EMV - Europay, Mastercard and VISA

You may have heard the initial EMV and be wondering what does that stand for?  It stands for Europay, MasterCard and VISA.  The three financial institutions worked to put together a standard for an EMV card.  An EMV smart card is a plastic card with at least one embedded integrated chip that will process data and comply with the EMV technical standards.

You may have heard the phrase Chip and Pin used along with or interchangeably with EMV.  Actually Chip and Pin is a type of EMV card that uses a personal identification number to identify the cardholder when the transaction is taken offline.  Since nearly all transactions today, in the U.S., are taken online the EMV cards they may be authenticated by other means such as a signature.  Please take note that Visa has announced plans to institute a liability shift in the U.S. for October 1^st 2015 for locations and processors that are not prepared to accept the EMV secure cards the paragraph below was taken from the Visa Bulletin of August 9^th 2011 which can be view in entirety at this web site: http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/bulletin-us-participation-liability-shift-080911.pdf

Visa’s Counterfeit Liability Shift Policies

Visa intends to institute a liability shift in the U.S. for domestic and cross-border counterfeit transactions effective 1 October 2015. Visa’s global POS counterfeit liability shift policies are designed to encourage EMV chip card issuance and acceptance in participating geographical regions, effectively creating a more secure environment for transactions within and between each participating Visa region. Note: The liability shift encourages chip transactions because any chip-on-chip transaction (i.e., a chip card read by a chip terminal) provides dynamic authentication data, which helps to better protect all parties.

With this type of liability shift, the party that is the cause of a chip-on-chip transaction not occurring (i.e., either the issuer or the merchant’s acquirer) will be financially liable for any resulting card-present counterfeit fraud losses. When a transaction occurs using chip technology, any liability for counterfeit fraud, though unlikely, would follow current Visa Operating Regulations.

The policy assigns liability for counterfeit fraud to the party that has not made the investment in EMV chip cards (issuers) or terminals (merchants’ acquirers). The policy encourages wider deployment of EMV cards and terminals.

Organic Food Industry

Organic foods now occupy prominent shelf space in the produce and dairy aisles of most mainstream U.S. food retailers.  Organic refers to the way agricultural products and foods are grown and processed. Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers.

The Organic Trade Association’s 2011 Organic Industry Survey showed that the organic industry grew at a rate of nearly eight percent in 2010, with the growth being over $28.6 billion.  Some facts from that survey are:

• U.S. sales of organic food and beverages have grown from $1 billion in 1990 to $26.7 billion in 2010.  
• Organic food and beverage sales represented approximately 4 percent of overall food and beverage sales in 2010. Leading were organic fruits and vegetables, now representing over 11 percent of all U.S. fruit and vegetable sales.
• Organic non-food sales grew 9.7 percent in 2010, to reach $1.97 billion.
• Mass market retailers (mainstream supermarkets, club/warehouse stores, and mass merchandisers) in 2010 sold 54 percent of organic food. Natural retailers were next, selling 39 percent of total organic food sales.

MK 500 Micro Kiosk

Improve customer service and the customer experience with the latest innovation in self-service technology, Motorola’s MK500 Micro Kiosk. This compact, easy-to-install and affordable device allows retailers to put the power of self-service in every aisle or department.  So, no matter where in the store your customers might be, help is never more than a few steps away.

With the choice of laser scanning or imaging technology the MK500 supports all the bar codes you need to capture today and tomorrow.  Motorola signature laser scanning technology delivers aggressive performance and accurate capture of all 1D bar codes, even damaged and poor quality.  Patented Liquid Polymer scan element is frictionless for superior durability and reliability.

Motorola advanced imaging technology with laser style performance on 1D, 2D and PDF bar codes.  Patented illumination system enables omnidirectional scanning, increasing productivity by eliminating the need to align bar code and scanner.  Comprehensive networking options: IEEE 802.11a/b/g and Power-over-Ethernet support.  Provides the flexibility to easily connect to your wireless or wired LAN.

Compact 5.6 in. x 5.1 in. form factor with a slim 1.7 in./4.2cm profile.  Easy to deploy virtually anywhere in the store from aisle end-caps to shelves, poles and walls.  Support for standard mounting VESA brackets enables easy mounting of the MK500 on shelves, walls and other store locations.

3.5 in./8.9cm color QVGA touch screen plus three programmable buttons enables deployment of easy-to-use and very intuitive interactive applications.  Intuitive aiming pattern enables easy scanning of bar codes.  Ability to remotely stage, provision, monitor and troubleshoot devices dramatically simplifies and reduces the costs associated with deployment as well as day-to-day management.

Building Business Credit

One of the biggest challenges for startups and small businesses is that many have blank credit files.  While it may be true that there's nothing negative in there, there very well may be nothing positive, either.  It's just blank and that's a problem because an empty credit file is just as bad as having a bad credit file.

With so many different entities, from lenders to vendors, using business credit information to make decisions, empty credit files can make or break a startup or even an established company.  Just like your personal credit, a good credit rating can open the door for a business to borrow money, secure credit, get better payment terms or even obtain a contract.

So how do you go about establishing business credit?  Simply pay your bills on time and start documenting examples of good payment history.  That way, you'll help your company boost its businesss credit scores.  Five Stpes to Building Business Credit:

1. Open a credit card in the business name.
2. Only use the card for purchases you know the business can pay.
3. Pay all your suppliers on time.
4. Make sure your suppliers report your good payment history to D&B (Dun and Bradstreet) is essentially a credit reporting company for businesses.
5. Ask your bank for a credit card without a personal guarantee.