BAMS Blog

Editorial fintech infographic showing the four-phase framework B2B merchants can use to audit statements, identify qualification gaps, calculate effective rates, and recover processing costs.
Featured Article How to Calculate Your Effective Processing Rate

A statement audit framework that reveals hidden B2B fees your processor won’t flag for you Learn how to calculate your effective processing rate, verify Level 2/3 qualification gaps, and identify the exact line items inflating your B2B processing costs. Includes a repeatable quarterly audit framework using your existing statements. TL;DR Your effective processing rate is […]

Toast POS Is Toast POS Leaving Merchants Burnt? A Quick Look at Toast POS Part One of Two
Read MoreIs Toast POS Leaving Merchants Burnt? A Quick Look at Toast POS Part One of Two

Toast POS is a cloud-based restaurant POS provider and payment processor that offers restaurants a variety of POS options built on an Android framework. Toast has been growing rapidly since it launched its POS platform in 2013, and many restauranteurs are drawn to Toast both for its simplicity and the attractive pricing offers the company […]

Interchange Plus the Best Pricing Plan Is Interchange Plus the Best Pricing Plan? How the Most Transparent Pricing Model on the Market Provides Huge Savings on Merchant Fees
Read MoreIs Interchange Plus the Best Pricing Plan? How the Most Transparent Pricing Model on the Market Provides Huge Savings on Merchant Fees

One of the most important questions any business should ask themselves when looking for a new merchant account or merchant services provider is “how will this service impact my profitability.” It can be easy to simply write off merchant fees as a cost of doing business – and certainly, they are – but small differences […]

Ecommerce Account Should Your Business Have an Ecommerce Account?
Read MoreShould Your Business Have an Ecommerce Account?

In 2018, almost 5,900 brick and mortar retail locations closed. 2019 has seen another 6,000 go the way of the dodo, and by 2026, as many as 75,000 stores will shut their doors permanently. The reality is, brick and mortar stores are expensive – far more expensive than their web-based eCommerce counterparts. As a result, […]

Chargeback Prevention Part Two: Is an Ounce of Chargeback Prevention Worth A Pound of Cure?
Read MorePart Two: Is an Ounce of Chargeback Prevention Worth A Pound of Cure?

In part one of this two-part series, we looked at some of the technology-based solutions merchants have available to them to catch fraud early on and stop it before it can result in chargebacks and lost revenues. In part two, we’ll look at the other side of the coin – legitimate chargebacks filed by customers […]

Chargeback Prevention Part One: Is an Ounce of Chargeback Prevention Worth A Pound of Cure?
Read MorePart One: Is an Ounce of Chargeback Prevention Worth A Pound of Cure?

A seller receives an order and delivers on their end of the bargain flawlessly, only to later find that the money they earned has been clawed back due to a chargeback. This is an all too common scenario, especially in commerce online where purchases are made without any physical, real-world interaction between customer and merchant. […]

Data Breaches What Are the True Costs of Data Breaches?
Read MoreWhat Are the True Costs of Data Breaches?

BAMS offers everything new and experienced merchants alike need to ensure that their customers’ sensitive payment data is always as safe as possible. We provide every one of our merchants with expert guidance through the sometimes complex process of becoming fully PCI compliant.

WooCommerce over Shopify Why Do So Many Businesses Prefer WooCommerce over Shopify?
Read MoreWhy Do So Many Businesses Prefer WooCommerce over Shopify?

WooCommerce and Shopify are two of the leading e-commerce platforms in the world. Each is full-featured and designed specifically to aide online sales, but there are as many differences (if not more) than there are similarities between the two platforms. Below we’ll analyze four of the primary areas of comparison between the two platforms, and […]

Risk Scoring What Is Risk Scoring and How Can It Help You?
Read MoreWhat Is Risk Scoring and How Can It Help You?

Minimizing risk is a task of great importance to everyone involved in online commerce and electronic payments, from the merchants right through to the credit card issuers. High fraud rates and chargeback rates can have a significant impact on merchants, even resulting in enrollment in chargeback and fraud monitoring programs that can carry hefty fees. […]

Cyber Monday What is Cyber Monday and What Can It Mean for Merchants?
Read MoreWhat is Cyber Monday and What Can It Mean for Merchants?

Cyber Monday is the online sale event of the year. Since 2005, it has occurred every year on the Monday after Thanksgiving and is the opposite bookend to the more longstanding Black Friday sale. And while Black Friday might be the most important shopping day of the year when it comes to in-store brick and […]

Restaurant Payments Can Customer Order Kiosks Speed Up Your Business?
Read MoreCan Customer Order Kiosks Speed Up Your Business?

There are a number of factors that go into the success of a restaurant. Enjoyable food and friendly staff are two of the most obvious ones, but for a quick service restaurant, highly efficient operations are equally important. The ability to move a high volume of customers from the front door, through ordering, to enjoying […]

Chargebacks for Business How Problematic Are Chargebacks for Business Owners?
Read MoreHow Problematic Are Chargebacks for Business Owners?

Chargebacks are a reality of accepting credit card payments. While many chargebacks are requested for valid reasons, there are plenty of cases in which disputes are initiated despite the merchant holding up every aspect of their end of the bargain. Unfortunately, many merchants don’t really understand the dispute process, how to handle a chargeback, or […]

Merchant Services What Visa and MC Updated Dispute and Fraud Monitoring Programs Mean For You
Read MoreWhat Visa and MC Updated Dispute and Fraud Monitoring Programs Mean For You

For obvious reasons, the major credit card companies take fraud and excessive chargebacks very seriously, and companies like Visa and Mastercard have put forward thorough monitoring and tracking systems to try to prevent the losses associated with them. In October 2019, both companies made changes to their chargeback and fraud defense programs, and it’s important […]

PayPal, Square, or Stripe What Square’s New Pricing Means to You
Read MoreWhat Square’s New Pricing Means to You

Square is one of the world’s most popular payment processors, offering simple payment solutions and equally simple hardware to businesses looking to take electronic payments both online and in-store. One of Square’s most notable features has long been its pricing structure; a straight 2.75% with no additional flat fee tacked on to each transaction. But […]

PCI Are You Doing the Right PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire?
Read MoreAre You Doing the Right PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire?

Part of establishing PCI compliance and maintaining it year in and year out is filling out an annual PCI self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ). These questionnaires are designed to accomplish two goals: to help businesses identify weaknesses that need to be dealt with and to help prove to institutions that a company is compliant. But not all […]

Gift Cards Why You Should Offer Gift Cards to Your Customers and How They Impact Your Company’s Revenue
Read MoreWhy You Should Offer Gift Cards to Your Customers and How They Impact Your Company’s Revenue

Sometimes you just don’t have the time or personal knowledge necessary to purchase someone a truly personal gift, and in those instances, nothing beats a gift card. They’re kind of like cash, but not nearly as impersonal, and the convenience they provide for the giver and recipient makes them incredibly popular. But gift cards aren’t […]

BigCommerce Top 10 BigCommerce Apps to Help Your Online Business Grow
Read MoreTop 10 BigCommerce Apps to Help Your Online Business Grow

BigCommerce is one of the leading eCommerce platforms currently on the market, serving some of the biggest brands in industries ranging from automotive to apparel. One of the biggest drivers in the platform’s popularity is its ability to serve as a completely standalone solution, including a built-in site builder, and a fully stocked app store […]

Safe eCommerce Transactions 6 Ways to Keep Your eCommerce Transactions Safe
Read More6 Ways to Keep Your eCommerce Transactions Safe

E-commerce transactions are all about trust. Customers need to feel 100% confident that their personal information and payment details are stored and transmitted with total security, or they simply won’t make a purchase. When breaches do happen, the damage – both financially and psychologically – can be immense, and as a result, businesses simply can’t […]

POS 4 Best Touch Screen POS for 2019
Read More4 Best Touch Screen POS for 2019

From retail stores to restaurants and beyond, hardwired cash registers are giving way to flexible, mobile point of sale (POS) systems designed to make it as easy as possible for customers to pay and for employees and management to go about daily tasks like inventory management, stock ordering, reporting, and more. LightSpeed Retail, ShopKeep, TouchBistro, […]