BluePay Blog

In the United States, we hear about credit card fraud all the time — usually presented as horrifying statistics. For example: Fraudulent losses from online credit card transactions now exceed $6.4 billion annually. Retailers lose an estimated $16 billion from chargeback (or “friendly”) fraud globally. Ultimately, these are just numbers. It sometimes helps to put faces to these statistics to truly understand the scope of this growing problem.

Topics: PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Consumer Education

What do you do when:  Your App Store brings in $11 billion annually?  You’ve sold more than 2 billion phones worldwide?  You’re company’s valuation exceeds $1 trillion?  The answer is simple.  You go into mobile payments, of course. That’s precisely what Apple did with the introduction of Apple Pay — a virtual wallet that allows users to link credit cards to their phones, whether they’re shopping:  On an e-commerce site  Within the App Store  In-person at a retail store

Topics: Payment Technology, Payment Trends, Consumer Education

According to The  Nilson Report, payment cards generate more than $6.5 trillion in purchase volume annually in the U.S.  That’s a lot of money.  As a merchant, it obviously makes sense to add “plastic” to your list of accepted payment options. Doing so allows you to tap into this multitrillion-dollar pie.However, this volume includes many types of plastic, with credit cards generating the largest share at $3.7 trillion a year.

Topics: Small Business Tips, Getting Started with Payments, Awareness, Consumer Education

Radiofrequency identification (RFID) is a type of wireless technology used to communicate with items over short distances. Warehouses and stores, for example, often use RFID tagging to track inventory.  However, many credit cards use a subset of RFID technology — known as near field communication (NFC) — to initiate contactless payments.

Topics: PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Consumer Education

Credit reporting agencies (aka credit bureaus) are responsible for collecting consumer credit data that businesses then use when assessing a person’s ability to meet certain financial obligations: A bank, for example, might use a borrower’s credit score to determine what interest rates to charge. The lower the score, the greater the risk of not being paid back. As such, that lender would likely charge a higher interest rate.

Topics: Awareness, Consumer Education

March is National Credit Awareness Month — that special time of year when everyone is encouraged to sort their finances and climb out of debt.  To accomplish either of these goals, improving your personal credit score is essential.  Ranging anywhere from 300 to 850, credit scores may seem somewhat arbitrary. After all, how can you accurately capture a person’s financial health with a simple three-digit number?

Topics: Small Business Tips, Awareness, Consumer Education

Americans have a love/hate relationship with debt. Credit cards and cheap financing allow us to enjoy perks we wouldn’t normally be able to afford. Yet, as the numbers below illustrate, this convenience and access can quickly get out of control.  Nationwide, total household debt is now approaching $13 trillion — an amount that has steadily risen over the past four years.

Topics: Small Business Tips, Awareness, Consumer Education