End of Year Advice - 2016

A few "ponderings" to share as we close in on the final few days of 2016 and look forward to 2017:

1. Please remember the true meaning of Christmas as you celebrate and reflect with family and friends - Jesus birth is the true "reason for the season".
2. Take some time to plan out any physical inventory counts and ensure that you have the correct training on how to use any physical inventory count features in your point of sale software.
3. Reflect back on how you use your point of sale system to spot any gaps or room for improvement (or a new system).
4. Keep an eye out for pesky new regulations and security requirements so you are not blind-sided with outdated equipment that is non-compliant.
5. Still using Microsoft Dynamics POS 2007/2009/2.0?  Full end of life for these programs is coming up on July 9th, 2019. While this is still a couple of years away, I'd recommend that you start thinking now about a migration plan. Keep in mind that you do qualify for a low cost upgrade to the new Retail Management Hero software.
6. Planning on using Microsoft Dynamics RMS for the next few years (end of life is not until July 2020/2021 - depending on which support contract you are on)? A few suggestions:
• Keep an eye on Retail Management Hero since the upgrades are fairly low cost and painless (but watch for differences in features, add-ons and functions).
• Make sure that you are on version 2.02 of RMS so all the latest service packs and hot fixes have been applied.
• Consider using Card Defender to ensure compliance with credit card security, EMV, SHA-2, etc.
• Avoid Windows 10 if possible for the time being.
• Make sure that you are aligned with an Dynamics Partner that is committed to supporting RMS, HQ and Retail Management Hero - we have actually acquired customers from around 3 different Dynamics Partners that are phasing out support for various point of sale software programs.
7. Watch this blog and my YouTube Channel for more information on Cloud Retailer which is a cool hybrid point of sale system that combines the best of what cloud based and on-premise point of sale systems offer.

Right now it looks like I will be headed to multiple states in the first half of 2017. Confirmed so far are Seattle, WA, just about all of Idaho, Salt Lake City, UT, and Minneapolis, MN. Pending are Portland, OR, Denver, CO, Phoenix, AZ, Tuscon, AZ, Dallas, TX, San Francisco, CA, and San Jose, CA.

Do contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com if I can of assistance. Thanks!

Critical Deadline for First Data, SHA-256, and Microsoft RMS

A quick reminder that if you are using First Data for merchant services along with the Microsoft Dynamics RMS software that the deadline for being SHA-256 compliant is December 28th, 2016 (next week!).

If you have not yet taken steps to replace outdated credit and debit card processing equipment, it needs to be taken care of now as First Data has indicated that they will not allow processing via Datawire starting December 29th, 2016.

If you are unsure, it would be smart to contact your First Data merchant salesperson and/or your Microsoft Dynamics RMS Partner to confirm that your system is SHA-256 compliant.

The most common situation involves still using "old school style" credit card swipes that connect to a USB port or use a keyboard wedge style interface.

The good news is that there are multiple solutions to upgrade to SHA-256 compliant equipment AND still use the Microsoft RMS software. These options may include using a separate payment terminal or installing Card Defender for Microsoft RMS.

As always, contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com - I do work for a Microsoft RMS Partner so I can offer advice and solutions.

Windows 10 SHA-1 and SHA-2 Issues

Update 10/4/2016: Heartland has provided an alternate payment portal which resolves this issue. Do contact them directly if Heartland has not already provided you with the updated information. Your Microsoft Dynamics RMS Partner may also be able to assist with the required changes. Contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com if you do not have an RMS Partner.

A special thanks to a couple of stores that called me to explain the resolution to this issue and confirmed that things are working correctly again - very much appreciated.

Also of note, detailed resolution information will be made available soon on RITE's website: http://www.rite.us/Support/MicrosoftRMSSupport/RMSTutorials/DoesMicrosoftDynamicsRMSSupportSHA2.aspx

Update 9/27/2016: Working on testing a possible resolution - will provide more details once they are made available to me.

Update 9/21/2016: thanks to those of you who contacted me directly thanking me for posting about this issue!  I will update this post as applicable but, so far, the only response from Heartland has been a blanket "we are working on a resolution and will advise" response as well as what I can only describe as a single Heartland Rep displaying the biggest act of un-professionalism that I have ever seen in my 18+ years of working with point of sale systems (they have managed to tarnish my sentiment towards Heartland but thankfully I have other Heartland Reps that I work with in person who are happy to help restore my positive sentiment towards Heartland).

Original Post:
Just when everything appeared to be sorted out related to the new SHA-2 security requirement, a recent Windows 10 update has caused some new problems.

Because of this Windows 10 update, error messages may appear in the Microsoft RMS point of sale software in specific situations as noted below:

• Point of Sale Software: Microsoft RMS
• Operating System: Windows 10 with September 2016 update installed
• Website for credit card processing is not SHA-2 compliant
• Merchant Services Company: Heartland

Other Notes:

• At this point, the issue is specific to Heartland as Mercury and TSYS appear to be functioning normally
• Heartland does not have any information on when they expect the issue to be resolved
• This shows how unexpected issues can crop up with anything related to technology so please use this as a reminder to have a point of sale partner/vendor/VAR that you can rely on for ongoing support after your point of sale system is up and running

As this may prevent you from being able to fully tender credit and debit card transactions, the following options are available:

• Roll back to previous Windows 10 build
• Disable new updates to Windows 10 until the issue is tested as resolved
• You may be able to process credit and debit card transactions manually but note that you will be paying a much higher percent for "hand keying" a credit or debit card transaction (easily 4% to 4.5%)
• Consider using Card Defender for Microsoft RMS which allows full EMV/Chip card processing within RMS as well as NFC payments like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Card Defender is unique in not charging any additional per transaction fees as well as being processor agnostic (Heartland, First Data and TSYS).  More information on Card Defender can be found at http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/p/card-defender-emv-for-rms.html and http://www.payconfident.com/

Do contact me with any questions at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

SHA-1 to SHA-2 Requirements and Point of Sale Systems

Update October 28th, 2016: the deadline for TSYS SHA2 compliance is now January 1st, 2017 and December 27th, 2016 for First Data. Microsoft RMS users will need to look at integrated solutions like Card Defender for Microsoft RMS or separate terminals that do not integrate with RMS to comply with this requirement.  I've had multiple stores using RMS and First Data also contact me over the last couple of days as well so I suspect that I'm going to be quite busy setting up Card Defender over the coming months!

September 15th 2016 Update on new SHA-1 issue specific to Windows 10 and Heartland: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/09/windows-10-sha-1-and-sha-2-issues.html

Given how quickly people figure out how to compromise credit card information and similar data, I suspect that we will be seeing new credit card processing security requirements coming out several times each year.

If you have been informed that your merchant services company requires you to comply with SHA-2 then you need to contact your point of sale vendor/dealer/partner to ensure that your system is SHA-2 compliant.

You can learn more about SHA-2 by visiting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-2

As always, contact me for no cost retail point of sale advice.