than trying to push issuers out of Twitter and Facebook, we should be teaching youngsters how to take advantage of what they have to offer.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall to Lowest Level Ever](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-fall-to-lowest-level-ever/) - The U.S. charge-off rate fell to 4.97% in February, the lowest level in 4 years; the credit card delinquency rate dropped to 2.86% -- the lowest ever.
- [Americans Pay down Auto Loans before Credit Cards and Mortgages](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-pay-down-auto-loans-before-credit-cards-and-mortgages/) - Americans gave clear preference in 2011 on remaining current on their auto loans, rather than on their credit cards and mortgages.
- [The Month in Numbers - March 2012](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-month-in-numbers-march-2012/) - The Month in Numbers tells us that Americans are giving paying down auto loans a precedence over credit card and mortgage payments.
- [Why the Unbanked Take out Payday Loans and the Cost of Education](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-the-unbanked-take-out-payday-loans-and-the-cost-of-education/) - Staying out of the traditional financial system is as much a matter of choice and lack of financial education, as it is about being shut out of it.
- [What Criminals Can Do with the Stolen Global Payments Data](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-criminals-can-do-with-the-stolen-global-payments-data/) - The Global Payments hackers may not have been able to gain access to all of the data they needed, but the clean-up process will be hugely expensive.
- [How to Respond to the Global Payments Data Breach](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-to-respond-to-the-global-payments-data-breach/) - Global Payments' data breach should prompt you to act and protect yourself against potential fraud, but not to overreact and create unrelated issues.
- [How Much Card Issuers Lost from the Debit Fee Limit and why You Should Care](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-much-card-issuers-lost-from-the-debit-fee-limit-and-why-you-should-care/) - Some card issuers have been hit very hard by the debit interchange limit, losing hundreds of millions of dollars, while very few have been unaffected.
- [Everything You Need to Know about American Express' Merchant Pricing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-american-express-merchant-pricing/) - American Express's merchant pricing is determined by the business' type and is completely independent of the merchant's choice of processing company.
- [Credit Card Debt Keeps Falling and Americans Aren't Done with It](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-debt-keeps-falling-and-americans-arent-done-with-it/) - The decrease in credit card debt is a positive development and all the indications are that we will be seeing more of it in the coming months.
- [Debit Interchange Fee Chutzpah](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/debit-interchange-fee-chutzpah/) - Retailers are suing the Federal Reserve for not setting the debit interchange fee limit low enough. Fortunately, they are unlikely to win.
- [Starbucks 'Mobile Pay' Is a Huge Hit, but There Is a Better Way](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/starbucks-mobile-pay-is-a-huge-hit-but-there-is-a-better-way/) - Starbucks has processed 42 million Mobile Pay transactions to date, but its service is not the most consumer-friendly way to do mobile payments.
- [Why Banks Want to Give You Credit Cards after Bankruptcy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-banks-want-to-give-you-credit-cards-after-bankruptcy/) - Card issuers are willing to lend to the recently bankrupt because they can't file for another bankruptcy for several years after the latest discharge.
- [Credit Card Sign-up Bonuses Twice Bigger than a Year Ago](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/credit-card-sign-up-bonuses-twice-bigger-than-a-year-ago/) - Cash-back bonuses to new cardholders have doubled in Q1 2012, compared to Q1 2011, and rewards programs, in general, have become much more generous.
- [21 Confusing Payment Processing Terms Defined](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/21-confusing-payment-processing-terms-defined/) - Listed below are the definitions of 21 payment processing terms that are often used in a wrong context or plainly misunderstood.
- [Does Calculating Your Debt Help Reduce It?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/does-calculating-your-debt-help-reduce-it/) - You should compare how much each college on your list would cost you, but getting financial aid is becoming absolutely necessary.
- [Why Higher Fees on Sub-Prime Credit Cards Are Justified](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-higher-fees-on-sub-prime-credit-cards-are-justified/) - The CFPB has abandoned a plan to limit the upfront fees on new credit cards. It is the right decision and the agency should not be afraid to say so.
- [How Credit Cards Are Replacing Coupons](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-credit-cards-are-replacing-coupons/) - Card-linked offers work much like coupons, but without the pieces of paper; you swipe your card and then the rebate is added to your cash-back bonus.
- [What Type of a Payment Card Should You Give to Your College Student?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-type-of-a-payment-card-should-you-give-to-your-college-student/) - A year ago prepaid cards were the domain of second-tier issuers, but have greatly improved and have become worthy competitors to debit and credit.
- [Barclaycard's New Mobile Payment Service Is Simple, but Inadequate](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/barclaycards-new-mobile-payment-service-is-simple-but-inadequate/) - Barclaycard's PayTag is an imperfect copy of a standard credit card and wouldn't make our checkout experience any better or indeed, any different.
- [PayPal's Mobile Payments Services Attract Consumers, Retailers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/paypals-mobile-payments-services-attract-consumers-retailers/) - PayPal gets mobile payments and its success is well-deserved and there is no secret to it. The processor's m-payment offerings are very good!
- [Banking on the Unbanked](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/banking-on-the-unbanked/) - Unbanked consumers are shut out of regular banking services and are left to rely primarily on prepaid cards, check-cashing and utility-payment stores.
- [Student Debt Is Growing at an Accelerating Rate and Other Facts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/student-debt-is-growing-at-an-accelerating-rate-and-other-facts/) - Student debt's rate of growth is still accelerating, even as the growth rate of the median household income has fallen since the recession began.
- [When Credit Card Companies Try Hard to 'Get' Social Media](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/when-credit-card-companies-try-hard-to-get-social-media/) - Barclaycard Ring is a really good payment product and not even a torrent of embarrassingly dumb tweets can have any effect on its rates and fees.
- [How Much Is Your Credit Card Information Worth?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-much-is-your-credit-card-information-worth/) - Authorities should be closing down websites selling credit card data and imposing a fine on Internet Service Providers for hosting an offending site.
- [How Credit, Debit, and Prepaid Cards Measure Up](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/how-credit-debit-and-prepaid-cards-measure-up/) - Credit cards are loans; debit cards let you access your own checking account; prepaid cards draw from the money you deposited with the card's issuer.
- [U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies, Charge-offs Fall to New Record-Lows](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/u-s-credit-card-delinquencies-charge-offs-fall-to-new-record-lows/) - The U.S. charge-off rate fell to 4.94% in March, the lowest level in 5 years; the credit card delinquency rate dropped to 2.73% - the lowest ever.
- [The Month in Numbers - April 2012](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-month-in-numbers-april-2012/) - The Month in Numbers tells us that the student debt total is growing at an accelerating rate; the credit lines of new cards have increased by $20B.
- [M-PESA Is Finally Getting Challenged by the Big Credit Card Companies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/m-pesa-is-finally-getting-challenged-by-the-big-credit-card-companies/) - In contrast to developed countries, being able to use a mobile phone as a bank account and credit card in the third world does make a difference.
- [What Leaky Ducts, Bank Text Alerts and Mobile Payments Have in Common](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/what-leaky-ducts-bank-text-alerts-and-mobile-payments-have-in-common/) - Bank text alerts, finding the nearest ATM, learning how to stop leaky ducts and keep your attic cool are all mobile banking. So are mobile payments.
- [Americans Keep Paying down Old Debt, Get More New Credit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-keep-paying-down-old-debt-get-more-new-credit/) - US consumer debt fell by 12.1% in 2012 Q1 from its 2008 peak and keeps falling, even as consumers are once again beginning to take on more new credit.
- [Pick Your Card: Credit, Debit or Prepaid](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/pick-your-card-credit-debit-or-prepaid/) - If used prudently, credit cards are the most valuable type of bank card, but if you can't control your spending you should stick to prepaid or debit.
- [Payment Security, Ease of Use and Google Wallet](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/payment-security-ease-of-use-and-google-wallet/) - To be successful, Google Wallet will have to prove that it can keep user information safe from hackers and that it is as easy to use as a card swipe.
- [EMV, NFC, Mobile Wallets and Credit Card Fraud Liability](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/emv-nfc-mobile-wallets-and-credit-card-fraud-liability/) - Merchants must upgrade to EMV-compliant point-of-sale terminals by October 2015 or will be liable for any fraud losses incurred at their stores.
- [Now Is the Time to Get Paid for Opening up a New Credit Card](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/now-is-the-time-to-get-paid-for-opening-up-a-new-credit-card/) - Issuers are clamoring to pay you hundreds of dollars to get you to sign up for a card with zero interest for 18 or 21 months. And I see no reason not to do it.
- [Americans Beginning to Use Credit Cards More Freely](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-beginning-to-use-credit-cards-more-freely/) - The latest data indicate that Americans are once again feeling more comfortable using their credit cards and are doing so well within their means.
- [Where Is My Debit Discount?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/where-is-my-debit-discount/) - The Durbin Amendment greatly reduced the amount of debit transaction fees paid by the big-box retail chains. So where is my promised discount?
- [You Can't Get in Trouble with Prepaid](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/you-cant-get-in-trouble-with-prepaid/) - American Express' new prepaid card promises no troubles for college students, but credit and debit cards are the better option for most others.
- [Americans Are Slashing Credit Card Debt and Other Facts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-are-slashing-credit-card-debt-and-other-facts/) - Paying off credit card debt has become a much higher priority for Americans in the post-Lehman world than it has been in a very long time.
- [Prepaid Cards Keep Getting Better](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-cards-keep-getting-better/) - The vastly improved quality of prepaid cards is one of the very few beneficial side effects to come out of the poorly designed debit fee reform.
- [The More You Use Your Debit Card, the Lower Your Credit Score](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/the-more-you-use-your-debit-card-the-lower-your-credit-score/) - Lower credit score indicates a higher probability of holding and using a debit card, and a lower probability of holding and using a credit card.
- [Increased Lending, Higher Balances Lead to Lower Credit Card APRs](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/increased-lending-higher-balances-lead-to-lower-credit-card-aprs/) - Increased credit availability has led to lower credit card interest rates, but the APRs remain very high by recent and historical standards.
- [Squaring up Mobile Payments in Europe](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/squaring-up-mobile-payments-in-europe/) - If Square or PayPal entered the European market tomorrow, iZettle would quickly go the way of the dodo (or MySpace or Google Buzz, if you prefer).
- [Americans Get More Credit Cards, Keep Paying on Time](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/americans-get-more-credit-cards-keep-paying-on-time/) - The U.S. credit card delinquency rate in Q1 2012 fell to 0.73%, credit card debt is also down and Americans are getting more new credit card accounts.
- [Prepaid Cards Are not Debit Cards and Other Facts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/prepaid-cards-are-not-debit-cards-and-other-facts/) - Prepaid cards are often referred to as "prepaid debit cards." That is wrong and can lead to other errors. And, by the way, debit is the better option.
- [Fun, Geolocation and the Starbucks Way to Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/fun-geolocation-and-the-starbucks-way-to-mobile-payments/) - Starbucks' mobile payments strategy is by far the most successful one presently employed by a US retailer, but there will be bumps on the road ahead.
- [Why Square and not Chase and the State of Mobile Payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-square-and-not-chase-and-the-state-of-mobile-payments/) - Those companies that get the transition to mobile payments right stand to benefit enormously in the new world of digital wallets.
- [American Express Takes Its Mobile Wallet to FarmVille](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/american-express-takes-its-mobile-wallet-to-farmville/) - American Express is now offering FarmVille residents a free Money Tree, which can turn from blue to gold and gives back Farm Cash when harvested.
- [Regulating Prepaid Cards, Again](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/regulating-prepaid-cards-again/) - Over the past year prepaid cards have become vastly better than they used to be and now the CFPB wants to ensure that their users are well protected.
- [clearXchange vs. Dwolla Revisited](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/clearxchange-vs-dwolla-revisited/) - Time is running out for Dwolla, but perhaps it could still be acquired by a bank who would use its platform to compete with clearXchange.
- [Why Do You Use Prepaid Cards?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/why-do-you-use-prepaid-cards/) - A large number of American consumers perceive, wrongly, prepaid cards as not just the only available type of payment card, but as the best one.
- [Who Would You Bet on: PayPal or Square?](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/who-would-you-bet-on-paypal-or-square/) - Just as PayPal did a decade ago, Square has created a new subset of the payment industry that caters not to businesses, but to individual consumers.

## Pages

- [Privacy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/privacy/) - Privacy policy - collecting personal information; protecting sensitive data; using web cookies; changing the policy statement; contact information.
- [Terms of Use](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/terms-and-conditions/) - AGREEMENT BETWEEN USER AND UniBul The UniBul Web Site is comprised of various Web pages operated by UniBul. The UniBul Web Site is offered to you conditioned on your acceptance without modification of the terms, conditions, and notices contained herein. Your use of the UniBul Web Site constitutes your agreement to all such terms, conditions,
- [About Us](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/about-us/) - When did we start? The idea for UniBul Merchant Services was conceived in 2004. Its founders were interested in the transformative effects of the internet on the bank card industry and their ongoing discussions led to the official launch of the business in 2007 in Boston. See our management page for more information. What do
- [Privacy Policy](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/privacy-policy/) - Who we are Our website address is: blog.unibulmerchantservices.com. Comments When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided

## Categories

- [Credit Card Processing Blog](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/blog/) - Credit Card Processing Blog provides articles about credit card processing, industry news, insights, and best practices from merchant services experts.
- [Credit Card Processing Gist](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/gist/) - Credit Card Processing Gist provides the latest credit card news, industry developments, data, statistics and tips from leading experts.
- [Our Favorites](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/our-favorites/) - Used for Our Favorites section in the sidebar
- [American Express](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/american-express-amex/)
- [Insurance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/insurance/)
- [Personal Loans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/personal-loans/)
- [Credit Cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/credit-cards/)
- [Personal Finance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/personal-finance/)
- [Small Business](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/small-business/)
- [Amazon](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/category/amazon/)

## Tags

- [merchant accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/merchant-accounts/)
- [Visa](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/visa/)
- [chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/chargebacks/)
- [fraud prevention](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/fraud-prevention/)
- [charge-off](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/charge-off/)
- [credit card debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-debt/)
- [credit card delinquencies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-delinquencies/)
- [online credit card transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/online-credit-card-transactions/)
- [e-commerce](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/e-commerce/)
- [credit card processors](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-processors/)
- [PCI DSS](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/pci-dss/)
- [card issuers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/card-issuers/)
- [credit card processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-processing/)
- [floor limit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/floor-limit/)
- [credit card rules](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-rules/)
- [recurring payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/recurring-payments/)
- [best practices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/best-practices/)
- [processing banks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/processing-banks/)
- [MasterCard](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mastercard/)
- [excessive chargebacks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/excessive-chargebacks/)
- [data security](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/data-security/)
- [credit card information](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-information/)
- [credit card disputes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-disputes/)
- [card security codes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/card-security-codes/)
- [CVV2](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/cvv2/)
- [credit card fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-fees/)
- [interchange fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/interchange-fees/)
- [MasterCard SecureCode](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mastercard-securecode/)
- [credit card transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-transactions/)
- [credit card receipts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-receipts/)
- [transaction authorization](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/transaction-authorization/)
- [Verified by Visa](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/verified-by-visa/)
- [e-commerce best practices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/e-commerce-best-practices/)
- [e-commerce websites](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/e-commerce-websites/)
- [e-commerce merchants](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/e-commerce-merchants/)
- [installment payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/installment-payments/)
- [card-not-present transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/card-not-present-transactions/)
- [credit card acceptance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-acceptance/)
- [credit card fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-fraud/)
- [American Express](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/american-express/)
- [Discover](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/discover/)
- [transaction processing fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/transaction-processing-fees/)
- [Address Verification Service (AVS)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/address-verification-service-avs/)
- [risk exposure](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/risk-exposure/)
- [merchant account applications](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/merchant-account-applications/)
- [e-commerce risk](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/e-commerce-risk/)
- [credit card regulations](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-regulations/)
- [high-risk merchant accounts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/high-risk-merchant-accounts/)
- [card acceptance best practices](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/card-acceptance-best-practices/)
- [card-present transactions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/card-present-transactions/)
- [card security features](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/card-security-features/)
- [Code 10 call](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/code-10-call/)
- [point of sale (POS)](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/point-of-sale-pos/)
- [payment gateway](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/payment-gateway/)
- [risk management](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/risk-management/)
- [cardholder-activated terminals](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/cardholder-activated-terminals/)
- [MO / TO](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mo-to/)
- [return policies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/return-policies/)
- [transaction clearing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/transaction-clearing/)
- [customer service policies](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/customer-service-policies/)
- [billing descriptor](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/billing-descriptor/)
- [chargeback reason codes](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/chargeback-reason-codes/)
- [transaction settlement](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/transaction-settlement/)
- [alternative payment methods](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/alternative-payment-methods/)
- [mobile credit card processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mobile-credit-card-processing/)
- [credit card statistics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-statistics/)
- [prepaid cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/prepaid-cards/)
- [debit card fees](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/debit-card-fees/)
- [mobile payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mobile-payments/)
- [chip and PIN](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/chip-and-pin/)
- [check acceptance](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/check-acceptance/)
- [debit card processing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/debit-card-processing/)
- [gift cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/gift-cards/)
- [credit card rewards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-rewards/)
- [social shopping](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/social-shopping/)
- [credit score](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-score/)
- [student debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/student-debt/)
- [social media](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/social-media/)
- [payday loans](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/payday-loans/)
- [Federal Reserve](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/federal-reserve/)
- [Square](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/square/)
- [Foursquare](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/foursquare/)
- [mobile wallet](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mobile-wallet/)
- [PayPal](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/paypal/)
- [Facebook](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/facebook/)
- [direct billing](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/direct-billing/)
- [consumer debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/consumer-debt/)
- [revolving credit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/revolving-credit/)
- [non-revolving credit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/non-revolving-credit/)
- [credit unions](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-unions/)
- [Durbin Amendment](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/durbin-amendment/)
- [Apple Passbook](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/apple-passbook/)
- [unbanked consumers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/unbanked-consumers/)
- [Google Wallet](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/google-wallet/)
- [CFPB](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/cfpb/)
- [credit card complaints](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-complaints/)
- [loyalty cards](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/loyalty-cards/)
- [credit card skimming](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-skimming/)
- [EMV](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/emv/)
- [mPowa](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/mpowa/)
- [fraud liability](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/fraud-liability/)
- [M-Pesa](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/m-pesa/)
- [credit card interest rates](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/credit-card-interest-rates/)
- [LevelUp](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/levelup/)
- [iZettle](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/izettle/)
- [Barclays](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/barclays/)
- [Isis](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/isis/)
- [Merchant Customer Exchange](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/merchant-customer-exchange/)
- [P2P payments](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/p2p-payments/)
- [household debt](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/household-debt/)
- [Intuit](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/intuit/)
- [Adyen](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/adyen/)
- [Starbucks](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/starbucks/)
- [money transfers](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/money-transfers/)
- [ATM](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/atm/)
- [debit card fraud](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/debit-card-fraud/)
- [China UnionPay](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/china-unionpay/)
- [Dwolla](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/dwolla/)
- [Bitcoin](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/bitcoin/)
- [overdraft](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/overdraft/)
- [infographics](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/infographics/)
- [cash](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/cash/)
- [currency](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/currency/)
- [blogging](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/blogging/)
- [big data](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/big-data/)
- [P2P lending](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/p2p-lending/)
- [reader survey](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/reader-survey/)
- [TransferWise](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/transferwise/)
- [holiday shopping](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/holiday-shopping/)
- [consumer spending](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/consumer-spending/)
- [Stripe](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/stripe/)
- [debt collection](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/debt-collection/)
- [Visa purchase alerts](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/visa-purchase-alerts/)
- [Amazon suspension](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/amazon-suspension/)
- [Amazon seller account](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/amazon-seller-account/)
- [Amazon scam](https://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/tag/amazon-scam/)