BluePay Blog

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 is the entity that authorizes credit card transactions by connecting your bank with the customer’s card-issuing bank.  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

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know that independent software vendors (ISVs) are increasingly expected to provide their end-users with seamless payment functionality.  This isn’t an industry requirement, per se.  But if the applications you design don’t come with payment processing capabilities, then perspective customers will simply find an ISV that can provide these things.

Topics: Software and Payment Integration, Payment Technology, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, ISV/VAR

Open source contamination is the bane of many independent software vendors (ISVs). If even a tiny snippet of open source code makes it into your build, the entire application might legally be reclassified as “open source.”  To avoid this, developers must invest a lot of time creating bespoke code entirely from scratch. As an ISV, there’s another type of “contamination” of which you need to be aware — one that has to do with payment security. Or more specifically, PCI compliance. 

Topics: Software and Payment Integration, Payment Technology, PCI Compliance and Fraud Prevention, ISV/VAR

As an independent software vendor (ISV), you already know that end users expect turn-key solutions that work out of the box. The more tightly you can integrate payments with the solutions you provide, the fewer headaches your clients will face. That’s because there won’t be as many interoperability issues or moving parts for them to handle.  Meeting your end users’ expectations will require extra effort and development time. That’s no small feat — especially if you have limited resources. 

Topics: Software and Payment Integration, Payment Technology, ISV/VAR

Modern marketing has changed a lot since the early days of television. Advertisers used to blast generic messages to the masses (hence the term “mass marketing”). They hoped enough people were watching at that precise moment to receive those messages.  Fast forward 70 years. There now exists any number of technologies that allow companies to send highly targeted, location-independent messages to potential users. 

Topics: E-Commerce and Online Payments, Payment Technology, Payment Trends, ISV/VAR

By now, you’ve probably already heard of Bitcoin — the world’s first cryptocurrency. This decentralized form of electronic cash allows users to make peer-to-peer payments anonymously.  Though despite this anonymity, all Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a public ledger that everyone can see. This makes the cryptocurrency very difficult to manipulate or steal.  Moreover, no single entity controls Bitcoin — making it immune from government or regulatory oversight. In addition, only 21 million Bitcoins will ever come into existence (through a process known as “mining”). This means the digital currency is less likely to suffer from runaway inflation.

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

Independent software vendors (ISVs) are expected to deliver cutting-edge solutions to a diverse range of clients. Equally important, the software programs they develop should provide users with a seamless experience — devoid of interoperability issues, glitches and steep learning curves.  It’s a tough industry — one that only continues to become more competitive every day. 

Topics: Payment Technology, ISV/VAR

Google Assistant is a voice-activated tool that comes preinstalled on Android phones and a number of Google-branded smart home devices. iPhone users can also download this voice-activated technology as a dedicated app.  To begin using Google Assistant, you only need to say, “Hey Google” or “OK Google.” Then, you can voice any number of commands, whether you want to:

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

With nearly 20 percent market share, Fitbit is arguably the most popular wearable technology in the world. These personal fitness trackers can monitor everything from your heart rate to steps taken to sleep patterns. With more than 25 million active users, Fitbit continues to rake in billions of dollars every year — all through sales of its wearable devices.  But the company believes its Fitbit can become more than just a fitness tracker. In 2018, it added mobile payments to its growing line of wearable tech.

Topics: EMV, Payment Technology, Small Business Tips, Payment Trends

With the introduction of voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa and OK Google, users were finally liberated from the mouse and keyboard. Instead of typing queries, users can simply speak their choices, whether they want to:  Do an Internet search Jump to the next song Raise the thermostat  Voice-activated shopping has also flourished in recent years. In 2017, sales made through voice assistants approached $2 billion. By 2022, experts believe that number could exceed $40 billion — in just the United States and United Kingdom alone. 

Topics: Payment Technology, Payment Trends