Vantage Card Services [+] is a new merchant services portal for our valued clients to track and redeem their Vantage Points Rewards, explore PayView reporting and trends and access Support Center resources.

Vantage is home to world-class payment solutions and features the best value package of price, terms, service, solutions and incentives available in the payments industry. This new merchant service [+] portal complements our Interchange [+] merchant rate pricing with PayView reporting.

PayView is a monthly reporting tool that has been developed to provide even greater transparency into your card payment acceptance. Use PayView to explore stats and trends, chart your sales, manage your Interchange qualifications and track your effective "real rate" calculations over time. We welcome you to log on or register for a demo of PayView now.

VantageCardServices.com is also the new home for Vantage Points Rewards. As a Vantage merchant, you earn Vantage Points when accepting card payments and for your referrals. Shop online and redeem your points for great rewards from hundreds of distinguished reward partners while also helping us raise money to support the fight against ALS.

Our passion is providing high quality payment processing solutions that exceed expectations. We are continuously working on improving our programs, technology and service offerings to provide the best value available anywhere in the payment industry. And the Vantage Card Services support center resources, Vantage Points Rewards and PayView Reporting are demonstrations of our continued commitment to our clients.

We Thank You for Choosing Vantage Merchant Services!

Congratulations to Vantage clients Moss Mills and Pure Fiber on their recent appearances on NBC’s Today Show as featured in Jill’s Steals and Deals. The Today Show segment "Steals and Deals" airs every other Tuesday morning to millions of viewers. Needless to say, both events were very successful and resulted in a huge surge in sales volume.

For Moss Mills, December 6th was their second Today Show sales event. Their previous Steals and Deals appearance was February 8, 2011. As part of the process and with the help of a skilled design team with previous Today Show Steals and Deals experience, they created a secure ecommerce website specifically for this event called www.todayshow.mossmills.com to support the millions of hits to the site within the first few hours of the segment airing. Moss Mills has built its reputation on making and selling high quality products, hand crafted here in the USA and prepared extensively to provide a positive customer service experience.

Moss was warned that other merchants who participate in this Today Show sale encountered extremely long waits (months) for release of funds because of the dramatic change in account activity. However, the Vantage team is well versed in helping clients implement best practices and in managing the underwriting and risk management systems to ensure fast funding. Moss commented “On short notice, Vantage Card Services set up an Authorize.net gateway account and made the process smooth and positive every step of the way. In the many years that we have worked with Vantage, we have been thoroughly satisfied with the courtesy and service that we have received.”

Pure Fiber aired on Steals and Deals Tuesday, October 18th and sold one of their bamboo blankets. Pure Fiber is the premier manufacturer and supplier of eco luxurious bed and bath amenities and their bathrobes, towels and sheets are featured at hundreds of luxury resorts, boutique hotels and spas that care about comfort and the environment. Pure Fiber put a logistics team in place to help them handle the tens of thousands of orders from the sale and they were able to ship all orders within 3 days.

While the Today Show actually has a preferred method of processing, our clients pushed to learn that using their merchant services is not required. Tony with Pure Fiber wrote “Great news! We were on another call with the Today Show and it turns out that we are able to go with Vantage after all! We told them that you’ve been with us for so long and that if there was a chance, we’d prefer to go with you guys.”

Thank you Moss and Tony, we are fortunate to have such strong and long standing client relationships!

Small business owners are a new favorite target for hackers hoping to take advantage of weak security in small business environments. This excerpt from a recent article in the Wall Street Journal article Hackers Shift Attacks to Small Firms sums up the new reality:

“In the time it takes to break into a major company like Citigroup Inc., a hacker could steal data from dozens of small businesses and not get detected, says Bryce Case Jr., a former hacker who broke into several government and corporate websites a decade ago and now runs an online message board for hackers called Digital Gangster. Now that small companies use computers, "the juice has become worth the squeeze," he says. "Even a pizza place has addresses, names and credit-card information."

Whether you store card holder data or transmit card data over your network, it is important to protect your business and take the necessary security precautions. Please take the time to learn more about PCI guidelines and ensure that you maintain PCI compliance.

A good place to start is to review the PCI resources on the Vantage web site. For detection of security vulnerabilities at your business and for help managing PCI compliance requirements, you may be interested in our partnership with ControlScan.

The bottom line is that PCI is not something to be take lightly or ignored. While Vantage is doing our best to deliver this message to merchants and reward compliance with bonus Vantage Points, other merchant service providers are charging monthly non compliance PCI fees each month (hint: take a look at your merchant statement). Whether it’s the carrot or the stick approach that motivates you, the risk of a data compromise are real and the results can be devastating. So please heed the warnings and follow the compliance requirements.

PCI Data Security and Compliance Requirements

What is PCI?
Specifically, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) prohibits the storage of the full contents of any magnetic-stripe, CVV2 or PIN data. Storage of this type of data is in violation of (PCI DSS) and the card company operating regulations. It also provides security requirements for transmitting card data.

PCI is a data protection standard and it provides a lot of detail on how that protection should be implemented. This means that PCI is not only good for protecting payment card data, but also protecting your business and any personally identifiable information you may have about your customers and employees.

The Financial Risks of a Breach are Real. As the rules & regulations now stand, once your business has been identified as the compromised location, you are responsible for the costs of any forensics exam, remediation, mandated security monitoring, fines and chargebacks!

Good Advice: Contact your business insurance provider and ask them about a comprehensive data compromise rider to cover you in case of a breach.

2011 PCI Compliance Requirements

Step 1: Complete the appropriate PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire

At a minimum all businesses accepting card payments should complete the Self Assessment Questionnaire. You can do this yourself at no cost.

• SAQ A – Card-not-present Merchants, All Cardholder Data Functions Outsourced.
• SAQ B – Merchants with Only Imprint Machines or Only Standalone, Dial-Out Terminals. No Electronic Cardholder Data Storage.
• SAQ C-VT – Merchants with Web-Based Virtual Terminals, No Electronic Cardholder Data Storage.
• SAQ C – Merchants with Payment Application Systems Connected to the Internet, No Electronic Cardholder Data Storage.
• SAQ D – All Other Merchants and All Service Providers Defined by a Payment Brand as Eligible to Complete an SAQ.

Step 2: Once the SAQ is complete, you may find that your business requires vulnerability scanning of your Internet connections. This will require that you hire a Qualified Security Assessor.

Vantage Partners with ControlScan to assist merchants

As a market leader in PCI compliance, ControlScan will help your business achieve and maintain PCI compliance with the SAQ and vulnerability system scanning (Scan), both designed to uncover security gaps and provide best practices to prevent data compromise. Additional tools include a Security Policy Builder and an Internal Security Awareness training program.

Enjoy Discounted Pricing <Learn More, Sign Up and Get Started>

• Merchants using touch tone capture, dial up terminals, or a virtual terminal may sign up for ControlScan's PCI 1-2-3 Self Assessment Questionnaire and Security Policy Generator service for only $60 a year.
• Merchants using a terminal or POS connected to the internet or ecommerce merchants may sign up for ControlScan's PCI 1-2-3 periodic and on-demand vulnerability scanning, Self Assessment Questionnaire and Security Policy Generator service for only $100 a year.

Bonus Offer: Get your PCI Compliance Certificate and earn 2,500 Bonus Vantage Points! <Learn More>

Please act now to secure your payment systems and comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Additional comprehensive information can be obtained at https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml.

Check our post Shopping Merchant Account Rate Quotes on Google Knol for help on how to lower processing costs when accepting credit & debit cards.

ALL merchants large and small can get an Interchange rate price structure to lower their costs. And many industries have incentive Interchange rates available. Merchants can eliminate monthly minimum fees, batch fees, AVS fees, annual fees, compliance fees, non-qualified surcharge fees, and other hidden fees. Read the fine print to find these charges and avoid 3 year contracts with cancellation penalties. Month-to-Month merchant accounts at Interchange pricing are available.

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PARK CITY, UT--( April 22, 2008) - The Aegenis Group and Vantage Card Services have partnered to provide data security eLearning to merchants. The partnership leverages The Aegenis Group’s eLearning materials and data security expertise and combines it with the unique, high-touch approach to merchant services offered by Vantage Card.

“In partnering with The Aegenis Group, we are able to provide our merchants a quality educational experience that is in keeping with our dedication to servicing the merchant,” said Ty Hardison Vice President of Business Development at Vantage Card Services. “We are excited about being able to offer our merchants education that will enable them to increase the security of their customer data.”

Chris Mark, CEO and co-Founder of The Aegenis Group, added, “Vantage Card Services is at the forefront of a growing movement in the industry to empower merchants with respect to data security. By offering their merchants the opportunity to learn more about data security and its impact on the industry as whole, including the consumer, Vantage is enabling their merchants to better their data security measures and The Aegenis Group is very excited to be a part of it.”

The partnership, which launches this week, will allow Vantage Card Services to send their merchants to a unique portal (http://training.vantagecard.com) in which merchants will be able to access eLearning courses and reference material.

About The Aegenis Group

The Aegenis Group is a regulatory compliance and risk management consulting organization specializing in strategic consulting, training, and market development assistance for companies in and around the payment card industry. The Aegenis Group is the worldwide QSA trainer and is contracted with a major card brand to conduct merchant and acquirer PCI DSS training. For more information about The Aegenis Group please contact us at info@aegenis.com.

About Vantage Card Services

Vantage Card Services, Inc., was established in February of 1996 to market and manage card processing services and payment systems for merchants, businesses and banks. Vantage provides clients with payment processing consulting to address specific interchange pricing and regulations in all types of industries. Vantage caters to clients that require value, expertise and personal attention, with a core philosophy focused on merchant education. For more information about Vantage Card Services please contact us at www.vantagecard.com.

Credit-Card Wars The Wall Street Journal: At the behest of a coalition of U.S. retailers, House Democrat John Conyers of Michigan and Republican Chris Cannon of Utah have introduced the Credit Card Fair Fee Act that would regulate fees that the credit-card industry charges to retail stores.

As more consumers choose payment cards for purchases, retailers push for government regulation.   Is this a good thing?