The news in credit cards this week is kind of yin/yang, straddling both sides of the security fence. On the one hand, there’s news of another breach, this one affecting the St. Louis- based Schnucks Market chain, which confirmed an April 15 “hack” affecting 2.4 million credit and debit cards, used at nearly 80% of its 100 stores. Track 2 card numbers and expiration data were were breached in specific stores, and depending where your customers are based, they may not be affected at all.
Month: November 2017
Madera, m’dear? Not If You’re Not Careful About Card Fraud!
While credit card fraud thankfully remains the rule, rather than the exception, we like to post occasional news items here about card fraud schemes, for their instructive value. In other words, what they can they teach our merchants about making their own transactions safer?
….And Yet, M-Commerce — and M-Everything — Is Still On the Rise!
The headline is a direct follow up to last week’s blog post, which concerned one merchant’s unfortunate overreaction to “showrooming,” that mobile-device enabled method of seeing a product “live” in a store, then turning to a handy screen to see if you can get it for a better price.
What Not To Do In Response to “M-Commerce”
Sometimes this happens with the newfangled habit of “showrooming.” We’ve written about it here before, and as a merchant with customers, you should keep the phrase on your radar. “Showrooming” refers to the practice of customers entering a store, looking at items “live,” as it were (which is to say, displayed on your shelves — if you’re one of those with an offline location that has shelves), then checking their phones quickly to see if they can get it for a better price — once your own showroom display has actually helped make the sale.
More on the Young, and their Credit
A few weeks back, we mentioned some conflicting reports on young adults and their use of credit. On the one hand, they were getting deeper in debt — due to sluggish job prospects and increased school costs, among other things. On the other, they were generally preferring to use debit cards, instead of credit cards, to pay for things where plastic was required, to avoid piling up even more debt.
