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Credit card (Card-present) Card-present, signature-based card processing with EFSnet enables retail merchants to accept credit cards issued by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diners Club, all at the point-of-sale.

It's a surprise to many that POS transactions can be communicated over the Internet and still be classed as "Card-present" transactions. But the fact is, the Internet is simply an advanced digital communications network performing similar tasks that telephone networks perform for dial-up terminals.

POS vendors of IP software applications and terminals are rapidly catching up to this new connection avenue providing an increasing number of turnkey solutions for POS processing.

For retailers, the advantages of Internet processing are numerous but boil down to some basic benefits: lower cost, higher speed, improved scalability, less down-time, and better reporting.

These advantages have propelled EFSnet as the industries fastest growing connection choice for retailers, particularly in the quick-service arena, where reliable, high-speed transactions with low costs are basic requirements.

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Credit Card-Not-Present (E-commerce & MOTO) Card-not-present credit card processing is a payment option that enables merchants to accept major card issuers including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diners Club cards for e-commerce, mail, or telephone orders.

There is an abundance of third-party companies that offer card-not-present solutions over the Internet. Ultimately, these entities connect to payment processors (e.g., Concord) on their back-end to perform the actual authorization or settlement.

EFSnet is unique in that it is not a third-party solution, but in fact is owned, operated, and managed by Concord –a true payment processor. Using EFSnet instead of a third-party gateway offers the following advantages:

• Faster transactions
• Lower costs
• A single source for merchant account creation, gateway setup, support, and billing
• Access to the simplest and most affordable (it's FREE!) Verified by Visa solution.

With EFSnet, you have the choice of directly connecting your custom solution to EFSnet or utilizing a 3rd party application that is already certified to process with EFSnet.

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PIN-secured debit card (Card-present) PIN-secured debit (on-line debit) is a payment option that immediately authorizes a transaction, debits funds from a customer's bank account, and credits funds into your merchant account. Accepting PIN-secured debit cards offers customers a popular, secure alternative to using credit cards and checks. EFSnet supplies direct links to virtually every debit card network in the nation, including MAC®, STAR®, NYCE® and Pulse®.

EFSnet gives you the opportunity to tap into revenues stemming from an increasing number of debit cardholders including 127.4 million STAR cardholders. As a merchant using EFSnet and PIN-secured debit at the point-of-sale, you'll enjoy guaranteed payment and low chargeback rates–all the while, offering more convenience to your customers.

A flat, low-cost tender fee structure makes Concord's PIN-secured debit processing the lowest-cost form of guaranteed payment available. Compare that with credit cards or off-line debit transactions through credit card issuers, which are usually based on a percentage of purchases, and your savings can be significant.

For more information on accepting debit transactions,
visit STAR Systems

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PIN-less debit (Card-not-present)
EFSnet proudly provides Internet access to STAR's PIN-less debit Bill Payment service. Billers can enjoy guaranteed payment and low chargeback rates while offering consumers an added convenience.

The STAR Utility Bill Payment program allows cardholders to pay their bills by phone or over the Internet using their ATM/debit cards, without a PIN. Customers call the company or visit its Web site, enter their utility account number, confirm the amount to be paid, and are offered a choice of ATM/debit or credit card to make the payment. If ATM/debit is selected, the cardholder enters his/her ATM card number.

The PIN-less bill payment transaction is processed by STAR as a point-of-sale purchase and is routed online to the card issuing financial institution for approval. Because the utility company performs the consumer's authentication, they assume responsibility for fraud and liability for unauthorized access. The card issuing institution still provides funds guarantee.

Presently, PIN-less debit is restricted to the following entities that have strong authentication capability with their clients:

• Government-regulated utilities, including electric, telecommunications, water, and gas providers
• Lenders
• Insurers
• Government agencies
• Educational institutions

Visit STAR web site for more information on STAR Bill Payment

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Off-line Debit Card (Card-present, Card-not-present)
Offline debit card is a signature-based payment option that, from a consumer perspective, is handled exactly like a credit card transaction. Unlike on-line debit transactions, offline debit payments do not require a PIN.

After a customer's debit card is swiped using a terminal or keyed in and customer signs the receipt, the transaction is sent through the credit card processing networks for authorization. If the authorization is successful, the customer's bank account will be debited, following settlement, in 2 or 3 business days.

No special effort is needed to access this payment type as only EFSnet's normal credit card transaction methods are needed.

EFSnet's FREE Verified by Visa solution

Verified by Visa is a *free cardholder authentication service that enables you to verify a cardholder’s account ownership, in real time, during an online Visa card transaction. EFSnet seamlessly incorporates this authentication solution into Concord's comprehensive transaction processing services.

You are an e-commerce company. You accept Visa transactions. Have you already implemented Verified by Visa- with a shift of liability and reduction in fraud losses? If not, sign up with EFSnet today and enjoy these benefits and more, free of charge.

Most third-party providers charge for development and support of Verified by Visa. However, with Concord's EFSnet Web service, implementation, future upgrades, and ongoing first-line support is offered at no additional charge.

What does this mean for you? The issuing bank is now liable in the event of chargebacks. It also means that only one company is used to authenticate your Verified by Visa customers. This gives you a fully-integrated processing solution for all of your payment types and processing needs.

More information

* Verified by Visa authentication requests are free when associated transaction is processed via EFSnet

MasterCard SecureCode (3D-Secure Model)

MasterCard SecureCode shares the same 3D-Secure specification used by Verified by Visa, which allows EFSnet to expose a single common interface to handle both card types. This simplifies the effort required by application developers who can now achieve high levels of purchaser authentication for both MasterCard and Visa using a single EFSnet method.

Just like Verified by Visa, cardholders are able to authenticate themselves with their card issuer through the use of a unique, personal code. MasterCard SecureCode authentication provides e-commerce customers with added peace of mind, and reduces (if not eliminates) transaction disputes, potentially shifting liability for fraud away from merchants and back to card issuers. Once availalble, this service will be free of charge when the associated transaction is processed through EFSnet.

For more information, view the MasterCard site

SafeCHECK

SafeCHECK is an on-line, real-time check verification and check debit processing service that allows you to instantly verify that a customer's account is open and contains sufficient funds for a purchase. SafeCHECK also offers an option to immediately debit funds from your customer's checking account for a purchase. In this case, the customer signs a receipt and is given back their processed or voided check at the time of purchase.

  IDENTITY CHEK    

Available for financial institutions, IDENTITY CHEK™ is a proven system that performs Identity Verification, Validation, OFAC Screening and Fraud Detection as part of one integrated solution.

The Impact of Identity Fraud
Generally, identity fraud begins when an individual's personal information, such as Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, and account number, are stolen and used to fraudulently establish credit, run-up debt, or to take over existing financial accounts.

Identity fraud invariably leads to other types of fraudulent activity (i.e., new account fraud and check fraud). Therefore, it is important that you institute new-account-opening procedures that detect and prevent unauthorized access to your financial system.

How it works
Performing as many as sixty tests on each inquiry, IDENTITY CHEK detects invalid, inconsistent, and unusual elements of an individual’s identification. Timely notification of the existence of one or more of these conditions is extremely valuable in assessing risk, preventing fraud, and meeting key provisions of the US Patriot Act.

IDENTITY CHEK also facilitates data-entry cleanup by identifying possible keystroke errors and offering re-entry prompts. Experience has shown that incorrectly keyed information can often be the cause of invalid warnings.

Ease of Use
With no hardware or software to install, users simply login with their username and password. Information furnished by the customer such as name, address, phone number, drivers license number (DL#), and SSN are then keyed into select fields on the Web interface.

Control Tables and Files
As many as 60 verification and validation tests can be performed on an identity. The following are just a few examples:

SSN valid or expired, match the person’s name?

SSN issue date consistent with date of birth?

Driver’s License conforms to format standards?

Address match one of 300,000+ suspicious addresses?

Phone number(s) traceable, and coincide with the address?

Compliance Screening
Conduct automatic screening against the list of Specially Designated Nationals published by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC).

Prevent Attempts of Repeated Fraud
Institutions may also contribute "Hot File" data to augment the screening process (i.e., internal watch lists).

For those organizations subscribing to the Inter Business Hot File (IBHF) via the Onsite Edition of IDENTITY CHEK, entries are also compared to known or attempted fraud cases contributed from this cross-industry initiative.

Customization

System fine-tuning is essential, and must take into consideration an institution’s unique policies and procedures, preferences, and unique fraud patterns.

With IDENTITY CHEK, users designate following items:

Fields to be verified

Re-entry prompts

Number of allotted retries

Final response decisions

Reporting
An Audit Detail Report contains all relevant information for each entry including retries, warnings, last response and all accepted data elements.

A daily Audit Summary Report includes the number of entries processed, alerts per field, and fields missing information. This is especially useful to Branch Administration for CSR accountability.

Need More Information?
For more information on how the IDENTITY CHEK Web service can protect your organization against potential risk, please contact us at (877) 275-7774, Ext. 540 or visit www.primarypayments.com.

STAR CHEK - Check Verification Service

STAR CHEK is a proactive check verification service that reduces risk and minimizes check acceptance costs by verifying a customer's checking account status with the largest demand deposit account (DDA) database in the nation. This verification helps to determine whether a check is likely to be returned.

STAR CHEK enables both physical and virtual retailers to route check verifications, online via the STAR network and EFSnet, to a positive database and determine, in real time, whether a check is likely to be returned.

Several financial institutions are currently utilizing account verification via STAR CHEK providing them the information that they need to make better check acceptance decisions.

By providing you the information that you need to make better check acceptance decisions, you can reduce the potential for check fraud and returned checks.

More information from STAR Web site

Level III purchasing card

Level III purchasing card is a credit card transaction that allows merchants to pass line-item purchase order details, from buyers to the card payment networks. Level III details allow merchants to capitalize on additional sales channels, enhance revenue, and reduce interchange fees.

EFSnet supports the communication of Level III purchasing card information from merchants to the card issuer. The acceptance of line-item purchase order details allows merchants to accept corporate-sponsored credit cards, which is often critical within B2B environments involving large corporations and/or government entities. Purchasing card advantages to your business include: improved cash flow, reduction in paperwork and invoicing, new sales channels, and an expansion of your customer base.

Level III adds full, line-item detail to transaction data including the following:

Quantities

Product codes

Product descriptions

Ship to zip

Freight amount

Duty amount

To contact us with direct questions regarding Level III payment processing, e-mail to sales@concordefsnet.com. Click here for a white paper discussion of Level III.

Gift card (Point of sale and e-commerce)

Gift card is a user-friendly payment option for purchases at the point-of-sale or online. Gift cards are pre-paid, electronic replacements for paper gift certificates, and enable you to accept an alternate form of payment that offers the convenience of a credit or debit card.

• Gift card acceptance is gaining popularity
• Enables you to offer another payment method to your customers
• Pre-paid cards keep revenues in-house, with no cash back
• Encourages repeat business
• Enhances branding and marketing opportunities

SVS gift card is a third-party payment option that is interfaced to EFSnet for gift card purchases at the point-of-sale or online. This interface allows you to accept gift cards from one of the world's leading providers of electronic gift certificates and card-based transaction programs.

Contact your Concord representative at 1-800-778-4804 and ask about the EFS Gift Card.

EBT - Electronic Benefits Transfer (Card-present)

Electronic benefits transfer (EBT) is a PIN-secured, electronic system that allows direct usage of government benefits to purchase products at the point-of-sale. A customer may charge an EBT purchase to a food stamp card account, which strictly limits the items that the customer can purchase, or a cash benefit card account, which allows the customer to purchase a wider variety of items and receive cash back from their EBT account. EBT systems use the same electronic funds transfer application that many merchants use for their debit card payment systems.

Starting in 1994, Concord's BUYPASS processor was the nation's first fully-integrated processor of EBT transactions, and is currently the nation's largest third-party EBT processor. As a Web service front-end to BUYPASS, EFSnet now allows EBT point-of-sale transactions to be processed via the Internet.

A major benefit of using EFSnet for EBT processing is EFSnet's scalable architecture. Government benefits are often distributed on a specific day each month, which can result in a burst of commerce activity. Having a high-speed, scalable transaction processing platform is imperative, and EFSnet's Web services architecture is perfectly suited to handle these potential spikes in transaction activity.

Need More Information?
Call the Concord EBT line at 1-800-736-9928 for information about available store solutions and specific systems supported or visit Concord's corporate product page.

TeleCheck^® Check Verification Service

The TeleCheck^® Check Verification Service helps merchants separate good check writers from bad ones allowing them to adopt a liberal check acceptance policy that will benefit both the merchants and their customers.

Armed with national databases containing real-time information from more than 306,000 businesses and financial institutions, TeleCheck offers the most accurate check verification service in the industry. These databases provide merchants with continually updated information including bad check activity as it occurs, automated inquiries using the consumer's identification (Driver's License or state ID) as well as checking account data.

Flexible verification options allow merchants to determine what risk level is acceptable for their individual business. These verification systems reduce the likelihood of multiple fraudulent transactions and also help detect fraud in progress. Our advanced services make it possible for merchants to accept more checks, leading to increased sales, higher profits and greater customer satisfaction.

The TeleCheck Check Verification service provides several options with which to tap into our resources. Here's how it works:

The basic Verification service quickly separates good and bad check risks using TeleCheck's negative database. This database comprises more than 51 million bad check records, enabling merchants to make informed, reliable decisions regarding each check their business sees.

The Verification with Risk Management service uses both TeleCheck's checkwriter activity and negative databases along with its risk management system to identify not only bad check writing risks, but also good ones. The risk management service utilizes TeleCheck's risk and predictive-modeling systems to analyze over 30 variables to predict the probability of a check being good. These assessment tools include regression modeling, neural networks, and decision tree analysis.

• Reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions
• Enables the adoption of a more liberal check acceptance policy
• Enables customization of verification services to meet your business needs
• Permits use of national databases with real-time information