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Cashless Statistics
Benefits of Accepting Card Payments
How to Guard Against Fraud
These guidelines could help prevent fraudulent transactions within your business.
Please remember that authorisation is not a guarantee of payment. If a sale appears too good to be true it probably is.
Chip and Pin
- Chip and PIN is the most secure type of transaction. Merchants are not required to make visual checks of the card, in Chip and PIN situations, as the Cardholder will retain control of the card during the transaction. Follow the prompts on your terminal at all times.
- Be on guard if a Chip and PIN card is presented but the PIN is blocked or the incorrect PIN is entered. You should check that this is the genuine Cardholder as you may be at risk if you accept a signature in these circumstances
- Take care that the customer does not interfere with the terminal or PIN pad
No Chip and Pin
If you are presented with a card that does not have Chip and PIN, be extra vigilant.
- Do not key a card number into your terminal for a transaction where the card and Cardholder are present, this will leave you open to risk of a Chargeback Dispute
- Use a Ultra Violet (UV) light to check the card as most genuine cards have special features on them that show up under a UV light
- Check whether the number printed on the terminal sales receipt is the same as that embossed on the front of the card. This is essential for identifying a counterfeit card. Most cases of counterfeit fraud involve ‘skimming’ or ‘cloning’, this is where the genuine data in the magnetic stripe on one card is copied onto another card without the legitimate Cardholder’s knowledge, often the fraudster will not take the time to re-emboss the card number on the card to match the numbers in the magnetic stripe so the fraud can be easily identified with this check
- Compare the name on the card with the signature and the signed voucher
- Check whether the signature strip on the card appears tampered with, raised or if the original signature appears to have been covered over
- Check as the Cardholder signs whether they are taking an unusual amount of time to sign the voucher.
Check the Customer
- Does the Cardholder appear nervous/ agitated/hurried or are they trying to distract you by being rude or overly friendly?
- Are they making indiscriminate purchases, for example not particularly interested in the price of the item or making hasty bulk purchases?
- Are they making small item purchases with maximum value cashback? Please ensure you have AIB Merchant Services agreement before processing any cashback transactions
- Does the title of the card match the gender of the person presenting it e.g. is a male using a card where the title is “Mrs”?
- Be wary if the customer tells you that they are having problems with their card where multiple card transactions are subsequently declined but eventually authorised for a lower value. Most genuine Cardholders are aware of the credit that is available on their cards
- A fraudster may present more than one card, often to find a card that will be successfully authorised. If this happens, complete additional checks to validate the transactions, check that the names on the cards presented are the same
- Under no circumstances should a card sale be split between two or more vouchers for the same card to avoid authorisation as these may be subject to a Chargeback Dispute
Check the Transaction – is it in line with your usual business?
- Is the purchase/order substantially greater than your usual sale, for example your average transaction value is €50 but this transaction is €500?
- Has the customer repeatedly returned to make additional orders in a short period of time, possibly over several days causing an unusual/sudden increase in the number and value of sales transactions?
Remember: if the appearance of the card being presented or the behaviour of the person presenting the card raises suspicion, you must immediately telephone the Authorisation Centre and state “this is a code 10 authorisation”. Answer all of the operator’s questions and follow their instructions.
Split Sales with Cash, Cheque or Second Credit Card
If the total sale is equal to or exceeds your ceiling limit and payment is offered partly by MasterCard, Visa, internationally issued Maestro or Laser and partly by cheque, cash or any other method, authorisation must be obtained for any part of the card transaction being paid with by card – even when the card amount is below your ceiling limit. The Authorisation Centre should be informed that the request for authorisation is in respect of a split sale.
They may require further details.
Note: If a transaction is above your ceiling limit, you should contact your Merchant Service provider to request an increase in your ceiling limit and not accept split payments. If you have any questions or require guidance in relation to authorisation issues, please contact your Merchant Service Centre. For security reasons your ceiling limit should never be displayed to the general public.
Please ensure you have agreement from your Merchant Services before making any CNP or eCommerce transactions. You will also need a separate MID for eCommerce transactions.
Accepting cards has always carried a risk and especially so when ordering goods by telephone, mail order or electronically such as over the internet. CNP transactions, including eCommerce transactions provide more opportunity for fraudsters, as the card cannot be present at the time of the purchase. Businesses that are affected by CNP and eCommerce fraud can experience costly Chargeback Disputes as well as a loss of goods or services provided. Under no circumstances should a card sale be split between two or more vouchers for the same card to avoid authorisation as these card transactions may be subject to a Chargeback Dispute.
Additionally if a customer presents more than one card for payment please take care and complete additional checks to validate the transaction.
Important: Under no circumstances can goods purchased by CNP or over the internet be handed over the counter or collected by the customer. You will be liable for a Chargeback Dispute if the transaction is disputed at a later date. If a customer wishes to collect the goods then they must attend your premises in person and produce the card. Destroy any sales voucher that may have been prepared and process an over the counter transaction. If you have already processed a CNP or eCommerce transaction you must either cancel it or perform a refund.
There are a number of additional checks you can make to help ensure that you are dealing with the genuine Cardholder including:
- Pre-registration – before allowing your customer to purchase goods or services online, you can request that they first register as a user. You can then ask for a variety of data to establish a customer profile. Firstly verify the name and address details before deciding to accept or decline the user. You will need them to agree to your use of their personal data, as set out in your website’s privacy policy. You must also ensure that their personal data is being processed fairly and legally and in compliance with the Card Scheme rule
- For business customers not known to you, you could check their details in the local business directory or internet search/map engine
- Independently obtain a telephone number for the Cardholder’s address and telephone the Cardholder on that number to confirm the order (not necessarily straight away). You could also consider writing to the customer before dispatching goods, if you are suspicious and unable to validate by other means
- For internet transactions monitor the Internet Protocol (IP) for repeated use on a number of different transactions
- Apply sensible limitations to the number of cards that customers can have registered to an account and consider limiting high risk services until a customer has been validated.
Delivery Warning Signals
Here are some danger signals to look out for when arranging delivery of goods:
- If the Cardholder’s delivery address is overseas, consider if the goods or services are readily available in the Cardholder‘s local market?
- Goods should not be released to third parties ie. friends of the Cardholder, taxi drivers, chauffeurs, couriers or messengers. (However, third party delivery of relatively low value goods such as flowers is acceptable)
- Insist that goods should only be delivered to the address that matches the Cardholder’s card. If you do agree to send goods to a different address take extra care and always keep a written record of the delivery address with your copy of the transaction details
- Don’t send goods to hotels or other temporary accommodation. Only send goods by registered post or a reputable courier and insist on a signed and dated delivery note.
Instruct your Couriers
- To ensure the goods are delivered to the specified address and not given to someone who ‘just happens to be waiting outside’
- To return the goods if they are unable to effect delivery to the agreed person/address
- Not to deliver to an address that is obviously vacant
- To obtain signed proof of delivery, preferably the Cardholder’s signature
If you have your own delivery service, you may want to consider portable terminals; please contact the Merchant Support Centre for more information
Other Fraud Considerations
Do not under any circumstances process transactions for any business other than your own
Fraudsters may offer commission to process transactions when they have not been successful in obtaining their own credit card facilities, or you may be asked to process transactions on behalf of a third party while they are waiting for their own facility. If you process transactions on behalf of any other business/person you will be liable for any Chargeback Disputes and doing so is in breach of your Terms and Conditions and will lead to termination of your agreement.
Your card transactions must not involve any card issued in:
- Your name or your account
- The name or account of a partner in, or director of your business
- The name or account of a spouse or any member of the immediate family or household of any such person detailed above
Transaction Laundering
If you are approached with a proposal to buy card transactions, you must contact your Merchant Service Provider This is a form of money laundering and is contrary to the terms of your Merchant agreement.
Phishing E-mails/Calls
If you are contacted by somebody claiming to be a bank or an official business asking for transaction details of cards recently accepted for payment, please advise your Merchant Service Provider.
This is a fraud tactic to obtain card details.
A bank or any other official business would not make contact in this way to request card information. Please take care when receiving calls or visits from ‘terminal engineers’ fraudsters will attempt to gain access to your terminal or may manipulate you into processing fraudulent refunds.
Please always validate these by calling your Merchant Service Provider who can advise or investigate.
Fraud Prevention Tools
Some businesses are more prone to fraud than others. It is your responsibility to protect your business from financial loss.
- Analyse Chargeback Disputes and fraud previously suffered, it will help to identify where your business is most at risk and how fraud can be prevented in future
- Ensure staff are continuously educated on your risk management procedures, your front line staff are key to identifying and reducing instances of fraud
- If you are concerned that you may be vulnerable to fraud attack, perhaps because of your business location, products or services sold or local intelligence. Please contact your Merchant Service Provider.
Terminal Security – Protecting your POS Equipment
- It is your responsibility to ensure that all staff are properly trained in how to use your terminal(s) and the security checks associated with checking cards presented for payment
- Supervisor cards should be used by staff members who are fully knowledgeable in terminal operation
- Supervisor cards should be kept secure and not alongside the terminal
- If you have any concerns that the terminal has been tampered with, contact terminal support on the numbers provided
Card Security Code (CSC/CVV2/CVC2)
The Card Security Code (CSC) is the last three or four numbers on the signature strip on the back of the card.
For all MasterCard, Visa and some Laser cards, the code is the 3-digit number that follows directly after the card number.
On some cards, only the last 4 digits of the card number are repeated in the signature strip, followed by the 3-digit CSC.
Functionality Update
Dear Customer,
Our payment system will be receiving several functionality updates. The new implemented functionality updates will include:
Advanced Fraud Prevention
Yorkshire Payments is excited to announce our new update with fraud prevention specialist, Sixthcents, enhancing our fraud prevention solutions.
Additional Payment Methods with PPRO
Yorkshire Payments now offer additional payment methods to our Customers. Allowing us the ability to collect payment via the means of Alipay, Directpay, IDeal, GiroPay, UnionPay and many more.
- Thursday 6 September 2018 between 04:45 BST and 07:00 BST
- Wednesday 26 September 2018 between 04:45 BST and 07:00 BST
- Thursday 27 September 2018 between 06:00 BST and 07:00 BST.
- 8 October 2018. We shall shortly update the time for this functionality update.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Whilst we do not anticipate any service disruption during the update, however, services may become intermittently unavailable during this time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Technical Engineers and Customer Care team.
Kind Regards,
Yorkshire Payments Technical Team
Card Payments overtake Cash
38.8 billion payments were made in the UK in 2017. 9 out of 10 payments were made by consumers for spontaneous purchases. The remaining 15% being spent on regular household bills.
38.8 billion payments were made in the UK in 2017. Nine out of ten payments were made by consumers for spontaneous purchases with the remaining 15% being spent on regular household bills.
Contactless payments increased by 97% in the UK during 2017, this amounts to 5.6 billion payments. More businesses are shifting to provide various methods of accepting payments including an increase in the number of card terminals being used by businesses, an increase contactless payments being available and consumers becoming familiar at ease with the new payment methods.
Online and mobile payments are a growing part of the payments market, they now account for more payments than standing orders or cheques. Over the next decade online and mobile payment methods are forecast to grow to 56% (877 millions payments). The increased use of smartphones and tablets it is expected that online payment methods such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay will increase in popularity.
*Source: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/uk-payment-markets-2018-summary/
Yorkshire Payments processed transactions totalling £470m through its systems in the last 12 months, compared to £237m processed the previous year.
James Howard, managing director of Yorkshire Payments, puts the record year of growth down to demand for integrated payment systems.
Being more technology focused and more technology driven, it allows us to not just provide the card payments piece. Businesses want more in terms of payment solutions and all their needs aren’t being met by traditional high street banks. Typically a high street bank will only offer a few different products. One or two of them might be suitable but actually the client requires a lot more that the bank can’t necessarily offer.”
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/yorkshire-payments-sees-record-card-transactions-1-9325728
Our demands are growing as consumers. Businesses are no different. They’re expecting this type of technology to make the experience easy.
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/yorkshire-payments-sees-record-card-transactions-1-9325728
*Source: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/yorkshire-payments-sees-record-card-transactions-1-9325728
If your business is not set up for card payments, you could put yourself on the backfoot and lose customers.
See our blog on 3 reasons why your business should accept card payments for more information.
Get in touch with our Customer Care team who will answer any questions and will provide you with the information you need to get your business on the right foot with payment services.
01422 323 785
info@yorkshirepayments.com
www.yorkshirepayments.com
Yorkshire Payments sponsors Extreme Challenge: Vietnam
Yorkshire Payments are proud sponsors of the Extreme Challenge:Vietnam. We wish the team of 18 cyclists the best of luck as they prepare to embark on the extreme off-road cycling challenge to raise funds for life changing anti-trafficking projects.
Off-road cycle challenge is raising money for anti-trafficking projects
A team of 18 amateur cyclists from around the world are preparing for an extreme off-road cycling challenge to raise funds for life-changing anti-trafficking projects run by the charity Hope for Justice.
The team taking on ‘Extreme Challenge: Vietnam’ are cycling from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, in just five days.
That’s 377km across fields and dirt tracks in tropical heat and punishing humidity.
Hope for Justice, a global anti-trafficking charity celebrating 10 years of changing lives, has well-established aftercare and reintegration projects for survivors of sex trafficking and labour trafficking in Phnom Penh, and wants to use fundraising from Extreme Challenge: Vietnam to expand this work into more countries.
The Cyclists
The team of 18 cyclists includes four staff from Hope for Justice plus high-profile, entrepreneurs, company directors and influencers from the worlds of business, entertainment and philanthropy.
Hope for Justice CEO Ben Cooley is joining the ride, having previously taken part in the hugely successful ‘Zoe Challenge’ ride five years ago, tracing the route from Riga in Latvia to Southampton in the UK taken by one of the first victims rescued by the charity, known as ‘Zoe’ to protect her identity.
Discussing why he has decided to get back on his bike for another tough challenge, Ben Cooley said: “Our team spent time in Vietnam and discovered the stories of children who were just seven years old, forced to work in the mines, enslaved and neglected, even to the point of death. We knew we had to do something about this.
“Extreme Challenge: Vietnam is our response: to raise awareness of this horrendous situation, and more importantly, to do something to make a difference.”
Hope for Justice
The charity’s work across the world is split into four key strands: preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives and reforming society.
Phoebe Southall is Partnerships Manager at Hope for Justice and is helping to organise the event. She said: “We want to live in a world free from slavery and as part of that vision we need to set up more projects just like these across the globe – and the fundraising from this Challenge will be invested in powering that ambition!
“We are incredibly grateful for the dedication the cyclists are showing to this cause by getting involved, and we hope as many people as possible feel able to donate towards this challenge and our life-changing work. Having seen our projects in Cambodia for myself last year, I know that every penny makes a huge difference for girls who are recovering from some of the worst experiences imaginable, and walking on a journey towards restoration.”
Sponsorship opportunities
There are many sponsorship opportunities available for businesses who want to partner with this Challenge, including product and jersey sponsorship for the riders, press and social media coverage, and much more. Find out more about the Challenge and sponsorship opportunities at www.hopeforjustice.org/extreme-challenge/
For more information Press and communications enquires:
Adam Hewitt: press@hopeforjustice.org +44 (0)161 509 5030
Partnership / sponsorship enquiries:
Phoebe Southall: events@hopeforjustice.org +44 (0)161 509 5046
Re-branding Yorkshire Payments
After our recent growth and success we began to discuss the effectiveness of our branding and logo. We felt that our logo was not representing the business in it’s best light. Over the last year, a record £470,000,000 through our card payment systems, our old branding was not giving us the image associated with our success as merchant service providers that service 3000 clients across Yorkshire and are boosting the Yorkshire economy.
In a society where cash transactions are rapidly decreasing, Yorkshire Payments is ensuring that local and regional businesses are set up to make money through card payments. See our video on three reasons why your business should accept card payments.
A recent study by banking trade body, UK Finance, showed a total of 13.2 billion debit card payments were made last year, a rise of 14% on the previous year. Founder of Yorkshire Payments James Howard has stated that “Businesses that are not set up to process card payments are putting themselves on the back foot when it comes to cashing in on an increasingly cashless society.”
From Mar 2017 – April 2018 we have grown our client base by more than 20% and transacted a record £470,000,000 through our card payment systems. We now service over 3,000 clients across Yorkshire and are on track to increase this to more than 3,500 by the end of 2018.
In response to our recent growth and our future plans we set about a full rebrand. This included a Logo transformation, a new colour palette, a new font suite a set of detailed brand guidelines and an overhaul on our digital and print marketing and promotional material.
We have big plans for the business over the next few years, including creating further jobs locally and the possibility of establishing a high street presence with a building to accommodate our expanding team and customer base.
Key areas of growth to mention
Our client base has increased by more than 20%
A record £470,000,000 has been processed through our card payment systems between April 2017 and March 2018.
Expansion of our customer care team and sales team.
Invested in Sales and Marketing
Additional sponsorship deals
Multimedia marketing and digital marketing
Full rebrand
Increasing our social media engagement.
New website with case studies and testimonials
Key elements to our re-brand:
We are a proud Yorkshire based business, it was important to us to have Yorkshire as part of our brand. The Yorkshire Rose was taken from our previous logo and re-stylised and re-designed to create the modern rose icon we have now. We have Matt Burton, from Educating Yorkshire as the voice of Yorkshire Payments to further emphasise our straight talking image.
Our new bold and contemporary typeface portrays our strength and reliability when it comes to our services and products. The new colours are more distinctive and recognisable.
Logo (2014 - 2018)
New Logo (2018)
Launch day
We celebrated our new brand identity by throwing a brand launch party. It was a proud moment to share our recent successes with our clients, customers and special guests. Founder of Yorkshire Payments James Howard kick started the event with a heartfelt speech about the growth and success of the business and how much he cares about his team. Joining him on stage was Yorkshire comedian Pete Emmett and Bradford City Manager Michael Collins.
MP Craig Whittaker launched the new brand by cutting the ribbon with Founder James Howard, Director Vikki Oakley and Local Business Advisor and mentor Eric Binns.
The Future
We will continue to nurture our new brand identity and strengthen our brand presence. Our plans are to expand our sales and customer care team and have a high street presence to accommodate our employee growth. We are on track to increase our client base by more than 3,500 by the end of 2018. We are very passionate about creating jobs locally and boosting Yorkshire’s economy. We aim to reach more customers in Yorkshire to help businesses succeed in a cashless society.
Thank you for reading. If you are a business owner and wish to hear more about our merchant services, get in touch and we will happily guide you to the best payment solution.
01422 323 785
info@yorkshirepayments.com
3 Reasons your business should accept Card Payments
“A total of 13.2 billion debit card payments were made last year, a rise of 14% on the previous year, according to banking trade body UK Finance.
That outstripped the 13.1 billion cash payments made, as the use of notes and coins dropped by 15%.
An estimated 3.4 million people hardly used cash at all during the year.
The annual report into the way consumers make payments revealed that the UK is a nation of spontaneous spenders. Only 15% of the 38.8 billion payments made in the UK in 2017 were for regular bills and commitments.”*
*https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44496513
Businesses that are not set up to process card transactions are putting themselves on the back foot.
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