[wildman]

What exactly does this Out of Scope mean to us as a retailer? Does this mean we have to purchase some new terminal and now will have to swipe and enter the sales amount the card like we had to do years ago? This will increase cost due to having to buy paper for the credit card receipts as well. Or is there new technology that we swipe the card as we always have and it is processed in the background all through our payment screen? Is there any changes that we will have to make in our systems, or our Mercury settings?

[RetailEdge Moderator]

Great questions.

What does out of scope mean for you as a Retailer?

The credit card processing is still integrated and so you are not talking about a separate machine like the old days. Different out of scope integrations will require different pieces of equipment. However all integrations essentially work as follows:

1. You process the sale as you normally would in RetailEdge.
2. Tell RetailEdge which payment method you are using and post the sale.

This is where things change a little. Prior to going out of scope of PA-DSS, RetailEdge would then ask you to swipe the card and would securely transmit the data to the processor, get the approval, and store the approval codes and credit card information (if this option is turned on) and then print the receipt, pop the drawer etc.

Now RetailEdge does not handle any credit card data. The burden of doing this and having a PA-DSS application to transmit the credit card information has been shifted to the processor. So when you post the sale, RetailEdge takes the amount of the sale and tells the processor's application or device to process the sale. The processors application then asks for the credit card information (swipe or hand keyed) and then gets the approval and then passes back to RetailEdge whether or not the transaction was approved and a token so that RetailEdge can void the sale at a later date. No credit card data is handled by RetailEdge. RetailEdge then prints the receipt and pops the drawer normally.

The way the processor handles the transaction is different depending on the integration.

In the case of the Mercury integration, we pass the sale total to a device called the MagTek IPAD (no relation to the Apple iPad). This device has a magnetic strip reader and a signature capture screen and stylus and keypad. The device sends the amount to the screen of the device, the customer says Ok and swipes their card and it is a Debit card enters their PIN, and an approval is received and the sale in RetailEdge is processed.

The beauty of this is this new method is that the device handles the transmitting of the credit card data and so it removes this function from the computer, encryption takes place within the read head as the card is swiped eliminating the chance of intercepting clear text data. You can see what the device looks like at the following link

http://www.magtek.com/V2/products/pin-e ... pad-sc.asp

It USB device and easy to install. You should contact Mercury about obtaining this device.

If you have more questions let us know.

What exactly does this Out of Scope mean to us as a retailer? Does this mean we have to purchase some new terminal and now will have to swipe and enter the sales amount the card like we had to do years ago? This will increase cost due to having to buy paper for the credit card receipts as well. Or is there new technology that we swipe the card as we always have and it is processed in the background all through our payment screen? Is there any changes that we will have to make in our systems, or our Mercury settings?

[wildman]

If I am reading this right as a Mercury customer, we have to contact them and purchase one of these new terminal's for each register if we wish to continue processing credit cards? When does this take effect, I hope it's not right now during the busy holiday season. How much do these new terminals cost? We purchased the pin pads from you, which you haven't been able to get to work correctly, how do we know these pads will work with our systems? Will the support be from Mercury or from you?

[RetailEdge Moderator]

You don't have to do anything. You fall under the category of a previously boarded merchant with Mercury and so using the older legacy integration is fine.

You would have to check with Mercury on pricing.

Regarding the PINPads, this is another secondary reason we wanted to go out of scope. The credit card processors doing the processing should be responsible for the technical support for all the devices and processing. Since RetailEdge no longer handles this data (passes off the amount of the sale only) to the processors application or device, it is out of our hands at this point. And so technical support is on them. PIN Pads are an issue for a number of people and not just RetailEdge customers (take a look at some of the technical forums some day). We have always felt that this operation and support should be in the hands of the processing company and now it is. The MagTech IPAD device will be sold and supported by Mercury. Issues with the PIN Pad part of the device also supported by them.

This is the beauty of the new out of scope integrations. We are removing the credit card processing from the computer for added security, adding new functionality (sig cap) and moving and consolidating support for the devices to where it should be, with the processor.

Hopefully this clarifies but if you need more let us know.

If I am reading this right as a Mercury customer, we have to contact them and purchase one of these new terminal's for each register if we wish to continue processing credit cards? When does this take effect, I hope it's not right now during the busy holiday season. How much do these new terminals cost? We purchased the pin pads from you, which you haven't been able to get to work correctly, how do we know these pads will work with our systems? Will the support be from Mercury or from you?

[wildman]

If the customer would scan their card on one of these new terminals, and the reader will nor read the card, is there a way that it can be manually entered? If the terminal is anchored facing the customer, would the clerk have to go around to the terminal and punch it in on the terminal? This would not be productive, as it is currentley, if a card is unreadable we can punch it in on our keyboard and then imprint the card.

[RetailEdge Moderator]

Yes all of our solutions allow you to hand key a credit card. Not only because of a reader or magstrip failure but also because we have many businesses (ourselves included) that use RetailEdge to process phone order or internet orders manually.

If the customer would scan their card on one of these new terminals, and the reader will nor read the card, is there a way that it can be manually entered? If the terminal is anchored facing the customer, would the clerk have to go around to the terminal and punch it in on the terminal? This would not be productive, as it is currentley, if a card is unreadable we can punch it in on our keyboard and then imprint the card.

[RetailEdge Moderator]

Great questions.

What does out of scope mean for you as a Retailer?

The credit card processing is still integrated and so you are not talking about a separate machine like the old days. Different out of scope integrations will require different pieces of equipment. However all integrations essentially work as follows:

1. You process the sale as you normally would in RetailEdge.
2. Tell RetailEdge which payment method you are using and post the sale.

This is where things change a little. Prior to going out of scope of PA-DSS, RetailEdge would then ask you to swipe the card and would securely transmit the data to the processor, get the approval, and store the approval codes and credit card information (if this option is turned on) and then print the receipt, pop the drawer etc.

Now RetailEdge does not handle any credit card data. The burden of doing this and having a PA-DSS application to transmit the credit card information has been shifted to the processor. So when you post the sale, RetailEdge takes the amount of the sale and tells the processor's application or device to process the sale. The processors application then asks for the credit card information (swipe or hand keyed) and then gets the approval and then passes back to RetailEdge whether or not the transaction was approved and a token so that RetailEdge can void the sale at a later date. No credit card data is handled by RetailEdge. RetailEdge then prints the receipt and pops the drawer normally.

The way the processor handles the transaction is different depending on the integration.

In the case of the Vantiv (Mercury) integration, we pass the sale total to a device called the Verifone VX 804. This device has a magnetic strip reader, EMV chip reader and keypad and NFC Capable (Apple Pa, etc.). The device sends the amount to the screen of the device, the customer says Ok and swipes their card and it is a Debit card enters their PIN, and an approval is received and the sale in RetailEdge is processed.

The beauty of this is this new method is that the device handles the transmitting of the credit card data and so it removes this function from the computer, encryption takes place within the read head as the card is swiped eliminating the chance of intercepting clear text data. You can see what the device looks like at the following link

http://www.verifone.com/products/hardwa ... ad/vx-805/

It USB device and easy to install. You should contact Mercury about obtaining this device.

If you have more questions let us know.

What exactly does this Out of Scope mean to us as a retailer? Does this mean we have to purchase some new terminal and now will have to swipe and enter the sales amount the card like we had to do years ago? This will increase cost due to having to buy paper for the credit card receipts as well. Or is there new technology that we swipe the card as we always have and it is processed in the background all through our payment screen? Is there any changes that we will have to make in our systems, or our Mercury settings?