This is Your Holiday Season — And This Is Your Holiday Season on EMV

Now that the Trick or Treat candy is all in the “half off” bins at the store, the home stretch of the year — and the holidays — begins in earnest.

The True Cost of Fraud — And the Future Beyond Cards

We are at a kind of “nexus” in the world of payments already — between the old and the new, the secure and the not-so-secure, the wired and the wireless. So it may well be fitting…

Back to the Breach — or “Who Watches the Watchmen?”

Experian is one of the three main credit reporting agencies whose reporting affects your FICO score as an individual. They also offer various “credit monitoring” services…

Payment Times Keep A-Changin’ – New Technologies, Shifting Consumer Trends

The payments news cycle is once again filled with predictable data breaches (both of the IRS and even less discreet varieties), and we hope being a regular reader of these updates has somewhat indemnified you…

Smart Cards, Smarter Passwords

The nature of payments, and how they’re made, continues to change — whether credit, debit, or prepaid. Payments continue to move from one digital platform to the next, sometimes leaving customers wondering if making any of the changes are worth it, or if something even newer will come along first.

May Day, Pt. II: More Tips For Keeping Your POS Devices Safe In a Malware World

Last week, we talked about the RawPOS Malware that has been affecting Windows-based point-of-sale devices, and we passed along some tips for upgrading, and guarding, against such attacks on you, and your customers. This week, we finish up our “pointers” for helping you keep all your gear secure. Here are both “the basics,” and a little beyond the “basics,” to maximize transaction security:

“May Day!,” Pt. I: Malware Security Alert for POS Devices

Happy May Day! In the U.S., it conjures up images of May Poles and spring love. In Europe, it’s marked with parades and marches, and is still something of a “worker’s holiday,” as it was here in the 19th Century. It was the original “Labor Day,” until the one we have now was created, so that American workers could have a day separate from what was perceived as the somewhat incendiary history of May 1st.

There and Back Again! Plus: Is Your Password As Strong as the Dollar?

As we mentioned before, we’ve been getting some brush-ups — a lot of digital brush-ups – -done to the AVPS website. Much as you can’t drive your car around when it’s in the shop, we haven’t been able to blog on our same schedule while our web presence is made more secure and more visually friendly to mobile devices.

Breaches Old and New: Target Settles, More Blue Cross Leaks; New Security Measures

Data breaches, their discontents and fallout, have filled the news this week. You’ll remember, of course, when the Target customer data breach in 2013 finally catapulted questions about customer security in the digital age onto the front page. Now comes word that Target has, at last, reached a settlement in that case. As tech website Gizmodo reports, “following lengthy discussions with the lawyers of those affected by the hack, the retailer has agreed to pay up a $10 million settlement.”