Higher Standards Blog
Debit Cards vs. Credit Cards: Which Should Merchants Prefer?
Many people carry both credit and debit cards in their wallets. As a merchant, which kind of card would you rather have customers pay with – debit or credit? There’s a clear choice here.
Tariff-Related Price Changes
Due to the government’s recent imposition of tariffs on certain goods manufactured in China, prices are increasing on many of our credit terminals and related equipment. These price changes affect equipment sold both by First Data and Clover.
What PCI Compliance Is – and Why It’s Important
When I was younger I worked in my father's retail business. When a customer paid by credit card we swiped the card on a clunky old credit card imprinter device, which made three copies of the transaction. We gave one to the customer as a receipt, we sent one to our...
How Interchange Rates Work
The fees you pay on the credit/debit card transactions you process are billed at a variety of different rates. What determines the different rates you see for each transaction? It’s all about something called the interchange rate – and every type of card and transaction has its own unique rate.
Is Square the Right Choice for Your Business?
If you’re looking for a way to accept credit card payments, chances are you’ve heard of or looked at Square. While Square might be a good solution for some businesses, it falls short in many ways compared to conventional payment processing companies such as Higher Standards.
What is EMV?
EMV is the latest generation of “smart” chip-enabled credit cards. An EMV card is more secure than a standard card with a magnetic “swipe” strip, and is designed to reduce the incidence of credit card fraud.
What is an ISO?
In the world of merchant services, the acronym ISO stands for Independent Sales Organization, a third-party payment processing company that handles merchant services for a bank, payment processor, or large financial institution. The ISO works as a conduit between the larger institution and individual merchants, handling the details of the merchant’s payment processing needs.
Top Reasons For Businesses To Accept Credit Cards
1. Increased Sales. One of the biggest and best benefits of accepting credit cards in your business is the fact that it can increase your overall sales. The reason why it can increase your overall sales is because it can give you access to a whole new demographic that...
The Rise of B2B Credit Card Payments
Business owners, especially those who operate in the B2B space, are under a lot of pressure to accept credit cards. For the companies that they deal with, credit cards are the ideal way to manage employee expenses. Instead of having to keep detailed track of the...
What You Need To Know About Level 3 Credit Card Data Processing
All transactions involving credit cards are classified into one of three categories, described as Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3. As these levels increase, the amount of data required to verify the transaction increases. However, the more data that is submitted with a...