BluePay Blog

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

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

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

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

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

On-demand is a recent addition to many brick-and-mortar businesses that has gained popularity for the convenience factor it offers shoppers. The result has been an increase in the service experience scores of many retailers. These retailers allow customers to order online or through a mobile app. Then, they can pick up those items in a nearby store on their preferred schedule. 

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

Weaving payment tools into the applications you build was once seen as a major cost for independent software vendors (ISVs):  You have to invest more development time to integrate payments. Your clients become more exposed to security risk (i.e., fraud). You have to worry about payment-related patches and updates.  While these costs haven’t disappeared, the ability to provide a frictionless payment experience allows you to reach a much larger audience. End-users want turn-key solutions, not patchworks of third-party add-ons. 

Topics: ISV/VAR, Consideration, Software and Payment Integration, E-Commerce and Online Payments

Payment gateway technology captures credit card and ACH data from customers and sends this information to payment processors for authorization.  The sheer number of payment gateway options is enormous. Each solution has slightly different features, benefits and add-ons from which to choose.

Topics: Consideration, Getting Started with Payments, Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips, Software and Payment Integration, Payment Technology, E-Commerce and Online Payments

There are three essential components you need to bring together to accept credit cards:  A merchant account. This is essentially a bank account that allows you to accept incoming credit card payments.  A payment processor. This term is used interchangeably with merchant account provider. When you apply for an account to accept payments, your provider will set you up with an acquiring bank and the connections to authorize and settle transactions into your bank account of choice. A payment gateway. This is the tool that captures credit card data before sending it to your processor. Think of it as an “online” credit card terminal. 

Topics: Merchant Accounts, Getting Started with Payments, Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology

Reaching a larger target audience online and creating lifelong customers is a game changer for small business owners like freelancers, startup founders, and even established brick-and-mortar retailers. Online payment technology has led to fast and convenient checkouts so customers enjoy a great experience with you.  However, there's just one problem -- and it's a big one: online identity fraud.

Topics: PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, E-Commerce and Online Payments, Due.com Partner Posts