Merchant Newsletter - August 19, 2006

Signatures and Reporting


Signatures and reports are available online!


 
We recently received one of the phone calls that we warned you about in our July 15th newsletter!, A voicemail called stating that there was a problem with a transaction, and gave us a reference number and an 800 number to call.

The caller did not name the bank they were calling from, the first red flag, and this number did not match any of the 800 numbers associated with any of our banks, the second red flag.  

The scammers were hoping that we would get worried and call, giving them our account numbers and security information as "verification".  Be warned, these scams are active and pervasive, don't get caught!


Remembering that PDA phones are phones, we have to realize that the wireless radios inside (either CDMA or GSM/GPRS) are optimized for the best reception when being used as a phone.

When we use them as a PDA, there is a tendency to operate them with the unit laying on it's back on a desktop or other surface.  Due in part, to a property of the carrier's signal called polarization, the unit will get it's best reception when the antenna is pointed up and down:



When the unit is laying on it's back, the antenna is 90 degrees out of phase with the transmitted signal, and the connection is at it's worst for that particular location!  Height helps as well, holding the unit at head level can give you a much better signal than at waist level.  This helps by reducing the interference, absorption and clutter caused by furniture, file cabinets, and people.

Pocket Verifier Professional only sends or receives data when the "Activate", "Charge" or "Void/Credit" buttons are pressed, so you can use the unit on it's back (or any position), simply pointing it vertically when you actually activate or charge a credit card!  Easy!  In problem areas, some merchants actually hold the unit vertically, and as high as they can.  This is known as the "Statue of Liberty Authorization" and has saved merchants dozens of sales over the years.




A number of merchants calling in are not aware how to get their reports and receipt signatures online. This  brings us to this weeks' article.  First, in order to access the reporting system, just go to:
  www.EnterTransactions.com
which is certainly easy to remember!  It gives you a link to Transaction Central, and gives us a spot to alert you to critical hardware and software updates as well!  Login with your 5-Digit Merchant ID, and Password.

When the main screen comes up, click on the blue "Reports" button.

Then, click on the "Transaction Detail Report" button:

The "Search by" dialog box will always be default to "Credit Cards - Today"  You can change the "start date" (Red Arrow) to see your sales for the week, month, year- any date range at all.  When you have selected a date range, click "Apply Filters" (Blue Arrow below).


After you have pressed "Apply Filters", you will see your transactions for the days that you selected.  The leftmost column, marked "Transaction ID" contains the unique ID for each transaction, and each one is a link to the details of that transaction:



After selecting a transaction ID, you will see the details for that transaction.  By clicking on the "View Receipt" button, you will see the receipt, with the captured signature! (sample above)


Accept Credit Card

US Patent #5983411 was issued for a toilet tank with a built-in aquarium.  I guess if you filled it with piranha, your spouse might not take so long in the bathroom....  Or, it may sound better at the dinner table when you announce you need to go feed the fish.

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