Irving, TX- Studies show that there are over 10,000,000 unbanked workers in the US crossing all demographics. PayCard is an innovative and less costly alternative to Paper Payroll checks. According to the American Payroll Association, the cost of issuing a payroll check is $1-$2, while the cost of replacing a lost or stolen check is $8-$10. PayCard is a "checkless" checking account that allows unbanked employees access to their pay using a Signature Based Debit Card. Issued through US Bank, the 6th largest bank in the US.

NTC Texas, a merchant service provider, offers PayCard a turnkey prepaid payroll card that allows employees the convenience of a readily accepted card and employers an adaptable, profitable, and easily implemented payroll system that can be used for not only wages, but also per diems, commissions, and bonuses. NTC Texas offers the PayCard with either Visa or MasterCard logos, with the choice of standard or fully customizable.

Many corporations are using prepaid payroll cards as a means to reduce the cost of check distribution and reduce the added cost of replacing lost or stolen checks. "Designed with the unbanked in mind, the PayCard is a checkless checking account with no annual fees." said Ted Borek, executive vice president of NTC Texas, "Using PayCard's, employees can securely transfer funds to family members in the U.S and internationally without using expensive wire transfer options or check cashing facilities." Borek added that the PayCard can be used at any location where Visa and MasterCard are accepted and to withdraw cash at ATM's.

About NTC Texas

NTC Texas is a registered ISO/MSP with Nova Information Systems owned by US Bank, and is a member of Visa and MasterCard Associations. Visit NTC Texas at www.NTCTEXAS.com

NOVA Becomes Single Point of Contact for Statements, Settlement and Support


ATLANTA and NEW YORK - January 17, 2008- NOVA Information Systems (NOVA), a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and American Express (NYSE:AXP) today announced the signing of an agreement under which NOVA will sign up and service American Express merchants on behalf of American Express. Under the terms of the agreement, NOVA will add American Express® Card acceptance to the payment processing services offered to merchants. NOVA will provide processing, settlement, customer support and reporting to merchants for all major card brands.

NOVA will have the ability to offer American Express services to the thousands of new U.S. merchants it signs each month. The program is also open to existing NOVA merchants that wish to now add American Express Card acceptance and use NOVA as their single point of contact. With this agreement, NOVA now provides processing services for all major card brands - American Express, Discover® Network, MasterCard® and Visa® - simplifying the process for merchants who would like to have one company to contact regarding any questions or issues.

Under this agreement, NOVA will offer processing and support services to small and mid-size merchants meeting defined processing parameters. American Express will retain the Card acceptance contract with the merchants, continue to set merchant pricing, perform authorizations, , and receive the same transactional information it does today. The program will be available to merchants that are new to American Express Card acceptance beginning in the second half of 2008

"NOVA continually strives to improve the customer experience for our many small business clients," said Stuart C. Harvey, Jr., president, NOVA. "The ability to include American Express Card processing and funding in our merchant services package eliminates the complexities businesses face when dealing with multiple providers and expands payment choices for consumers."

"We are proud to offer this new program with NOVA to small to mid-size merchants. Now they have a new way to streamline payment acceptance for all card brands, allowing business owners to focus on meeting the needs of their customers," said Kim Goodman, executive vice president, Merchant Services North America, American Express. "Consumers will also enjoy the convenience of being able to use the American Express Card at even more locations and the opportunity to earn valuable rewards whenever they use their Card."

About NOVA
NOVA Information Systems, a leader in the payment processing industry is a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB). NOVA and its European affiliate Elavon provide global merchant processing services to financial institutions and clients in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Europe. NOVA offers integrated payment processing services to more than 1,000,000 merchants worldwide. For more information, visit www.novainfo.com.


About American Express
American Express Company is a leading global payments, network, travel and banking company founded in 1850. Merchant Services is the merchant network of American Express, which acquires and maintains relationships with millions of merchants around the globe, which welcome American Express-branded Cards.

Labels: American Express, credit card processing, merchant services provider, NOVA

By Michelle Graff

Identity theft makes headlines as one of the biggest contributors to increases in fraud. This criminal activity continues to grow as crooks easily gain access to consumer credit data and personal information. According to the latest figures available from the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft played a role in 42% of all credit card fraud in 2002.

Undetected fraud leads to chargebacks and losses for merchants because unless fraudsters are caught, they run off with the merchandise without paying for it. Receiving an authorization for a transaction does not guarantee that the card is valid, nor does it guarantee the card has enough "open to buy" remaining on its credit line to fund the purchase.

Many merchants process their transactions in person at the point of sale where the credit card is present. Other merchants handle transactions over the telephone, through the mail, or via the Internet where the card is not present.

Transaction processing for these two types of transactions varies greatly; however, both require reasonable steps to ensure the card, cardholder and transaction are legitimate.

Card-not-present merchants are perfect targets for bankcard fraud. Criminals take advantage of the fact that they can operate anonymously. They know that many of the security features that prevent fraud in the physical world do not apply in the card-not-present environment.

Mail order/telephone order (MO/TO) and e-commerce merchants who choose to process transactions in the card-not-present environment must understand that there is a greater need for protection against fraud exposure and associated losses. This is primarily because card-not-present merchants can be held financially responsible for a fraudulent transaction, even if the card issuer has approved the transaction.

Many identity theft rings operate outside the United States, but target U.S. merchants through Internet and phone card-not-present transactions; this makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to shut them down. Investigative research indicates that many fraudsters order merchandise and request that it be shipped to Indonesia, Nigeria, Ghana or the United Kingdom.

Typically, these fraud rings contact merchants via e-mail or by phone and make card-not-present purchases. Fraudsters provide a credit card number, and in some cases, images of the front and back of the card to further create the illusion of legitimacy.

After the crooks complete an order and receive merchandise, they initiate transactions using other card numbers. After each purchase, all contact information provided by them becomes invalid, making it extremely difficult to locate their base of operations.

Code 10: First Line of Defense

As a concerted effort to put fraud detection practices in place, the banking and retailing industries established a "Code 10" procedure for both face-to-face and card-not-present transactions. Acquirers, including NOVA, offer clients a strong line of defense against foreign shipment fraud through the combination of the industry-standard Code 10 process and a good voice authorization department. Merchants employ Code 10 to alert a voice authorization center operator about a suspicious transaction.

When a MO merchant specifies shipment of merchandise to a foreign country, the merchant contacts the voice authorization department and requests a "Code 10." The call is then routed to the card-issuing bank and the card number is forwarded to the acquirer's Loss Prevention department.

A Loss Prevention representative contacts the card issuing bank's security staff to inquire about fraudulent use of the card. If the card is confirmed to be a fraud, the merchant is contacted to stop shipment.

Taking it to the Streets

MLSs can extend a greater sense of security to their merchants if they process with an acquirer that has the ability to stop potential fraudulent activity before merchandise is shipped. NOVA can query its entire base of more than 650,000 merchants to determine if a card identified as fraudulent has been used at other merchant locations.

If so, a phone call is placed to those merchants alerting them to the criminal activity in an attempt to stop shipment of the product. This proactively prevents chargebacks and losses that would be sustained by other merchants targeted by the same criminals.

Since January 2004, Code 10 has prevented more than $1.25 million in fraud losses for NOVA Network clients. Of the 550 incidents of suspected fraud identified by Code 10 during that span, 535, or 97%, of them have been confirmed as fraudulent. Spotting fraudulent transactions before merchandise is shipped significantly reduces fraud losses incurred by merchants.

"The aim is to spot fraud before the transaction enters the system," said Robert Walker, Vice President of Customer Loyalty for the NOVA Network.

Labels: credit card processing, fraud, merchant services

WASHINGTON D.C. (December 18, 2007) – The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates (MFA) announces that it has integrated InstaMed Automated Eligibility with its patient accounting systems to support real-time and batch automated eligibility inquiries to InstaMed’s Network. InstaMed currently supports real-time eligibility to over 430 health plans, including all national health plans, blues plans and Medicare plans for all 50 states.

Healthcare providers like the MFA are faced with managing the challenges posed by increasing patient responsibility and a need for accurate information in their administrative environments. Time consuming and costly calls to health plans, claim rejection issues and ballooning health plan and patient receivables require new ways of thinking by industry leaders. Leading healthcare delivery organizations are looking for powerful solutions that can seamlessly integrate with their existing workflow as well as their practice and health information management systems.

“We were no exception.� Stephen Badger, CEO of the MFA stated. “Our patient volumes are steadily increasing, and like every healthcare provider we need to work hard to collect the receivables and needed to acquire new electronic tools to eliminate the manual processes. Standard solutions such as phone calls or using health plan web sites to double key information are not viable solutions in our environment. We required an eligibility and benefit inquiry solution that was integrated to our systems, real-time capable and flexible enough to meet our business requirements.�

With seamless integration into their IDX patient accounting system and support for both real-time and batch transaction processing, the MFA is now able to verify patient eligibility and available benefit structure prior to service delivery, automatically update the patient record, and proactively address any potential eligibility issues across all of their operating units.

Bill Marvin, President of InstaMed stated, “The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates is one of the nation’s leading healthcare delivery organizations and we are excited to partner with them to address their business challenges. This is an excellent example of InstaMed’s ability to integrate real-time transaction capabilities to deliver a significant business case in a complex healthcare provider environment.�

About The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates
The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates (MFA) is a non-profit, 501(c) (3) physician group practice corporation comprising the academic clinical faculty for The George Washington University Medical Center. In its seventh year of existence, the MFA has grown to include over 300 physicians providing medical care in 41 specialty areas. Aside from its expertise in patient care, medical education and scientific research, the MFA is leading the way to modernize the practice of medicine with the adaptation and implementation of technology to improve the patient experience. Visit the MFA on the web at www.gwdocs.com.

About InstaMed
InstaMed is a real-time clearinghouse and payment processor for the healthcare industry utilizing the patent pending InstaMed Platform and Network. InstaMed’s mission is to transform the healthcare payment process for healthcare Providers, Payers, Banks and Patients so their payment experience is simple, convenient, reliable and secure. InstaMed currently supports the healthcare payment processing needs of over 400 hospital and clinic locations; practice management vendors and billing services representing over 50,000 providers; and hundreds of healthcare payers of all sizes. InstaMed is registered with Visa and MasterCard as an ISO/MSP/PSP of U.S. Bank. InstaMed is Payment Card Industry Level One certified and fully accredited by the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission. InstaMed is also a member of the C.O.R.E. Initiative (Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange) and WEDI (Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange). Visit InstaMed on the web at www.instamed.com.

Labels: credit card processing, healthcare payments, InstaMed, merchant services provider

If merchants and the merchant service providers servicing them are not hearing an ominous tick, tick, tick, maybe they should. On Sept. 30, 2007, Visa U.S.A. intends to begin fining merchant service providers $5,000 per month for each of their level 1 and level 2 merchants who have not complied with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.

That's not all. Noncompliant merchants may be assessed fines starting at $25,000 per month. And said merchants also face the prospect of being downgraded one level, meaning they will have to pay more for credit card transaction processing.

Acquiring banks are responsible for making sure their merchants are PCI compliant. And the PCI standard is meant to safeguard credit card cardholders' information.

A level 2 merchant is any business that transaction processes 1 to 6 million Visa transactions per year. A level 1 merchant is defined as any merchant credit card processing over 6 million Visa transactions per year. But the level 1 category also applies to credit card processing merchants who have suffered hacks on their computer systems that resulted in the theft of customers' account data.

Furthermore, Visa and MasterCard Worldwide can categorize any merchant as level 1 if the card Associations deem the credit card processing merchants pose a risk to the system.

According to the PCI Compliance Guide (found at www.pcicomplianceguide.org), Visa predicts 65% of all credit card processing merchants will have complied with the PCI by the end of 2007; the threat of levying fines is designed to speed the process.

The PCI includes 12 major requirements credit card processing merchants must strictly adhere to. Any violation may result in a business losing its compliance status. Each incidence of noncompliance will result in fines, suspension and revocation of a credit card processing privileges.

For PCI compliance, all merchants are required to fill out a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) annually. The SAQ is approximately 75 questions designed to assess a merchant's actual working conditions.

Merchants are also required to undergo a quarterly scan of their systems for storing, transmitting and processing cardholder data. Scans must be done by approved PCI scanning vendors.

Labels: credit card processing, merchant services provider, payment card industry data security standard

After being notified by a cardholder about a disputed credit card processing transaction, the cardholder's issuing bank may order a copy of that particular sales draft through the merchant service provider to determine what occurred at the point of sale. This is called a copy request or retrieval. A retrieval request most often occurs when a Cardholder loses their copy of the credit card processing transaction receipt, does not remember the transaction or questions the transaction for any reason.



A retrieval can be requested by the cardholder's bank for up to 18 months from the sale date, therefore it is crucial that you keep your receipts for this time frame. When a copy of the credit card processing transaction receipt is requested, you will receive a Retrieval Request notice from your merchant service provider. When a retrieval is requested, you must supply a legible copy of the sales draft to your merchant service provider along with any supporting documentation such as a credit draft, if one was issued. During the retrieval process, the disputed amount remains in your deposit account.



It is very important that you always respond in a timely manner when a retrieval request takes place. If the retrieval request is not acted upon quickly, or you provide an illegible sales draft, it may evolve into a chargeback, at which time the your account will be debited by your merchant service provider for the amount of the disputed credit card processing transaction. Unfortunately, if you do not respond to a retrieval request you will not have any representment rights once a chargeback is issued and additional fees may be assessed by your merchant service provider.

What is a chargeback?
A chargeback is a credit card processing transaction disputed by the cardholder or card issuer. There are many reasons for chargebacks, but the most common are returned merchandise, terminated services, disputes, errors, or fraud. Merchants must be able to provide proof that the disputed credit card transaction is valid and in accordance with Visa/MasterCard regulations or risk having their account debited for the disputed credit card processing amount..

What does a chargeback mean to me?
For your credit card processing business, a chargeback translates into extra processing time and cost, a narrower profit margin for the sale, and possibly a loss of revenue. It is important to carefully track and manage the credit card processing chargebacks that you receive, take steps to avoid future chargebacks, and know your representment rights. In addition, you should also take measures to recover losses from customers who are financially liable for transactions that were charged back to your business.

How do I avoid chargebacks?
To avoid chargebacks, act promptly if contacted directly by the cardholder to resolve a dispute. By working directly with the cardholder, you can avoid costly fees and credit card processing costs as well as promote goodwill with your customer. If the cardholder does not contact you, respond to inquiries from your merchant service provider with as much information as possible about the sales transaction in question.

Labels: chargebacks, credit card processing, merchant services provider