19. MERCHANT SECURITY

At Eliot Management Group (EMG), the security of our merchants is a high priority. There are many ways for a merchant to be taken advantage of by employees, customers, and other merchant service providers, which is why we must advise you of recent trends in the payment card industry. A merchant service provider has been contacting merchants and claiming that the terminal the merchant is using is out of date and not secure for them or their customers, and would be easily hacked into. As EMG does everything possible to make our terminals compliant with Visa, MasterCard, and Discover Network regulations, these statements are completely false. The merchant service providers making these calls are preying on merchants, hoping to get equipment sales, and possibly switch businesses to their service.

As technology increases, fraud has become all too common in businesses around the globe. Examples of recent fraudulent activity in the payment processing world can be tied to JC Penney and TJ Maxx. Recently, JC Penney’s credit card processor lost 650,000 customers’ credit card information, as well as 150,000 customers’ social security numbers. Also, the TJ Maxx hack of 2007 was a large indicator that security needed to be higher on many processors’ lists. According to Cnet.com, thieves gained access to the computer systems used to process and store customer transaction data, including credit, debit, and check transactions at TJ Maxx.

Again, at EMG, we pride ourselves for strictly following all Visa, MasterCard, and Discover Network regulations. If you are able to process through EMG, you are being held to the highest Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance standards, and have no need to worry. If you have any questions regarding your terminal with EMG, or would just like further information, please feel free to contact our 24-hour customer service team at (800) 789-8897, option 2. For further information on how to protect your merchant account from fraudulent activity, visit Fraud Prevention.