BluePay Blog

Valentine’s Day may not receive as much fanfare as other shopping holidays like Black Friday. Though according to the National Retail Federation, this annual celebration (on Feb. 14) brings in nearly $20 billion for retailers and restaurants across the country.

Topics: Mobile Payments, E-Commerce and Online Payments, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Fun Posts, Payment Trends

When Amazon launched in 1994, it faced an uphill battle. The online retailer was going up against established brick-and-mortar titans such as Borders and Barnes & Noble — both of which had vast networks of stores from coast to coast.  This real estate advantage soon became a liability as e-commerce continued to evolve. Amazon was able to avoid many of the costly staffing, rental and utility expenses that brick-and-mortar stores have to pay. 

Topics: B2B, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Trends

Every organization that captures, processes, stores, transmits, or affects credit card data is expected to comply with the security guidelines established by the Payment Card Industry (PCI).  These data security rules apply to multinationals, small shops and nonprofits alike. Failure to become PCI-compliant can lead to hefty fines for that organization.  Equally important, these guidelines continue to evolve over time as criminals develop newer and smarter data breaching techniques.

Topics: Software and Payment Integration, EMV, E-Commerce and Online Payments, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention

Every year, millions of Canadians wake bright and early on December 26th and brave the potentially bone-chilling weather to reach their local shopping mall or big box store. Why? Because it’s Boxing Day — a British tradition co-opted by its former colony and now a statutory holiday that sees retailers offering rock-bottom prices and consumers willing to spend big.

Topics: E-Commerce and Online Payments, Small Business Tips

In today’s day and age, accepting credit card payments is essential to the success of your business. The technology and processes working in the background of electronic transaction processing can be quite complicated. You may have heard the terms Payment Processor and Payment Gateway. What do they mean? Do you need them for your payment processing solution?

Topics: E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology, Getting Started with Payments, Awareness

Every year, YouTube compiles an ever-growing list of Black Friday montages in which crazed shoppers fight over heavily discounted items.  Most of the videos take place at big box stores, which is where large crowds tend to congregate. But Black Friday is a major cash cow for all retailers — big and small. In fact, more than 100 million people brave the madness (in-person) every year. That’s just on a single day.  Millions more go shopping on Small Business Saturday, generating $15-plus billion  in sales for local retailers.

Topics: Mobile Payments, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Fun Posts, Small Business Tips

Baseball enthusiasts may disagree, but when you run the numbers, “retail therapy” is officially America’s favorite pastime. As a nation, we love going to the mall, window-shopping, and coming home with new gadgets and toys.  At least, this used to be the case.  In recent years, this time-honored tradition has evolved as retailers increasingly welcome a new breed of American consumer — one whose shopping preferences and technological knowhow are vastly different from anything we knew before. 

Topics: B2B, Mobile Payments, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Small Business Tips, Payment Trends

Since American Express started Small Business Saturday in 2010, it has grown in popularity with consumers around the country. Although there was a slight dip in spend from 2016 to 2017, the shopping holiday is recognized by 70 percent of U.S. consumers. Last Year's Recap American Express found that approximately 108 million consumers chose small businesses on Small Business Saturday in 2017. It also included record support from communities, organizations, and businesses. There were 7,200 Neighborhood Champions, and 2.1 million small businesses that joined the Small Business Saturday Coalition.

Topics: Due.com Partner Posts, Mobile Payments, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Small Business Tips

The BluePay Blog is dedicated to providing you with useful information to help you understand payments, learn best business practices, or stay attuned to security concerns. We continually publish new content, averaging over 125 posts annually. We took a look at our blog to see which posts resonate with our visitors. Here is a list of our top 10 popular blog posts. If you haven’t read them yet, click on the links below.

Topics: E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips, Getting Started with Payments, Awareness

Logging into websites is a time-honored ritual with which we’re all familiar:  You enter your username (or email)  You type in your password (or PIN)  And you’re in.  However, it’s fairly easy for criminals to hack this process. This is especially true if you use weak passwords such as “1234” or “password.”  For this reason, many websites now require that you use a combination of the following when generating secure passwords:

Topics: Financial Institutions, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention