BluePay Blog

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

It seems like every week there’s a new high-profile data breach that dominates cybersecurity news headlines. Sometimes, these stories bleed into the mainstream as well.  In just the past few years alone, for example, you’ve probably heard about the following cyberattacks:   WannaCry and SamSam ransomware attacks Deloitte and Equifax data breaches Colorado Department of Transportation hack Facebook and Cambridge Analytica breach

Topics: Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention

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

As a business owner, you already know how hard it is to stay abreast of constant changes such as:  New tax laws. Evolving payment technology. Industry trends.  Plus, your company likely releases its own products, services and features on a regular basis. Against this backdrop, who has time to blog?  There are very compelling reasons why you should launch and maintain a blog with regularly updated content.  We’ll start with an obvious one. 

Topics: Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips

According to the American Marketing Association, the average U.S. consumer receives more than 10,000 advertising messages every day. These ads are delivered across a broad range of media, including television, radio, print, email and social networks.  Given this deluge of marketing messages, it’s simply not possible for any individual to sort through all of this information.  This is why we’ve come to rely on heuristics — i.e., mental shortcuts that allow us to get through the clutter. For example, if 10 million people buy the newest book from Dan Brown, you’re more likely to pick up a copy. It must be good.

Topics: Enterprise Business Tips, Small Business Tips

As a business owner, getting hacked is one of the worst things that can happen.  Whether for financial gain, revenge or pure joy, bad actors exploit vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure — and they now have access to your sensitive data:  They do this to steal information (such as credit card numbers). They hold your data hostage until you pay a ransom of some sort. They simply corrupt your system for no reason. 

Topics: ISV/VAR, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Enterprise Business Tips, Small Business Tips

In the retail world, chargebacks are very similar to refunds in that:  Successful sales are ultimately reversed.  “Unhappy” customers get their money back.  Though unlike refunds, chargebacks aren’t something you implement on your end as a merchant.  Instead, they’re initiated by the customer — with or without your consent.  Thanks to consumer protection laws, starting the chargeback process is very easy for customers.

Topics: Small Business Tips, EMV, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, Enterprise Business Tips

Whenever customers are unhappy with products or services, they can request a refund directly from you — the merchant.  This is usually an unpleasant experience, and retailers often go out of their way to avoid issuing refunds. The alternative, however, is much worse.  These dissatisfied customers also have the option of disputing purchases and initiating chargebacks through their banks. The banks then credit those users’ accounts before chasing you down for the outstanding balance. 

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

In the retail world, chargebacks and refunds are often used interchangeably to describe situations in which dissatisfied customers want to reverse purchases and get their money back.  As a merchant, you lose the sales either way — which is why these return policies are so often confused.  Although chargebacks and refunds share much in common, there are major differences between the two. As a retailer, it’s important that you understand how they work — and what steps you can take to reduce their frequency. 

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