BluePay Blog

When looking at a way to expand your business offering, one way to do so is through subscription-based products and services offered through your website. A McKinsey study found that the subscription-based e-commerce market in the U.S. increased from $57 million in 2011 to $2.6 billion in 2016. And, it’s still growing at a considerable rate with more opportunities, especially since consumers are subscribing to everything -- from Netflix and Spotify to phone apps to curated product boxes with snacks, educational toys, food and prepared meals, clothing and makeup, and even pet items.

Topics: Due.com Partner Posts, Recurring Billing and Electronic Invoicing, Small Business Tips, Enterprise Business Tips, Payment Trends

Throughout most of retail history, point-of-sale (POS) technology focused exclusively on payment acceptance — i.e., cash, checks, and credit cards.  Yet, with time and innovation, POS systems became more robust, allowing businesses to:  Accept more payment options — such as ACH and mobile wallets  Collect consumer data and shopping preferences  Manage loyalty programs and rewards

Topics: Payment Technology, Small Business Tips, Enterprise 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

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

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

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

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

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