JUUL's Retailer Access Control Standards: POS System information

A quick request first: Are you a JUUL Retailer?  What are your thoughts on JUUL's Retailer Access Control Standards? Planning updating your POS system or will you just switch to a different product to sell instead of JUUL?

All responses are completely off the record. You can reach me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Now on to the post...

JUUL has initiated compliance program called "Retailer Access Control Standards" or "RACS" for short. RACS has a compliance deadline of May 2021 for using a POS system that meets RACS standards in order to be a JUUL retailer.

The 2 main parts of RACS are Age Verification and Enforcing Purchase Limits. Several point of sale software companies have already committed to meeting RACS Compliance. They are:

• LightSpeed
• ShopKeep
• Fastrax
• Clover
• NCR
• Various gas station POS systems - see https://www.racscompliance.org/documentation/#compatible-pos-systems

Aside from the obvious "does anyone care" question as a retailer could simply opt to switch brands, there are some interesting points to consider:

• Age verification is a good thing for any retailer selling age restricted products
• This may spur more retailers to update the technology that they use in their store

So what does this mean for other POS systems like Microsoft RMS, Retail Management Hero, and Cloud Retailer?

Microsoft RMS: RACS Certification is in process. Keep in mind that extended support for RMS ends between July 2020 and July 2021 anyway. However, given the number of retailers using RMS, RACS certification may be approved in conjunction with a software and/or hardware update. 

Retail Management Hero: RACS Certification not being sought at this time

Cloud Retailer: RACS Certification is being initiated due to existing Cloud Retailer customers already being JUUL retailers.

If you have questions specific to JUUL RACS and Cloud Retailer or Microsoft Dynamics RMS, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

For official information from JUUL, please visit https://www.racscompliance.org/

MasterCard 2 BIN or Not 2 BIN - What You Need to Know

I've posted a couple of times since late 2016 about the MasterCard Mandate for 2 BIN (new number series on MasterCard credit and debit cards). Non-compliance fines has been mentioned in the past and now it appears that MasterCard is getting very series per this communication from MasterCard:

"As of June 30, 2017, compliance will be enforced for all merchant and ATM locations identified as not properly accepting a 2 series BIN card.  In the event of an acceptance failure, customers will be notified and granted an opportunity to remediate the identified issue.  Noncompliance assessments may be applied if the acceptance issue is not successfully resolved.".

Please ensure that you have done the following:

1. Confirm that your payment terminals have been updated to accept the 2 BIN cards (Card Defender users need not worry as Card Defender is updated to accommodate new payment industry security requirements and mandates).
2. If you have a point of sale system, confirm with your point of sale provider that the software can handle the 2 BIN cards.
3. Review any letters or emails from your merchant services company that may contain additional requirements or possible fines for non-compliance.
4. If you are orphaned or need help, contact myself or your merchant services company for assistance. I'm not familiar with every POS system or stand alone payment terminal but can usually direct you to the correct resources if myself or our tech team is not able to help you.
5. For some of you, this may be enough of an issue that you may want to consider the replacement of an outdated point of sale system and/or outdated payment processing hardware.

Some additional information can be found via this 2 BIN webpage: https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/issuers/get-support/2-series-bin-expansion.html

Final Thought: the payment industry is introducing new mandates and security requirements on a regular basis (8 digit BIN's are being discussed as a next standard).  Please ensure that you are investing in something (hardware and software) that can be updated to meet or exceed future mandates and security requirements.

ADA and Point of Sale Systems

I don't think that I've ever posted related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how it effects point of sale systems. Mostly it seems that POS systems are designed to accommodate employees with various capabilities. Recently, I've run in to a couple of retailers who had been advised that that the payment terminals for the POS system needed to be lowered (or the whole counter needed to be lowered).

Obviously you never want to make it difficult for anyone to make a purchase in your business so it is wise to be familiar with any guidelines related to counter height and general accessibility.  It is possible that fines could be levied should your store not be in compliance.

As I am in no way an expert in this subject matter - it would be great if anyone who has some expertise could chime in. All I've seen in my travels is either one check out stand with a lowered counter or some payment terminals mounted on arms that can be rotated out and down to a suitable height.

If you are willing to contribute, please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632. Thanks!

EMV and What it Means to Folks With Cash Registers and Point of Sale Systems

I've been fielding multiple calls and emails from businesses with cash registers or mobile/computer-based point of sale systems asking what to do related to the upcoming US EMV liability shift date. This video covers some of the questions and answers related to EMV and chip cards and contains information for businesses in the US that accept credit and debit cards as payment in person.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Microsoft RMS/HQ End of Life and EMV

Update July 2016: Since many Microsoft RMS point of sale software would like to keep using RMS for another couple of years but still need to deal with the EMV Liability Shift Date, visit this post for more information on the Card Defender EMV add-on for Microsoft RMS versions 1.3 and higher (and HQ as well): http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/06/card-defender-emv-add-on-for-microsoft.html

Update July 2016, Retail Management Hero (RMS version 3.X) demo and overview: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-version-of-rmsretail-management.html

Updated information on Retail Management Hero as a direct replacement for RMS as of December 3rd, 2015: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/12/updated-information-on-new-retail.html

New video discussing options for Dynamics RMS and HQ users as of December 5th, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVWS7dj0Bs

Update August 8th, 2015: Blog post and video covering all the options available for RMS users related to EMV: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/06/options-for-microsoft-dynamics-rms-and.html

Updated information on the upcoming Retail Management Hero Software (or what I am coining "RMS 3.0 for 2015 and beyond") can be found here: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/06/new-option-for-rmshq-users-retail.html


Update January 1st, 2015:

Based on recent conversations with Microsoft and Retail Realm, use of EMV hardware with Microsoft Dynamics RMS Store Operations and HQ will only be available via third party software add-ons (subject to change of course). While this does provide a way for RMS/HQ users to comply with the EMV liability shift, it also means that you will need to pay to use the third party EMV software.

Of course, RMS and HQ are end of life so it make more sense to start planning to replace RMS/HQ with a new point of sale program.

Confused? Contact me for free and unbiased advice.


Since I have been receiving multiple calls and emails related to Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management Systems Store Operations (RMS) and Headquarters (HQ), I wanted to pass along some updates based on what I know so far related to RMS and HQ 'end of life' as well as EMV compatibility.

First, on EMV compatibility:

A forum response from a Microsoft Representative states that there are no plans to upgrade RMS to work with EMV hardware.  However, there is a good chance that a third party will step in and offer some sort of add-on so RMS users can use EMV hardware.  I have heard of some third party RMS EMV apps becoming available but they take a percentage of each transaction.

It is starting to look like RMS and HQ users need to start looking at other options as I question whether it makes sense to invest in a point of sale product whose end of sales and mainstream support date is July of 2016.

Which brings up another possibility related to RMS and HQ:

Given the sheer number of users, as well as all the companies that sell RMS and HQ or offer various enhancements for RMS and HQ, I am hopeful that someone might acquire the rights to coding and database design for RMS and HQ.  I have not heard anything but it seems really strange that a point of sale program used by 40,000+ stores would just be completely retired.

Like I said, I've not heard anything yet but a companies like Retail Realm and New West Technologies stand to loose a lot of revenue if RMS and HQ are retired.

The upside (if a company acquired the rights to RMS and HQ) would be an extremely large existing user base - the downside is that a lot of RMS and HQ users are pretty upset with Microsoft and already making plans to switch to different point of sale programs before October of 2015.  And I don't just mean small single stores but stores with hundreds of locations in the US.

So - anyone interested?  Of course, Microsoft may not be interested in selling the coding and database information for RMS and HQ so this could be a mute point in the end...

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

POS and EMV - Questions You Should be Asking Now

EMV compliance is less that one year away so I've been keeping tabs on which companies and which point of sale solutions have announced how they plan to upgrade their point of sale systems to work with EMV compatible hardware.  So far, only Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) is offering EMV compatible hardware.

Square, which is popular with very small businesses (under $60,000/year in gross sales), does have a sign up form for those using Square as well as some general information on EMV. No word yet on whether the new EMV hardware will be free or will have to be purchased.  Here is a link to the the Square sign up form to be notified when EMV hardware for Square will become available: https://squareup.com/emv

As a side note, anyone thinking about purchasing a point of sale system should be asking about EMV. It makes no sense to purchase a point of sale system now and then have to spend more money in 2015 for EMV hardware.  If the place that you are working with doesn't have a solid answer then that is a major warning sign that their solution may not be the best solution for you and your business or organization.

All point of sale companies should be able to tell you the following regarding their point of sale systems and EMV:

• Will a software/app update be required and will there be any costs?
• When will any EMV software/app updates be available?
• Which EMV products (ie. readers or terminals by name and model number) will the software/app work with?
• When will the hardware be available?
• What will be the hardware costs?
• Are there any other costs (ie. labor to help with the upgrade or changing my merchant account information)?
• Will I still be able to use my existing merchant account?

Again, if you can't get a definitive answer for the above questions, then you may want to talk to a point of sale company that can provide you with the answers.

Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

EMV Compliance

I try to remind folks that EMV compliance is real and something that everyone who accepts credit and debits cards will have to deal with over the next year.  Since I still receive calls from retail stores, restaurants, and museums who are not yet even PCI compliant, I will continue to remind everyone that EMV compliance has a deadline of October 2015 in the US. You will need to update your hardware and/or software by then or be completely liable for fraudulent transactions.

In lighter news, the good folks at Bindo Point of Sale announced today that they have all the hardware and software required to be EMV compliant.  Nice to know that some companies are planning ahead and not waiting until the last minute.  You can read the full press release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08/prweb12075881.htm

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

You are Not PCI Compliant if You are Processing Credit & Debit Cards on a PC Running Windows XP

Wow - so I am discovering that a lot of folks are still running point of sale programs on computers running Windows XP. If you are in this situation and processing credit and debit cards through the computer, then you are NOT PCI compliant. No gray area here.

The reason is that operating systems that have reached "end of life" can not be PCI compliant since the operating system is no longer being updated.

What you do in this situation?

• Get with your local computer shop or the place that you obtained your point of sale system from to get the operating system updated or the computer(s) replaced
• Make sure that your point of sale system will run on Windows 7 or 8.1 
• Make sure all your peripherals (receipt printer, barcode scanner, etc) will work in a Windows 7 or 8.1 environment
• Check to see if your computer has enough memory, etc to run Windows 7 or 8.1
• Back everything (I mean everything) up before upgrading anything
• This is also a good time to check for other PCI compliance issues with other parts of your computer network and point of sale system

What are the costs?

• From the folks that I have spoken with, the low end estimate from their computer or point of sale company was around $500.00. On the high end was around $15,000.

This is too expensive - are there any other options?

• You can switch to using a separate credit card terminal/machine for authorizing credit and debit cards
• Keep in mind that you will have to reconcile 2 reports at the end of each day as part of your end of day close out procedures
• Having a separate credit and debit card machine opens the door for lots of errors. For example, the sale amount total is $59.50. Your employee could easily enter $5.95 or $595.50 as the total on the credit card machine (and the error would likely not be found until the end of the day or when one very happy or very upset customer contacts you).
• Look at switching to a more affordable point of sale system with a monthly fee that includes updates and upgrades in the monthly fee.  That way you will likely not find yourself in this situation again. New generation point of sale systems like Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) not only have an affordable monthly fee but, in most cases, you can transfer your inventory, customer, and supplier information from your system in to Bindo.

Are you in need of some free point of sale advice or help?  Over the last 15 years I have helped thousands of folks find the best point of sale solution. Besides the free help and advice, I have also secured discounts with multiple trusted point of sale providers. You can reach me using the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com or on my cell at 208.340.5632.

PCI Compliance Survey Results

I've been harping a lot over the last year about planning for the upcoming EMV requirement which will affect everyone who takes credit and debit cards.  Based on a recent survey of retailers by ControlScan, it appears that many folks are still ignoring PCI compliance.  The survey results are surprising to me as PCI has been around for several years now and who wants to risk fines and fees that could put you out of business overnight.

I'm going to focus on some of the result specific to retailers with 1-50 employees and processing under $500,000 annually (which would approximate to annual gross sales of less than $800,000 annually).  Of the survey respondents...

• 71% feel that they are not at risk for a data breach
• 64% have no action plan should a breach occur
• 45% have no employee designated to check network and related security
• 36% don't feel that PCI compliance is a priority

Obviously, point of sale and merchant services companies have not done a good job of stressing the need to maintain on-going PCI compliance. One data breach (which can also come internally from a dishonest employee) can result in fines exceeding $20,000 as well as the loss of revenue and the ability to accept credit and debit cards.

If you are not sure about your PCI Compliance status, please contact the company that provides your merchant services (credit and debit card processing) to ensure that your hardware, software, and network equipment are PCI complaint.

Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.