One of the reasons hackers breach direct marketing merchant sites is that’s where the card numbers are stored. Cardholder data is kept for a variety of reasons including: 1) providing customer service, 2) processing re-occurring transactions and 3) responding to chargebacks (representments). Fortunately, Visa recently clarified its Rules and advised merchants that they no longer need the entire 16-digit card number to cure a chargeback. Instead, merchants may use other clarifying information in addition to a truncated card number, in responding.
Visa has also mandated that issuers accept these truncated numbers. This is welcomed news for merchants and unless card numbers are absolutely needed, they simply should not be stored—helping to lessen the burden of PCI compliance. PCI compliance requires card numbers to be encrypted (if they are stored).
This does not eliminate an e-tailer’s responsibility to comply with PCI, as they are still processing card data; it merely makes the job easier. Further, direct marketers how are processing re-occurring transactions should consider utilizing a gateway that stores the data for them in an encrypted fashion.
Many gateways have re-occurring payment modules, which allow you to input the card data and to bill that same card on a regular basis, yet encrypts and stores that data in a PCI-compliant format. Since most e-tailers utilize a payment gateway, it behooves you to inquire if your gateway can perform this service for you. Doing so further allows you to concentrate on selling and eliminates enormous enterprise risk. Risk that could lead to substantial fines, the loss of your merchant account and a listing of your data on the MATCH file; further curtailing your ability to process transactions.
Think about the reasons you are storing card data. Do you really need to?
Ken Musanteis president of Direct Response Payments in Eureka, Calif. Contact Musante at (877) 476-0570 or at kenm@eurekapayments.com.
There has never been a better time than right now to join the Electronic Retailing Association. Below are the top five reasons why you need to be a part of the only non-profit trade association that represents the dynamic direct response marketing industry.
One free registration to ANY of our domestic conferences (including September’s ERA D2C Convention) – a $1,600 value!;
Networking opportunities with our 450+ member companies;
Significant discounts to all of our industry events;
Acclaimed celebrity host and industry veteran Forbes Riley will be inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame on March 14 in Chicago. She follows in the footsteps of fellow Hall-of-Famers and fitness icons Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack LaLanne, Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda—just a few of the more-than-50 inductees.
According to a Hall of Fame spokesman, Forbes is joining a prestigious inductee class of six for her work as a celebrity spokesperson and for using her passion and dynamic personality to bring others to fitness across multiple mediums.
ERA and Electronic Retailer magazine are proud of Forbes and congratulate her on this incredible achievement!
Electronic Retailer’sJanuary 2010 issue featuring Jeff Taylor (founder of Monster.com and CEO of Eons.com) is now available online. For more information on Jeff’s upcoming keynote address at the ERA Great Ideas Summit, click here.
The spookiest of American holidays is just days away. If you’re like me, you’re still scrambling for a unique and easy-to-throw-together-last-minute costume. The thought entering an over-stimulating and smelly party store just days before Halloween is out of the question for me, but will be my outfit be as cool as others?
Apparently the days of your dad throwing a sheet over your body and calling you a ghost are over. The costumes these days are more and more intricate and creative. From Kate Gosselin wigs to the late Michael Jackson and DRTV’s very own Billy Mays outfits, the best-selling costumes this Halloween season are personal and fierce!
Think dressing up as the legendary Billy Mays is tasteless and offensive? Well, Billy’s son, Billy Mays III, gives these outfits the Mays’ signature two thumbs up seal of approval! He’s even throwing a contest for his fans to see who has the best Billy Mays outfit on his website www.wheresbillymays.com. So go ahead, bust out your blue shirt and represent Billy’s positive spirit this season - you won’t be alone!
It’s not a far stretch to say that everyone that attended the ERA Networking Reception in San Diego on Monday, October 19, had a FABULOUS time. With 200+ direct response pros in attendance on the rooftop of Stingaree, the vibe and overall buzz of the evening was upbeat and optimistic. The drinks were flowing, the atmosphere was perfect and the conversations were flowing! Many people said they were making more connections during the two hour reception than they had made all day on the conference in town!
Having Andi Barness and Ben Freedman from PrimeImage Media at the reception also created a lot of buzz, they managed to get more than a dozen interviews with attendees asking why they were planning on coming to The Great Ideas Summit 2010 in New Orleans. Check out the video they produced below and the pictures that Kim Lewis with ERA snapped. www.ERAGreatIdeas.org
For all of you that attended, we hope it was a worthwhile and successful networking event for you!
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released its revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The Guides are more than 80 pages long, so we’re still analyzing the changes. However, there is no question that our extensive advocacy efforts have had an effect on the final iteration of the Guides. The commentary included with the changes explains that advertisements using consumer testimonials should be evaluated by the net impression of the advertisement. A footnote in the revised Guides also suggests that in some cases a disclaimer could be sufficient. A more comprehensive legal document will be circulated shortly, but it is clear from a preliminary review that our efforts have not been made in vain. The 35 advocacy meetings on the Hill, 40 constituent meetings at the Fly-In, the testimony before the Senate, two sets of detailed comments and our suggested language were all helpful in presenting our case to the FTC.
However, the new Guides certainly do present some challenges, both to traditional TV marketers and those in social media. ERA is already planning educational opportunities that will provide suggestions for compliance with these changes. We hope the FTC will seize the opportunity to improve the marketplace by presenting to these changes to ERA members at one of our conferences.
Members who attended the Fly-In, supported the Leadership Reception, participated in the Government Affairs Committee, helped to author and review our comments to the FTC, and of course, testified before the Senate, were all instrumental in mitigating some of the more harmful changes. We thank you.
Electronic Retailer’sSeptember ‘09 issue featuring Montel Williams is now available online! For more information about Motel’s upcoming keynote presentation at the ERA D2C Convention on Monday, Sept. 14, click here.
Before booking your travel to Las Vegas or San Diego, you may first want to get a few tips from “Saturday Night Live” travel expert Judy Grimes.
Did you miss out on the recent networking receptions in NYC and L.A.? Click here to view pictures from various events at Electronic Retailer’s Buzz page!
One of the reasons hackers breach direct marketing merchant sites is that’s where the card numbers are stored. Cardholder data is kept for a variety of reasons including: 1) providing customer service, 2) processing re-occurring transactions and 3) responding to chargebacks (representments). Fortunately, Visa recently clarified its Rules and advised merchants that they no longer need the entire 16-digit card number to cure a chargeback. Instead, merchants may use other clarifying information in addition to a truncated card number, in responding.
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Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released its revised 
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