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Canadian Merchant Industry News

Get daily updates about the Canadian merchant industry. From news about merchant accounts and credit card processing, to security issues and point-of-sale terminals, you'll always be up-to-date.

Industry News

US$5 billion in gift cards goes unredeemed, expert says

By Kristen Lawrence

Gift cards are popular options for consumers and merchants

06/11/2009 - Gift cards have emerged as a popular gift option for consumers this holiday season, but the high rate at which gift cards are neglected makes them also a popular option for merchants whose POS terminals offer gift card payment processing technology.

In the U.S. alone, approximately US$5 billion in gift card load volume goes unused - representing 10 percent of the value of all gift cards - Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, told the Buffalo News.

For businesses, this equates to $5 billion in inventory-free revenue.

For an added incentive to install gift-card enabled POS terminals, merchants should know that gift card use has been consistently rising, and is expected to be higher than ever during this holiday season.

While having POS terminals that accept general gift cards - such as those offered by Visa and MasterCard - can be beneficial in terms of improving cash flow and increasing customer retention, it may be worthwhile for merchants to design their own in-store gift cards so that they can get the maximum possible benefit of gift card payment processing. ADNFCR-2514-ID-19448588-ADNFCR

Canadian Bankers Association develops blueprint for mobile payments

15/05/2012

The number of smartphone owners in Canada now represents half of all wireless users, and many retailers have already installed point-of-sale terminals enabled with the technology that can accept mobile payments.

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EMV payments cards more widely circulated

11/05/2012

Merchants that have not yet invested in point-of-sale terminals capable of accepting EMV-chip cards might feel more pressure soon, since the number of cardholders is growing. Data recently released by EMVCo reported that 45 percent of all cards in the world contain EMV microprocessing chips

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Retailers want mobile POS systems, study shows

02/05/2012

The surveyed merchants believe the mobile credit card processing devices will help them provide better customer service and greater payment convenience since they won't be restricted to the front of the store.

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