Capital Processing Network Unveils 2014 Credit Card Processing Trends

    PHOENIX, AZ, November 22, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Capital Processing Network, a nationwide credit card processing company, today released a list of anticipated trends in payment processing for the year 2014. Many of these developments follow on the heels of 2013 requirements for payment processors as well as technological innovations and consumer behavior.

"With the year 2014, we are expecting a notable shift in the way people pay for goods and services," said Patrick Hare, Digital Marketing Manager at Capital Processing Network. "On top of that, business owners will be leveraging new payment processing technology to control costs and increase efficiency."

Anticipated Credit Card Processing Trends for 2014 include:

- More prepaid debit cards. Cards like Wal-Mart's BlueBird and Google's Wallet Card are making it more affordable to ditch traditional bank accounts. Because it is possible to get direct deposits from payroll services and Social Security, a previously underbanked population will now have access to cards with Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX logos. Small business owners will want to use PIN pads to get the best rates on these cards.

- Growth in smart card availability. Two kinds of smart cards are seeing a wider release. One is a "chip" card which has a gold contact pad on the front. The other is a contactless card that uses an embedded radio frequency chip to communicate with credit card terminals. While smartcards have been anticipated in the US for over a decade, issuers are finally getting serious about them. While newer credit card terminals may accept EMV cards, older machines should be upgraded or replaced.

- Increased fraud prevention efforts. A shift toward educating merchants about credit card processing threats is underway in the industry. The newly released PCI-DSS standards are designed to improve awareness of potential attack vectors, and make it harder for hackers to find weak systems. This includes instructions on generating strong passwords, and adding security training guidelines designed to prevent the theft of cardholder information.

- POS system popularity. Several players are including POS programming as part of a credit card processing solution. Many new POS systems run off of tablet computers like the iPad, and are very easy to set up. Touchscreen ordering and "business in a box" solutions also make setup and checkout simple. Unfortunately, several inexpensive devices are tied to fixed-rate processing services may be more expensive over time than a standard POS setup on a discounted network.

- More interchange-plus pricing. Many of the old "tiered" pricing models are disappearing as merchants upgrade to interchange-plus pricing. This more competitive method of pricing transactions makes it easier for business owners to understand their credit card statements. The interchange-plus (or cost plus) model has been rolled out to more low-volume business owners over the past few years. However, it is still important to verify that added fees don't negate the savings implied by "cost plus" pricing.

Capital Processing Network is a merchant service provider with US based service and support. The company offers a full range of services including merchant credit card processing, credit card terminal leasing and rental, TransArmor fraud prevention, and solutions such as gift cards and virtual terminals. Capital Processing Network also offers services such as check conversion, transaction reporting and management, and long term account maintenance. For more information please call 1-877-456-9747 or visit http://www.capitalprocessingnetwork.com.

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