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Online Poker in Delaware

Online Poker in Delaware [2025 Update]

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On Tuesday, February 25, 2014, Nevada and Delaware lawmakers signed a landmark agreement to join the states together in online poker ventures, potentially increasing payouts for residents who gamble online. The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware established a legal framework for the first authorized interstate Internet gambling.

The legislation opened up a landmark new initiative for the two states. Delaware officials supported this venture in the hope that revenues from online poker in Delaware, blackjack, and slots would help boost revenue in the state’s three brick-and-mortar casinos. Competition in those real-world casinos has risen significantly because of the appearance of new facilities in surrounding states. This increased competition has affected overall state revenues from gambling and prompted Delaware lawmakers to seek out other revenue streams like online gambling.

Nevada has three online poker websites: Ultimate Poker, which is owned by a subsidiary of Station Casinos; WSOP.com, which is aligned with the World Series of Poker; and Real Gaming, which is owned by South Point. Delaware’s websites are controlled by the state’s three racetrack casinos and run on 888’s platform.

Online Poker in Delaware

The potential boost to Delaware’s economy from this move is unclear. Delaware officials predicted that online gambling would generate up to $5 million in state tax revenue in its first year. Those officials have since scaled back that forecast after some technical difficulties and slow take-up online.

Eilers Research gaming analyst Adam Krejcik told investors that Delaware’s current numbers “have been nothing short of a disaster.”

According to the Delaware Lottery, the state brought in $145,200 in revenue from online gaming in January, following $140,000 in December and $111,000 in November.

Nevada hasn’t broken out online poker revenues in the state’s monthly figures, but Union Gaming Group estimated the revenues were between $200,000 and $750,000 each month.

Online Poker in Delaware: Already Opposition

Opposition to online poker in Delaware

On top of the consternation over the economic impact of this partnership is mounting opposition to the law. On March 26, 2014 members of both parties in Congress supported a ban on online gambling. This bipartisan ban comes just mere months after Delaware’s online gambling system went live and a few short weeks after Delaware and Nevada signed The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement.

Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers introduced legislation in the House and Senate aimed at banning online gambling, setting the stage for a two-pronged battle in Congress. The measures are aimed at reversing a 2011 decision by Attorney General Eric Holder that a 1961 law used in recent years to curb Internet gaming only barred sports betting. The bills would broaden the prohibition to where it stood before Holder’s ruling.

The Other Shoe Drops

So after Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada leaped into the space created by the Holder ruling, creating online gambling systems, both Delaware and Nevada teamed up to allow their customers to play against each other in a virtual environment. But before this entire endeavor really gets going, Congress is looking to ban it outright. One key component to why the customer interest is lackluster has to do with something extremely basic (and relevant to The Official Merchant Services Blog): Credit Card Acceptance!

According to uspoker.com, the lack of credit card acceptance is one of the biggest complaints about regulated online poker in Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. The Mastercard acceptance rate at regulated sites is higher than Visa, however, neither is high enough to be considered adequate for players and operators.

While this is all still new and getting off the ground, the trend in behavior shows at least one of the obstacles online gambling in Delaware faces. Regulated sites have higher fees, and that is there to help offset the risk of fraud. Essentially what happens with these kinds of sites is that they suffer from a much higher rate of chargebacks.

The Other Shoe Drops

A chargeback typically refers to the act of returning funds to a consumer. The action is forcibly initiated by the issuing bank of the card used by a consumer to settle a debt. Essentially what happens is a consumer disputes a transaction, and the credit card company’s bank responds by taking the money back from the merchant and returning it to the consumer. Customers dispute charges to their credit card usually when goods or services are not delivered within the specified time frame, goods received are damaged, or the purchase was not authorized by the credit card holder — the latter being the most common reason for a chargeback. The chargeback mechanism exists primarily for consumer protection.

Now in online gambling, the risk of a chargeback happening is much higher. Customers who lose money will oftentimes initiate the chargeback instead of taking the loss.

Card issuers have the right to block any transaction that the company does not consider legitimate. Online gaming transactions, even if explicitly legal, sometimes fall into this category. Chargebacks are expensive for banks. These costs are passed onto merchants and processors in the form of penalties and higher processing fees. Banks loathe chargebacks and online gaming has been associated with too many of them over the years. This is one reason credit card companies are not quick to approve these transactions.

But regulation steps in and alleviates these fraud issues. All of the concern related to abusive chargebacks is resolved in regulated markets because players cannot easily charge back a credit card transaction. The transaction is coded as a legitimate, regulated purchase. Many are considered cash advances.  The poker site can prove where the player was located at the time of the transaction and that the chips were received. Proper player verification also provides evidence that a charge was proper.

In Conclusion

The allure of online gambling is still high and Delaware is one of the states diving headfirst into the industry. But there are already obstacles facing the First State. A ban from Congress and all of the problems with chargebacks and fraud create a daunting road ahead for Delaware’s online gambling future. Teaming up with Nevada in a partnership to expand the competition was a good first step. But more states need to be involved if the fledgling endeavor is to really get going. That also helps with the fraud issues as it will take more states regulating online gaming to help make banks more comfortable with the industry. This will also help the profitability of processing these transactions.

Here Comes CoinSummit! [2023 Update]

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Today marks the start of CoinSummit San Francisco, a two-day event ”connecting virtual currency entrepreneurs, angel and VC investors, hedge fund professionals and others who are looking to learn and network in the virtual currency industry.” CoinSummit will take place on March 25-26 2014 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.  Many in the bitcoin community have been waiting for this event for a while.

The event with feature notable entities in the virtual currency community that include Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Nic Cary of Blockchain.info, and Tony Gallippi of BitPay.

The Official Merchant Services Blog has been tapped into the ongoing saga of Bitcoin since this article in November — delving into the fascinating gimmick of Bitcoin mining. Traversing the ups and downs of this unstable and chaotic currency led to the crazy month of February and then the fall of Mt. Gox. Since that fateful day, the virtual currency industry has been scrambling. And now we have this much anticipated summit of industry experts discussing the details and potential future of BitCoin and its competitors.

Don’t Miss a Moment of the Action

For those interested, a live stream of the event begins at 9 AM Eastern time today, and can be viewed here.

Points of Interest

So some of the things we’ll be hoping the Summit delves into are: The Mt. Gox crisis, its aftermath and the future of the currency exchange. Of course industry insiders are all going to be sharing their thoughts, rants and frustrations about MtGox. Many will be raging about the losses incurred by the public and so many bitcoiners, and how badly Mark Karpeles has handled this debacle. But more importantly the issue of malleability will be explained and also how the currency and its exchanges can survive well into the future.

Which leads right into the fact that the crisis didn’t imply a complete price crash for BTC, even after hundreds of millions of dollars in permanent losses. How will exchanges guaranty transparency? Audits? Open balance sheets? These are critical issues if Bitcoin is to be adopted by mass markets. So let’s hope the summit dives right into the answers for those questions.

And then there’s the heavyweight presence to consider. The “big 4″ (Coinbase, Blockchain.info, Bitstamp, and BitPay) will all be present at this summit through its founders. Let’s see if the industry leaders explain their current strategies and growth trends.

The competitors also have some spotlight. Ripple, DogeCoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum will be pitching the advantage of alternative options, but also talking about the future of Bitcoin through smart contracts and smart property, two functionalities many think will catapult BTC prices to new levels.

That’s a quick roundup of what to expect at CoinSummit San Francisco.

The VX 520 Embraces the Future

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Sometimes the future just sort of sneaks up on you. Even if you’ve given yourself reminders, sticky notes, calendar alarms, and the proverbial string tied around your finger, the future still has a way of creeping up on you unawares.

Which is why Host Merchant Services is happy to offer its customers a payment processing terminal that comes with a reminder built in. Verifone with its VX 520 Terminal is here to prevent any memory lapses about the future from happening to your business and its PCI compliance needs. The VX 520 is PCI PTS 3.0 compliant right out of the box and is a forward thinking terminal designed specifically to be prepared for the PCI compliance mandates that are changing the rules of the industry.

Verifone terminals use end-to-end encryption with SSL v3.0 and 3DES to maintain the highest levels of security. This encryption, coupled with Master/Session and DUKPT key management, provide maximum protection from fraud and misuse of the terminal. The VX 520 terminal is also certified with PCI PED 2.0 approval.

All About Security

Security and secure transactions have been a hot button issue in the payments processing industry for the past few years. Everything from the Global Data Breach to Bitcoin to the Target Breach has people wondering about how secure their payment information really is. This is the root of the creation of PCI and its standards. In the ten years since the PCI DSS emerged as a consensus industry standard for the major credit card vendors, PCI DSS succeeded wildly in some areas – such as the use of endpoint security, encryption and network monitoring technology.

The Clock is Ticking

However, the success of PCI DSS in some areas highlighted others in which the standard had little to say or created perverse incentives—rewarding “compliance” over real security. Subsequent updates have attempted to right those wrongs. And the VX 520 is on the cutting edge of those PCI updates.

In January 2012 the PCI DSS released version 2.0 of their standards. And the VX 520 was built to be compliant to those standards and more.

In November 2013, the PCI DSS released version 3.0 of their standards. And again the VX 520 was compliant.

The 520, offered by Host Merchant Services, is a nimble processor that is ahead of the curve on security standardization. This is helpful because by December 2014, changes are coming from the credit card companies where older terminals will no longer be valid. Host Merchant Services offers a free terminal to new customers that sign up and are available 24x7x365 to help upgrade existing customers to terminals that will be PCI compliant.

Getting Secure and Staying Secure

Host Merchant Services knows that your business needs secure transactions to function. And we’re here to make the process of PCI Compliance easy, understandable and consistent for you each year. We offer the lowest PCI Compliance fee in the industry, at just $4.95 per month. PCI Compliance is essentially the process of adhering to the standards set forth by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards Council (PCI DSS). Essentially the standards are a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

Secure transactions are important for merchants and a key element of the customer service Host Merchant Services provides. As part of our commitment to our Merchants and their transaction security, HMS offers a PCI ComplianceInitiative to anyone interested in processing with us. We are happy to offer this initiative as well as our free resources to help our merchants see what needs to be done to become compliant … and stay PCI compliant.

Mt. Gox

The Doom of Mt. Gox [2023 Update]

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February was the month that the all-seeing eye of the media turned its lidless gaze upon Bitcoin and the craggy peaks of Mt. Gox, the Japanese Bitcoin exchange site. Almost half a billion dollars went missing from Mt. Gox, the exchange was rocked, Bitcoin was scorched, and the site went bankrupt.

The Official Merchant Services Blog has been tapped into the ongoing saga of Bitcoin since this article in November — delving into the fascinating gimmick of Bitcoin mining.

Wait, What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a virtual currency introduced in 2008 by a programmer or group of programmers under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It has no central issuing authority and uses a public ledger to verify encrypted transactions. The flashy shiny aspect of it is it’s a currency that can be bought, sold and mined electronically. The famous internet comic strip Penny Arcade defines Bitcoin for its readers here.

Wrapped Bitcoin

In 2013 the currency captured the imagination of the virtual and business worlds by soaring in value, rising from $10 to $1,200 per coin. It surpassed the value of gold at its peak. And then i crashed down to $500.

The currency was also embroiled in the huge Silk Road scandal as federal authorities seized millions of dollars worth of Bitcoins when it shut down the notorious black market web site the Silk Road.

The real trick of Bitcoin and why it’s so fascinating to payment processors is that it’s a cryptographic protocol, or crypto-currency. The protocol creates unique pieces of digital property that can be transferred from one person to another. It’s essentially the legitimization of microtransactions linked to actual monetary value. Each Bitcoin is defined by a public address and private key, both long strings of numbers and letters giving it a unique identity in virtual reality. In addition to its digital fingerprint, Bitcoins also have a place in a public ledger. This blockchain gives the Bitcoin a physical identity. So Bitcoins bridge the virtual and the physical.

Mt. Gox: Hackers Gonna Hack

Hacker

But no matter how elegant and ingenious the actualization of Bitcoin is, the currency apparently can be hacked.

  • On February 25, Mt. Gox, the leading Bitcoin exchange located in Tokyo Japan shut down. It had discovered that hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins had gone missing, and more than $400 million had been stolen.
  • On February 28, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy and said it was under orders not to pay its debts. The exchange publicly apologized to users for “causing so much inconvenience.”

February was actually filled with problems for Mt. Gox and Bitcoin, as we reported previously.

Everything from Russia banning Bitcoins to China half embracing it just piled onto the Bitcoin craze. And then the hack and the bankruptcy happened. Since then, pieces of code showing parts of Mt. Gox’s Bitcoin source have cropped up around the web according to VentureBeat. Mt. Gox set up a phone support line but that got blitzed. Two other sites vied to fill the void of Mt. Gox, with BitStamp edging out BTC China for the title of largest Bitcoin exchange — for now. And then things got funny weird.

Virtual Theft

Mt. Gox

The authorities are now tasked with investigating the crime. And well, there’s this book, Halting State by Charles Stross, written in 2007. The premise of the book seemed so novel back then: A police officer is called to the offices of a big corporation because a robbery was reported. The robbery as it turns out took place in a virtual world, as the company runs a video game system with virtual currency. And then the novel goes on to explore technology, and how it is quickly evolving to affect the physical world from the virtual world. It was set just a few short years in the future.

And here we are, a few short years into the future, and authorities are investigating the theft of real value currency stolen from a virtual environment.

The amount of coins hacked and stolen from Mt. Gox amounts to about 6 percent of the entire Bitcoin market in circulation. And law enforcement is now tasked with trying to find the identity of the perpetrators — which may seem like an obvious and standard step in the investigative process. But it’s Bitcoin, which is famous for its anonymity and unregulated status. So authorities are filing subpoenas to Mt. Gox to gather information about how the virtual currency is transferred and converted into dollars. While stuck investigating even the basics of how the model works, authorities haven’t even gotten to the stickier situation of how Bitcoins are designed to be untraceable and finding the phantom thieves who stole the strings of encrypted numbers may not happen.

Leaving a half billion dollar hole in an industry that’s already proving to be volatile and susceptible to hacking.

PayPal President Hacked [2023 Update]

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Twitter, the modern equivalent of Mad Libs and the yellow journalism of the late 19th century, has revealed to us a gem of irony that makes the whole Target getting hacked story seem that much more poignant.

No one is safe in this bold new era of credit card hackers and identity thieves. Not even the president of a major payment processing company.

PayPal President David Marcus has been the victim of credit card fraud, he said on Monday. The leader of the online payments company revealed via Twitter that his credit card information had been stolen on a trip to the United Kingdom and he’d racked up a “ton” of fraudulent transactions on his account.

Smart Chip Didn’t Help

Marcus speculated that thieves probably skimmed the info from the magnetic stripe on his card, even though his card had an EMV chip, a technology that makes cards in Europe more secure than the ones commonly used in the U.S.

EMV® chip technology– or EMV — is a worldwide standard for credit and debit card payments based around the use of chip card technology. The acronym stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, who collaborated to create the technology. The goal of this project was to create a card that worked based off of a microprocessor chip that is read by the payment terminal. Because the U.S. has yet to widely deploy embedded chip technology, the nation has increasingly become the focus of hackers seeking to steal such information. The stolen data can easily be turned into phony credit cards that are sold on black markets around the world.

Is it Just a Marketing Ploy?

Marcus adroitly used the incident as an opportunity to plug his own company, suggesting that the fraud wouldn’t have happened if the merchant had accepted PayPal. His company is currently trying to expand its presence as a payment option in physical stores, putting it in direct competition with platforms like Square and Google Wallet.

It also comes right when data breaches are major news in the payment processing industry. On December 19 2013, Target confirmed a sophisticated data breachoccured. In their press release they stated: “Approximately 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been impacted between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, 2013. Target alerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it was made aware of the unauthorized access, and is putting all appropriate resources behind these efforts.  Among other actions, Target is partnering with a leading third-party forensics firm to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.”

So Marcus’ misfortune happens right at the time identity theft, credit card fraud and hackers are on everyone’s mind. With EMV chip cards being touted as one of the best solutions to the hacking problem, Marcus’ mishap even taps into that buzz.

The Bitcoin Roller Coaster

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Back in November, The Official Merchant Services Blog dove into the Bitcoin currency craze with an in-depth look at Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin, introduced in 2008 by a programmer or group of programmers under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, has no central issuing authority and uses a public ledger to verify encrypted transactions. It is a virtual currency that can be bought, sold and mined electronically.

The Hammer is Dropped

We focused on the technological gimmick that is Bitcoin mining – essentially powering multiple computers to create the virtual currency from virtually nothing. The rest of the media since then has been concentrating on the other aspects of Bitcoin, including its use as a money laundering tool. In that same month of November, Federal prosecutors in New York filed charges against Ross William Ulbricht for running the Silk Road website, where customers allegedly used Bitcoins to buy and sell drugs.

And on February 9, Florida stepped into the spotlight concerning virtual currency and money laundering. Bitcoin traders. Florida prosecutors have charged three men, saying that their use of a site called localbitcoins.com violates laws against unlicensed money transmitters, according to a report in the Krebs on Security blog.

Bitcoin Banned in Russia

More bad news for Bitcoin came from Sochi Olympics host country Russia. The country banned Bitcoin altogether. Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office recently made its stance on Bitcoin abundantly clear. “Systems for anonymous payments and cyber currencies that have gained considerable circulation — including the most well-known, Bitcoin — are money substitutes and cannot be used by individuals or legal entities,” the office said in a recent press release reported by Reuters. Any use of Bitcoin will be considered “potentially suspicious,” as the Russian government has linked Bitcoin usage to illicit activities.

Russia is only the latest country to release a statement detailing its position on Bitcoin. In early December, China barred financial institutions from using Bitcoin, though it didn’t ban the currency outright. In late January, Canada released a statement that said Bitcoin is not legal tender in the country. Countries like these have expressed skepticism in Bitcoin not only because of its links to money laundering, but also for its overall volatility.

Market Troubles

Bitcoin has plunged more than 8 per cent after a Tokyo-based exchange halted withdrawals of the digital currency, citing technical malfunction. Mt. Gox, a popular exchange for dollar-based trades, said in a blog post it needed to “temporarily pause on all withdrawal requests to obtain a clear technical view of the currency processes.”

It promised an “update” – not a reopening – on Monday, February 10, Japan time. Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox said customers can take out cash “as normal” and it’s working to resolve technical issues that prompted it to halt withdrawals of the digital currency.

“It’s not about cash at all, only about Bitcoin,” Michael Keferl, a communications officer for Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, said. “There is a problem in the way transactions are verified.”

Things then rebounded. The price of Bitcoin rose 0.3 percent to $683.66 at 9:07 a.m. London time, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which averages prices from exchanges including Mt. Gox.

Bitcoin App Dropped by Apple

On February 5, Apple struck a blow against Bitcon. The Blockchain app, downloaded 120,000 times during its two years in Apple’s iTunes App Store, was the most popular way for people and companies to transfer bitcoins from one another. Apple removed it from the store on February 5. Blockchain immediately shot back with a statement, accusing Apple of getting overly aggressive with future competitors. Apple is rumored to be developing its own mobile payment system.

And Speaking of …

With the crazy ups and downs of Bitcoin, one thing is undeniable: Virtual currency is a profitable new marketplace. Which means Apple isn’t the only group trying to develop their own alternative. An untraceable currency called Zerocoin is being designed by Johns Hopkins University researchers to compete with other virtual moneys such as Bitcoin. The researchers say that if virtual currencies are going to exist, there should be one that provides the same kind of privacy that people have when exchanging traditional forms of money.

What Does This all Mean?

The virtual currency movement has the potential to be the next stage in the evolution of payments and transaction processing.
Advocates say such digital currencies, made possible by complex computer formulas, will eventually be widely embraced by users who want to exchange money instantly and directly, without a bank as middleman.

While it may seem like the wild west in terms of security and long term viability, the concept of virtual currency is actually well in line with what we’re already surrounded with as consumers. By and large we continually swipe plastic through card readers when we buy everything from a coffee at Wawa to a down payment on a new automobile. So a paperless and coinless world is already one in which we exist. It’s not hard to envision a next step where the currency itself is virtual.

But that does leave security issues which are relevant and real. Relying on even the best encryption still leaves risk and susceptibility to fraud.

However, it seems governments are still playing catch up to the technology itself. Focusing on money laundering and the instability the anonymous exchange of currency brings to the banks themselves, as well as the sale of illegal goods and services. All of which are certainly part of their purview. It’s just a weird transition period as the infrastructure of the old school banking system doesn’t seem all that prepared to deal with the fluidity of a virtual currency snaking through the world’s consumers.

In short, it’s an interesting time to bear witness to the evolution of money and the marketplace. Governments will catch up with virtual currency. And consumers will embrace convenience more and more until we face a world that may actually give up on paper and coins completely, in favor of your PIN numbers and some encryption codes that store the value of you.

Marketplace Fairness Act Looms

Marketplace Fairness Act Looms [2023 Update]

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With the 2014 holiday shopping season about to grind down to the home stretch, the sales figures are already rolling in. And once again, online transactions have maintained their brisk and healthy growth from years past.

Cyber Monday chalked up record sales, rising a reported 17 percent from 2012 according to USA Today. Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, has been embraced by the media as a flashpoint date for online retail sales during the traditional holiday shopping cycle. The convenience of online shopping versus the hassle of holiday shopping traffic gets the consumers interested. Combining that convenience with the staggeringly low sale prices of the time period and suddenly the appeal of online shopping becomes apparent for folks looking to get their holiday shopping done inexpensively and hassle free.

So with the boom in online shopping, there exists a disparity in sales tax in some instances. This isn’t something that comes up too often in Delaware, the original home base of Host Merchant Services. But many states have sales tax for purchases, and are finding it difficult to compete with the surging online retail business.

While legislation in some states requires sales tax be paid on some online transactions, most sales are still untaxed. In many states that translates into a 5-10 percent price advantage for the online vendor. But it also is a 5-10 percent disadvantage for local brick-and-mortar stores that not only collect sales taxes, but also pay property taxes, employ local residents and support local causes.

Thus there’s been a movement to level the playing field by attacking the sales tax disparity. The Marketplace Fairness Act is the solution to the sales tax disparity. The marketplace fairness act is:

“Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 – Authorizes each member state under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (the multistate agreement for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes adopted on November 12, 2002) to require all sellers not qualifying for a small-seller exception (applicable to sellers with annual gross receipts in total U.S. remote sales not exceeding $1 million) to collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to remote sales under provisions of the Agreement, but only if such Agreement includes minimum simplification requirements relating to the administration of the tax, audits, and streamlined filing. Defines “remote sale” as a sale of goods or services into a state in which the seller would not legally be required to pay, collect, or remit state or local sales and use taxes unless provided by this Act.”

Which means out-of-state online, catalog or remote would need to collect sales tax at the time of the transaction, just as local retailers are required to do. For this to happen each state would have to simplify their sales tax laws, making it easier for national vendors to calculate the tax and manage it.

The Marketplace Fairness Act would pave the way for states to require online sellers from out of state to begin paying the sales tax they’ve escaped for years. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said “The Marketplace Fairness Act would level the playing field for small businesses by allowing states — if they so choose — to treat brick and mortar retailers the same as remote retailers.” Durbin, who is sponsoring this bill, is best known for authoring the Durbin Amendment, a piece of legislation that caused much controversy in the Payment Card Industry when enacted.

The act passed the Senate. But has yet to be voted on in the House, with all signs pointing to it not passing the House.

There’s been an uptick in media coverage and analysis of this bill. Essentially the verdict is that the increased sales volume from the holiday shopping season is going to push the political infrastructure to once again address the issue of state sales tax and online merchants.

And that raises the most interesting question of all for the credit card processing industry:  Is the global aspect of online shopping going to take a huge step towards pushing sales tax to a federal layer and remove it from the states? 

That’s a very big picture outlook on the issue. But as online shopping becomes more and more prevalent, the issue gains traction. The world is becoming a pretty tiny place due to the saturation and convenience of communication. You can video-call people on the other side of the globe instantly with your smartphone right now. Mobile Wallets and NFC are seeking to make it so that you can wave your magic wand, or iPhone, and pay for things instantly. State based sales tax laws look to fall behind the curve of quick evolving technology. Five, ten, even fifteen years down the line the way we make purchases and the marketplace wherein we make those purchases may have evolved past the scope state sales tax. The Marketplace Fairness Act seems to be just a precursor to a larger movement afoot in the retail sales industry.

VeriFone Solution For Unattended Payments

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Merchants who want to offer convenience to customers by providing self-service options often struggle with the dilemma of receiving payments without being in the physical location of their customers. Unattended payment solutions offers merchant services to collect payments securely from customers.

VeriFone UX Solutions For Merchant Services

VeriFone recently launched UX Solutions for unattended payments. The devices are designed to meet the needs of busy shoppers who would prefer to go through a self-checkout instead of waiting in line. These solutions can also be used on vending machines, at gas pumps and anywhere else that self-pay options are offered.

The new devices for unattended payments are expected to be available in early 2014 and include:

  • UX 100 – A pin pad with an integrated LED screen for optimal security. A weatherproof exterior that can be read in direct sunlight makes this device ideal for outdoor self-payment kiosks. Merchants are given the option to upsell to customers through targeted ads.
  • UX 110 – A simple, metal pin pad for parking meters and other outdoor self-pay stations.
  • UX 300 – A versatile card reader that can be used in vending machines and public transportation ticket kiosks. This reader can be used in conjunction with the UX 100.
  • UX 400 – A technologically advanced payment device that provides a high level of security through identity verification features.

An Overview of Unattended Payments

Unattended payment devices are ideal for collecting payments in a self-checkout situation. These devices improve security at checkout to protect the customer from identity fraud. Merchants can free themselves of the liability inherent in accepting unattended credit card payments by utilizing the added security offered by these devices.

Unattended vending machines including parking meters, grocery store self-checkouts, laundry machines and gas pumps are increasingly using devices including smart card readers that add an extra layer of security to the payment process. Chip cards and mobile wallets can also be used with these devices for the convenience of customers.

Self-service payment options at unattended vending machines and checkouts are increasingly necessary in a world that relies more on the convenience and speed of self-checkout. The UX Solutions for merchant services recently launched by VeriFone offer merchants a reliable, efficient and cost-effective solution for accepting multiple forms of payment without needing to be present to accept payment. Added security protects customers and relieves merchants of the liability associated with accepting credit card payments.

Isis Mobile Wallet is Here

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Isis Mobile Wallet Debuts Using NFC Technology

A joint venture between AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile known as Isis Mobile Wallet has released a revolutionary mobile payments app that promises to change the way people pay for goods and services. The trio of mobile service providers are ecstatic to finally debut this mobile payment platform right before Black Friday and the rush of the holiday shopping season, as this technology lets consumers conveniently utilize their mobile phone to pay for goods and services. Use of the platform makes it easier for merchants to accept a wider variety of payments and the Isis system itself encourages repeat purchases through loyalty programs tied into the app and its software.

The debut of Isis also heralds a huge step forward for Near Field Communication technology (NFC), a topic we’ve been consistently covering since our Official Merchant Services Blog began.

What Is the Mobile Wallet Platform?

The Isis Mobile Wallet platform is a completely free mobile application that utilizes NFC technology to allow consumers to pay for purchases by waving their mobile device in the air at a terminal that captures the pertinent information out of thin air.  The mobile payment industry has been dealing with one large obstacle from NFC recently, as Apple hasn’t made its iPhones compatible with NFC. And so an Isis representative said that iPhone support would come at a later time. Until then, the app is available on all other compatible phones, but users should be aware that downloading the app could cost money if they are not subscribed to a monthly plan with unlimited data.

 

How the Platform Works

The NFC technology used in the mobile payments app allows mobile devices to transfer information when they are tapped together.  Merchants who use devices with this technology can accept payments quickly and securely from customers who have compatible devices. But wait, there’s more.

Mobile payments represent just one of the benefits of the Isis app.  Merchants can offer loyalty rewards to customers through the app.  These rewards can be earned and stored directly on a mobile device. We’ve delved into some of these types of incentives in our coverage of the Barclays bPay app, as well as social gifting articles. The basic idea of what’s happening is the app is giving customers yet another avenue for savings through their mobile device, in hopes to spur more purchases. Discounts are automatically deducted from a sale when Isis is used to pay for a product or service.  There’s no need for merchants to have cards or keychains printed, and customers do not have to worry about keeping track of dozens of loyalty cards.

Some specific incentives that are tied with the Isis debut: Isis Mobile Wallet customers can use My Coke Rewards and Isis to get three free drinks at select vending machines, while Jamba Juice is giving away 1 million free smoothies to Isis users. Purchases made from an American Express Serve account through the Isis wallet are eligible for a 20 percent discount (up to $200).

A PIN is used to protect personal information if a phone is lost or stolen.  The wallet can be locked when a phone is lost to prevent information from being breached.

Phone Compatibility With NFC Technology

NFC technology requires a cellphone user to have personal payment information stored on their phone.  The sensitive nature of this information means that extra precautions must be taken.  An enhanced SIM card that specifically details that it has been made for secure data storage must be used in conjunction with the application. Interested customers will have to get an enhanced SIM card to run Isis. They will also have to download the app on Google Play or get signed up at retail stores run by the three carriers.

iPhone and NFC issues

The iPhone and NFC issues [2023 Update]

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Apple’s Latest iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C Lack NFC Support, Market Setback Expected

The iPhone and NFC issues can lead to a market setback. The sphere of influence of the iPhone apparently extends into industries that develop products for mobile payments. Mobile credit card processing and various merchant services, including various point-of-sale applications, are also influenced by Apple’s decisions. The close relationship between these technologies is most visible in the market for mobile payments.

Specifically, there is a lack of near-field communication, or NFC, support inside the iPhone 5. The absence of this capacity could delay the standardization and adaptation of associated applications. This restriction is already creating waves, which are rippling throughout Western Europe as well as North America; however, Asian markets are not expected to sustain any substantial impact.

Apple’s main competitors fully embrace NFC technology, and the mobile credit card processing market is also doing very well. This situation certainly begs the question: Is this a part of a larger marketing strategy, or did Apple simply drop the ball when developing compatibility for merchant services?

Facilitating mobile credit card processing and other instant transactions does not constitute small potatoes, so it is worth taking a closer look at the situation.

iPhone and NFC issues – Motives and Methods

iPhone and NFC issues - Motives and Methods

Two items seem to be present and capable of driving the decision to scrap the addition of NFC compatibility within the iPhone. First, it is possible that Apple might be attempting to undercut certain competitors. Since these products are targeted at initiating a new method for making fast and secure mobile payments, there could also be a conflict of interest lurking in the background.

Apple could also be attempting to establish a position of influence in the market for merchant services by changing the company tune only when outcry for their support reaches a high point. In addition, Apple has elected to develop the iPhone technology by using iBeacon, which employs similar transmission functions, but it is done via Bluetooth Low Energy or BLE.

Analysts observe that this single decision could put certain product developments for processing mobile payments behind for at least two years. Retailers have certainly responded by delaying their financial commitments for relevant point-of-sale devices and supporting products.

Since several alternatives to NFC are already in development, it seems like a stretch of the imagination to assume that this move is indeed strategic or even deliberate. Perhaps Apple is simply unresponsive to the various market dynamics created by its key decisions; however, this decision could also be motivated by its desire to control the technology and shift market dynamics with iBeacon. Only time will reveal the details.

About NFC

About NFC

One remarkable technological innovation that has transformed our interaction with devices is NFC! Abbreviated as Near Field Communication NFC has gained attention in years, particularly in the realm of ecommerce business. So, what exactly is NFC? How does it work its enchantment?

What is NFC?

NFC, also known as Near Field Communication is a technology that enables devices to communicate and share information within distances. It works on the principle, of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections by utilizing radio frequency waves. However, what makes NFC unique is its ability to establish a connection by bringing two devices close together.

Unlike communication methods that require complicated setup processes or pairing codes, NFC allows for seamless interaction with just a tap or touch. This convenience has made NFC widely popular across applications such as payments, ticketing systems, smart home automation, and data transfer between smartphones.

One of the features of NFC is its compatibility with existing infrastructures. Many modern smartphones already come equipped with an integrated NFC chip that enables users to make payments using wallets like Apple Pay or Google Wallet. Additionally, businesses can utilize NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminals for transactions without the need for cash or physical cards.

NFC tags are another aspect of this technology. These small adhesive stickers can be programmed with instructions such as launching apps connecting to Wi-Fi networks or even triggering actions, on your device when tapped against them.

NFC is a way of communicating that makes it easier for devices to connect through close interactions. Its flexibility and user-friendly nature make it a valuable tool, for improving user experiences in industries and everyday situations alike.

Use Of NFC

One of the applications of NFC is for making mobile payments. With a tap of your smartphone or smartwatch, you can conveniently and securely make purchases at stores and restaurants without having to take out your wallet.

Another purpose of NFC is to transfer data between devices. By touching two devices together you can easily share photos, videos, contacts, and more. No need for cables or complicated setup processes.

NFC also finds its usefulness in access control systems. Imagine the convenience of entering your office building or hotel room by tapping your phone on a reader. This eliminates the need for keys or swipe cards. Provides a seamless experience.

Moreover, NFC tags have the ability to automate tasks on your device. For instance, you can program an NFC tag in your car to automatically launch navigation apps or enable Bluetooth connectivity with a tap using your phone.

In addition, to these applications, NFC technology is also being incorporated into marketing strategies. Brands are leveraging this technology to offer engaging interactions, for their customers through posters and product packaging. These interactive elements can activate content when touched with a device that supports Near Field Communication (NFC).

As demonstrated by these examples Near Field Communication has a range of applications, in our lives. It enables us to make payments share files, access buildings, and even enhance marketing initiatives. The potential seems limitless!

How Does NFC Interact With My Device?

How Does NFC Interact With My Device?

When you tap your smartphone against another NFC-enabled device like a payment terminal or another phone the two devices establish a connection. This connection enables them to exchange information without any delay.

The interaction between your device and the NFC-enabled one happens because of fields. When the devices come close to each other their antennas generate these fields that facilitate communication between them.

Once the connection is established data can be transferred between the two devices. This could include making payments at stores or sharing files like photos and videos between smartphones.

One of the things about NFC is its simplicity. There’s no need, for setups or passwords – just a simple tap is all it takes to initiate communication.

It’s worth noting that both devices involved in an NFC transaction must have hardware and software for it to work correctly. Fortunately, most modern smartphones already come equipped with NFC capabilities.

NFC interacts with your device by utilizing fields generated by antennas. It makes things easier, such, as paying and sharing files by creating connections, between devices that work together with a simple tap. So the time you come across that NFC” symbol on a device you’ll have an understanding of its functionality!

Know more about NFC here.