COVID-19 has changed the way we do nearly everything. Going to the grocery store is no longer a leisurely Sunday activity; it can now be a legitimate risk to your health. While many of us are religiously wearing our face masks and practicing social distancing, there are some people who aren’t following the generally accepted COVID-19 safety guidelines. The check-out process used to be a breeze, but now, there’s a major concern that touching the card pin pad will result in the disease spreading.

The good news is that there’s a technology already out there that can solve this problem, and it’s available on virtually every piece of hardware sold for the past few decades. Europe and Asia have been taking advantage of this technology for years, but the US has been slow to adopt it. However, COVID-19 has propelled near field communication (NFC) into the limelight, and it’s finally ready for widespread adoption. You may be asking, what exactly is NFC? Well, it’s a short-range wireless communication network that uses magnetic fields to transmit data safely and securely. It has many uses, but the most relevant one to our current situation is its ability to initiate sales transactions by simply tapping your mobile device onto the payment receiver. This tap-to-pay option is available on almost every smartphone, and it’s just as secure as a chip or stripe card transaction.

When you complete a tap-to-pay transaction, your smartphone’s mobile wallet will communicate directly with your bank and deduct the appropriate amount from your account. Another piece of good news is that almost every smartphone has some version of a mobile wallet. For iPhones, there’s ApplePay, which has been gaining traction in the past few months, ever since they introduced the Apple Card, a titanium credit card that links to your virtual wallet. For Androids, there’s Google Pay and Android Pay, and for Samsung models, there’s Samsung Pay. They all essentially do the same thing; no matter what type of phone you have, you’re already equipped with all the tools necessary to utilize contactless payment transactions.

If you’re a business owner, and you’d like to set-up contactless payment transactions for your customers, Celero Commerce has got you covered. We offer a variety of contactless payment devices that will suit everyone’s individual business needs. If you’re seeking a typical cash register device, the Clover Station would be an excellent option. The Station has a customer facing display, a cash drawer, and a printer for receipts. If you’re looking for something smaller and more portable, our Clover Flex or Clover Mini would be great options. The Flex is a sophisticated handheld device that is equipped to handle all of your business’ payment processing needs. The Mini is a sleek countertop touchscreen tablet that allows you to process payments and print receipts as needed. All of these models handle contactless payments which is becoming increasingly important to business owners and consumers alike as this worldwide pandemic drags on. Additionally, these models work alongside a powerful mobile and desktop program that allows you to view your sales, run reports, and issue refunds if needed.

If you’re interested in adding contactless payments to your business, please contact the Celero Team and we’d be happy to provide you with more information and recommendations specific to your business. NFC and contactless payment options truly are the future and there’s never been a better time than now to take the leap. The technology is highly secure, adaptable to any size business, and most importantly, a safer option for the days of COVID-19.

The Celero Commerce technology team is thrilled to launch Compass, our brand new, all-in-one customer relationship management tool designed specifically for financial institutions and their commercial customers. Compass is packed with features that facilitate generating new business relationships with ease and convenience.

Lead Management

With the Compass lead management feature, you can notify your team as new merchant leads move through the sales process. You can streamline contracting by pre-populating agreements with information found in your leads.

The platform uses integrated text messaging for follow-up, to turn prospects into clients. With customized views by user, your team can take leads from digital campaigns and populate them into the system, send notifications to bank representatives, and even tie your own website into the platform with an API feed.

BankMax

With our built-in BankMax features, you can quickly ask VAR and equipment-related questions to educate your merchants. In addition, you’ll get analysis of your merchant portfolio, easily identifying opportunities to grow your deposits and loans.

In addition, BankMax provides in-depth merchant statement analysis.

Automated Boarding

Compass makes boarding new merchants easy, with multiple automated features like built-in pricing templates. You’ll be able to submit multiple processing applications from a single lead form, saving you valuable time.

Compass provides an all-in-one boarding document storage solution, in our secure, cloud-based environment. Eliminate duplication of merchant records to dramatically reduce your boarding time with new clients.  

E-signature

Our e-signature feature in Compass provides convenience and speed with just a few clicks to execute documents. In addition to obtaining signatures and initials, you can also have clients quickly and efficiently fill in missing information or document fields.

You can send and receive signed documents with clients and prospects alike with Compass e-signature.

Real-Time Reporting

The real-time reporting function empowers our partners in multiple ways. Access real-time batch reporting and easily acquire and understand statement histories. With easy-to-ready portfolio views and a friendly graphical interface, users can quickly get information to inform better decision-making.

With Compass, you can view on-demand profitability reporting and pull analytics with insight and data to better understand your portfolio.

 Mobile App

Compass isn’t just for desktops at the branch. You can download the Compass app for both Android and iOS devices. You and your merchants will enjoy the ease of accessing compass on-the go, so you can manage your business from anywhere.

White-Labeled Merchant Portal

Maintain consistent branding across all of your platforms with Compass, as we provide a White-labeled portal with your branding to the merchants you serve. Notify your merchants via text message or email about deposits and disputes, and automatically send enrollment invitations to your approved merchants with Compass.

Help Desk Ticket System

You can easily submit help desk tickets though the Compass system, ensuring quick issue resolution. Get notifications as help desk tickets go from opened to resolved, and provide exceptional customer service to your commercial accounts at any time of the day from your phone, tablet, or desktop.

Training Program

Compass contains our “Getting Started” guide that walks you through every step of the merchant sales funnel and boarding process. Our in-depth webinar presentation details everything from creating a new merchant lead to integrating Compass with your Gmail or Outlook-based accounts.  

Contact our Celero FI team to learn more about Compass and see your merchant portfolio achieve new heights in convenience, service, and satisfaction.

The US market is notoriously slow to adopt new payment technologies. When we like something and see the value it brings to our business, we stick with it. And in good times, there’s nothing wrong with that!

Historically, Europe and Asia have been fast adopters of new technologies, with widespread acceptance happening years ahead of activity here at home, where many of these technologies are invented.

Now, many our small and mid-sized merchants going “back to the future,” adopting technologies faster than ever. And they are taking on as many of these technologies that make sense for their customers’ needs, whether it’s for a competitive edge, convenience, or social distancing, and of course for their own financial and operational well-being.

We originally called these technologies and tools our Celero COVID-19 Survival Kit. As the American economy rebounds across many industries and in many parts of the country, we’re finding that these survival tools are easily repurposed to help our merchants define a new normal on their own terms. Growing a business quickly, efficiently, and sustainably means having the tools and technology to control your own destiny.

Contact us to learn more about this set of tools with enduring value for your business. Meet the Celero Small Business Comeback Kit:

• Contactless/NFC payments like ApplePay
• Digital Gift Cards
• Payment Gateways
• Mobile Payments
• Point-of-Sale Systems with integrated management applications
• Virtual Terminals

Email our team at solutions@celerocommerce.com or call us at 1-844-4CELERO.

While many of you know Celero for electronic payments and card processing, you should know about our award-winning software for field service businesses, RazorSync, now available through both our Celero FI partnerships and through our direct-to-merchant channel, Celero Direct.

What Is RazorSync?

RazorSync is a powerful yet easy-to-use software and mobile app that streamlines field service management. This award-winning software allows you to manage customers and workers in the fields, schedule and dispatch workers, invoice, take payments, and much more — all from a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer.

RazorSync Features

RazorSync combines user-friendly functionality to optimize both financial and operations management for field service companies.

Features include:

• Easy scheduling
• QuickBooks integration
• Self-service portal
• Add parts to invoice
• Online and offline connectivity
• Free trial
• Live support
• Job site invoicing
• Take payments on the go
• Store “before and after” pictures, videos, contracts, signatures, product brochures, and virtually any digital file
• Track payroll
• Update customer records
• Your brand in the most prominent position on all communications, reports, quotes, invoices, and within the customer portal
• Easy setup
• Low monthly fees

Which industries does RazorSync work with?                     

We designed RazorSync to work with virtually any field service business operation, from solo entrepreneurs to franchises with multiple locations. Our software serves the following industries:

• Plumbing
• Pool & Spa
• Handyman Services
• Appliance Repair
• Carpet Cleaning
• Facility Maintenance
• HVAC
• Electrical
• Pest Control
• Alarm & Security
• Garage Door
• Lawn Care
• And many more!

Get your field service business in sync today with RazorSync. Head to www.razorsync.com to schedule a free demo or start your free trial.

In March, we launched a set of COVID-19 resources on our website, to help small businesses navigate the challenges of the pandemic. These resources include our own COVID-19 Survival Kit, a set of tools and technologies for diversifying payments and operations, as well as a series of educational webinars from the Celero team and its partners. In addition, we’ve pulled together a set of government and industry sources for businesses looking for financial assistance.

Now, we are pleased to launch a new resource, as many business-owners look to emerge in the new normal. Reopening guidelines can be complex, depending on your business, and each state, rather than the federal Centers for Disease Control, is in charge of setting its own regulations and associated guidance for businesses. The state-by-state jurisdiction for these matters can cause confusion, especially for business owners with multiple locations across state lines. We hope you find this guide helpful.

See the guide, with links to each state’s up-to-date plans for reopening, at https://celerocommerce.com/reopening-guidelines-by-state.

Kristia Poppe June 3, 2020 The payments industry has been central to business innovation for the last generation, one defined as the technology revolution. From the dawn of the internet, with ecommerce as the driver for payment gateways, and the advent of the smartphone, a vehicle for mobile payments, to wireless developments like near field communication as a boon for contactless acceptance, the payments industry has always been first to make those driving technologies really work and reach their potential to turn our wildest dreams into everyday reality.

What’s interesting to me about this dynamic among the payments industry and its adjacent technologies is the varying speed with which societies around the world adopt the payment methods afforded by new frontiers of innovation. And as advanced as we think we are here in the United States, we often lag—by years—adoption of new payment technologies behind our counterparts in Asia and Europe, especially.  

Adapting to Survive

Now, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, American business is responding to the crisis by adapting to survive. In March, our company launched its own COVID-19 Survival Kit, which features a set of currently available technologies that many small and mid-sized companies had simply failed to integrate. The pandemic has made fringe or “nice-to-have” technologies central and essential.

Among these technologies are advancements that we in the industry may have taken for granted and quietly acquiesced to a slow-march of adoption, instead of hustling, as we are now, to make these tools more accessible to our customers and bank partners. These tools include:

·      Contactless/NFC payments like ApplePay

·      Digital Gift Cards

·      Payment Gateways

·      Mobile Payments

·      Point-of-Sale Systems with integrated management applications

·      Virtual Terminals

If You Build It, They Will Come

The beauty of these technologies is that we’ve been building them, as an industry, all along, based on our knowledge that early adopters would fund the existence of each respective technology until the time arrived where they would be universal in application. Unlike many industries, those of us in payments were actually ready for COVID-19! What we had to adjust was our mentality, particularly with regard to each merchant and their needs.

Before COVID-19, we may have underestimated each merchant’s needs for solutions that would “weatherproof” their business for virtually any economic season, whether it was a housing-fueled downturn, cyclical cooling of the economy, or, as we’ve seen, a 100-year public health crisis. And due to the lack of urgency associated with good times, perhaps we could afford to underestimate the situation.

Changing Our Mindset

Not anymore. Now, the small town boutique not only needs a good card terminal at the counter, but also a mobile solution to do curbside transactions, a payment gateway to enable ecommerce, digital gift cards to enable easy community investment for the future, and contactless to protect the health of its employees and customers, not to mention an integrated system that keeps financial and operational performance in-sync. 

Fortunately, we were ready, and we’ve mobilized quickly. While we haven’t triaged every American small business, just as the federal and state governments haven’t gotten assistance to every individual and business affected by the pandemic, we are well on our way. Just give us time. And by the time we’re finished, looking at those comparative technology adoption rates among countries will be remarkably different. But if I can certify one thing for our partners and merchants, it’s the fact that we will never stop innovating, so that we can be ready for you and whatever you’re facing.

What I love most about our industry is how tightly aligned our survival is with that of our partners and merchants. Unlike some industries, the payments industry feasts only when our customers do, and when they starve, we do, too.  Knowing that value proposition, and living with it every day, keeps us honest and keeps us moving forward.

Together.

Visa is extending the option to require signature capture and validation for all merchants, globally.

In 2018, Visa announced that the capture and validation of a cardholder’s signature would be optional for all EMV®-enabled merchants. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, effective 14 May 2020, Visa is extending the same policy change to all merchants, even if they have not deployed EMV chip capabilities, to reduce the need for customers to interact physically with POS terminals.

Merchants in all regions now have the option to no longer capture a signature as a cardholder verification method (CVM), except where applicable laws or regulations otherwise require a signature to be captured. This creates a consistent global policy for capturing and validating signatures at the point of sale and further reduces friction.

In the 7 April 2020 edition of Visa Business News, Visa provided a reminder of the many options available to merchants to reduce the need for physical interaction between customers and POS terminals, including leveraging tap to pay / contactless technology and collecting additional customer details through means other than touching the terminal.

Visa urges acquirers and their agents to remind all merchants about these options to minimize merchant / customer interaction at the point of sale. Visa strongly recommends no longer requiring signatures for any transaction / amount.

Merchant Impact

Merchants will be able to further streamline the point of sale experience for any transaction type (tap, dip or swipe) or amount by no longer capturing a signature. For merchants that elect to stop capturing a signature,1 they can quickly and easily implement a “No Signature” policy by suppressing or turning off the signature prompt in the payment application. Alternatively, merchants may choose to make no changes and simply ignore the signature prompt altogether. To maintain processing interoperability, terminals must continue to support signatures as a CVM; specifically for EMV-enabled merchants, the kernel in the terminal must not be changed to remove the signature function.

Merchants may also remove the signature line on transaction receipts or simply ignore it if printed.

Generally, removing signature prompting is a small change to the terminal’s settings or software for which no re-certification is needed.

Retrieval Requests and Compliance Cases

Visa previously removed the requirement for EMV-enabled merchants in all regions to keep receipts as a form of cardholder verification1 for transactions; issuers were prohibited from requesting copies of transaction receipts, as specified in the Visa Rules (ID#: 0030552), or raising compliance cases related to the validity or presence of signatures for transactions at EMV-enabled merchants.

By making signatures optional for all merchants, acquirers will not be required to fulfill retrieval requests or respond to compliance cases related to the validity or presence of a signature for transactions on or after 14 May 2020. Acquirers will still be responsible for transactions prior to 14 May 2020, based on current rules for fulfilling retrieval requests and applicable compliance cases for non-EMV-enabled merchants.

Although issuers will be able to continue submitting retrieval requests and signature-related compliance cases, they should be aware that acquirers have no obligation to fulfill any retrieval requests or respond to signature-related compliance cases for transactions on or after 14 May 2020. As such, issuers are strongly encouraged to cease raising retrieval requests or compliance cases related to signatures.

1 This applies to Visa requirements only; if the merchant is required to confirm cardholder consent/agreement to the terms & conditions of the sale, they may do so by means other than only the signature. Merchants should use their own discretion regarding the retention of receipts for non-Visa related requirements.

Future Visa Rules Changes

Due to the urgent need to reduce customers’ physical interaction with merchants and POS terminals, Visa is making this announcement effective immediately. Further communication will be provided in the coming weeks with detailed updates to the Visa Rules to support this policy expansion.

Reminders

There are no changes to the acceptance of PIN as a CVM in any country. Existing requirements continue to apply for all merchants in all regions; these changes apply only to obtaining a signature.

Terminals must continue to be capable of supporting signature capture. The only change for merchants that choose not to support signature is a software update to remove the prompt for capturing a signature. Re-certifications are not required for this change; additionally, for EMV-enabled merchants, the EMV kernel must not be changed (in particular, signature must continue to be supported in the kernel).

These changes have no effect on disputes related to the EMV liability shift, including treatment for fallback transactions.

In a just-published article in respected payments journal, Digital Transactions, Celero Commerce founder and CEO Kevin Jones sits down with the magazine’s Kevin Woodward to discuss the current state of the payments industry nearly two months into the COVID-19-driven economic crisis. 

In a ranging interview, Jones discusses a variety of topics, including the company’s recent launch of its COVID-19 Survival Kit to help small and mid-sized merchants protect their business from the effects of voluntary and mandated social distancing actions. Celero’s Survival Kit and other COVID-19 resources include merchant webinars, targeted products and services like virtual gift cards, mobile payments, and payment gateways, as well as helpful links to government and industry resources.

In addition, Jones explains the Celero’s “team of teams” approach of offense/defense to manage its way through the crisis, as well as the company’s recent acquisition of Boca Raton-based FlashBanc.

Read the full story, also featuring interviews with other payments industry leaders, at this link.

Small businesses around the country are showing signs of resilience and innovation, as they always do in the face of adversity. When they are able to combine their strength and ideas with a community-driven mission, special things happen.

Boundary Oak Distillery is located in the heart of Kentucky, in the small town of Radcliff in the shadow of the US gold bullion repository at Fort Knox. Like other distilleries around the country Boundary Oak has joined the strategic supply chain for providing hand sanitizer to first responders and communities in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Owner Brent Goodin and the Boundary Oak team, known for their small batch bourbon, American whiskey, amber, and moonshine, have retooled production away from their beloved spirits to meet nationwide demand for hand sanitizer, which includes some of the same ingredients as their normal products.

Goodin’s recipe, taken from World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control guidelines, combines alcohol, water, hydrogen peroxide, and glycerol. The additive glycerol contains both antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Part of the family business, his youngest son, Thomas, compounds the ingredients to form the base product, as Boundary Oak is using spray bottles, donated from the surrounding community, as containers for its hand sanitizer.

After confirming that they could, indeed, produce the hand sanitizer after inquiries from local medical professionals, Goodin and the Kentucky Distillers Association reached out to Senator Mitch McConnell, along with officials in the US Department of Treasury and the Food and Drug Administration. In late March, Boundary Oak was given temporary authorization and emergency licensure to retool its operations and produce the much-needed sanitizer.

Once labeled, each bottle is shipped to first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight. In additions to EMS technicians, hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes across Kentucky should see Boundary Oak product over the next several weeks.

Celero is proud to serve Goodin and the team at Boundary Oak Distillery through a payment processing partnership between Elmhurst Financial and The Cecilian Bank, headquartered in nearby Cecilia. Founded in 1903, The Cecilian Bank is Kentucky’s 16th largest bank, with more than 200 employees providing a variety of banking services from 19 branch offices in seven counties of the commonwealth.

Please join us in saluting the Goodin family and team at Boundary Oak Distillery, a great example of the enduring spirit of American business.

For the new podcast, Jones and Castle will discuss a range of topics, from entrepreneurship and leadership to creating great company cultures and developing people to their full potential in work and life.  The duo will also explore the values they hold dear, like humility and respect. “We want to have conversations with each other and guests that are funny and inspiring, thought-provoking and endearing, evocative of relationships of those who are battle-hardened yet still fresh in their passion,” Castle said.

“I’m so thrilled that Brian and I have been able to do more writing together on these subjects that drive entrepreneurship and leadership,” said Jones. “The inspiration for the name, Because We Had To, is one of our favorite Avett Brothers songs. It speaks to the essence of what drives all of us to pursue greatness in business and in life. It’s the yearning of the creative spirits, the problem-solvers, and even the entertainers among us that never abates and always abides. This podcast is for those who dream.  Sometimes we pursue our dreams just because we have to, because of that thirst to pursue our ideas and our passions.”

While the pair previously had other ideas for the kickoff episode of Because We Had To, as with many aspects of American life, things changed with the coronavirus outbreak. “Brian and I took a first things first approach with this podcast,” explained Jones. “It felt appropriate to dedicate our first episode to trying to help those businesses out there that are hurting.  

To that end, the podcast will launch with Castle and Jones hosting a number of guests from the Celero leadership team, including Kevin Brolan, Matt Moore, and Scott Farace.  Brolan, who heads up sales at the company, will discuss elements of Celero’s COVID-19 Survival Kit, a set of tools designed to help restaurants, shops, salons, and other businesses survive and eventually grow more sustainably. Moore, who leads the company’s BankMax program, will speak to tools for community bankers as they try to triage local businesses.  Finally, Chief Marketing Officer Scott Farace will share stories of small business resilience and innovation, along with advice for business owners to effectively market to their customer base and serve their communities during this time of crisis. 

Listen to Episode 1 of Because We Had To, now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud.