Tip of the Month for: July 2015
Important News about Verifone PC Charge and Windows 10
Verifone PC Charge and Required Credit Card Processing Changes
In the upcoming 4.6 release of Answers, changes will be made for those users currently integrated with PC Charge Payment Server for credit card processing.
PC Charge Payment Server is being replaced due to various changes in the credit card payment industry. Because of new security parameter changes, PCI compliancy changes, liability changes, and the new EMV chip technology requirements, Verifone issued notice in April 2015 that PC Charge Payment Server sales would terminate in May 2015 and the product would no longer be supported as of October 1, 2015. PC Charge Payment Server is being replaced with Verifone’s new product offering POINT.
Answers 4.6 will provide for integration with POINT. POINT is a device driven, secure card processing solution that is PCI compliant and EMV compliant as well. Being device driven, in order to integrate with the POINT solution, at least one POINT compatible device will be required. This device will be used for card present as well as card not present transactions. Various device options are available for use with POINT.
Answers will continue to allow the integration with PC Charge Payment Server until September 30, 2015. Our Verifone representative has informed us that many credit card processors can and will refuse to accept transactions submitted by non-PCI complaint software such as PC Charge Payment Server. The primary reason PC Charge Payment Server is being replaced by Verifone is that as of October 1, 2015 it is no longer PCI or EMV compliant software and continuing to use it could put your company at liability risk for fraudulent credit card charges. If your credit card processor refuses to accept PC Charge Payment Server submissions, this could leave you without the ability to accept credit card payments. For these reasons, we urge PC Charge Payment Server users to upgrade their Answers software to the newest version as early as possible in September 2015 and then switch their credit card processing to the POINT method of authorizing credit cards (or some other PCI compliant/EMV compliant card processing method). Users interested in POINT can contact Verifone and go ahead and set up their accounts, purchase devices, and even begin using the POINT system on a manual basis earlier than September if they so choose. This might make the switch to POINT even easier since you would have more time to work through the switchover process and test devices. Ideally, no one should wait until October 1 or later to begin the transition from PC Charge Payment Server.
· Answers 4.6 will no longer allow interfacing with PC Charge Payment Server.
· Answers will continue to allow the option of storing credit card information by customer. Answers will allow you to enter card number, expiration date, name on card, address, and zip code. All card information is stored securely in encrypted files per the PCI compliancy regulations.
· Screens and reports will show masked card number information per the PCI compliancy regulations. A password will be required if the full card number is needed for processing a card not present transaction.
· Users may choose the device(s) they wish to use from a list of POINT compatible devices.
· POINT is device driven. ALL transactions are handled securely by the device.
· An account must be established with Verifone before processing POINT transactions. There is a monthly fee based on the number of transactions that will be processed on the secure POINT gateway.
· Exact operating procedures between POINT and Answers are subject to change as we implement the POINT system and Answers integration in mid-July and August.
More information on the PCI and EMV compliancy regulations can be found at the Official PCI Security Standards Council Site: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org.
For more information on Verifone POINT. visit: www.verifone.com/solutions-services/paas.
For more information on obtaining devices, setting up an account with Verifone, or the monthly fees schedule, contact Deborah Hattori @ 1-727-288-9552. She is a sales representative we have worked with and she can provide pricing and device information.
Microsoft has announced that it plans to release Windows 10 (the next version of Windows) on July 29, 2015. They are also planning on offering it as a free upgrade to most users of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 provided you take advantage of this offer within 1 year. You may have already received a notification on your computer asking you if you would like to reserve a copy now. It is our understanding that by reserving your copy you will be entitled to download and install it once it is officially released later this summer. However we imagine that Microsoft will stagger these downloads over time due to the massive size (3.5GB). And of course some new PC's will start coming with Windows 10 preinstalled around this same time.
The fact that Windows 10 will be optionally pushed out to PC's running Windows 7 and 8.1 brings up a concern regarding Answers that we feel users need to be aware of. Answers is heavily reliant upon the AcuCobol (R) Runtime from Micro Focus to interface with Windows. That isolates Answers development from having to worry so much about all the idiosyncrasies and compatibility issues with different versions of Windows to a large extent and allows us to focus more on user oriented functions and features which benefit our users.
For this reason, the AcuCobol (R) Runtime is key to insuring compatibility with Answers running on Windows 10. Micro Focus, who develops this Runtime, has informed us they plan on releasing a new version of the Runtime in late September (version 9.3) that will be certified to be compatible with Windows 10.
With these facts and dates in mind, Data Resources is urging our customers to delay purchasing any Windows 10 PC's or updating any current PC's until Micro Focus releases their compatible version of the AcuCobol (R) Runtime [update: released on 9/28/15] and we have had a chance to test it out with Answers [update: in progress by D.R.C. now] not only on the new Windows 10 but also prior versions of Windows still in use such as 8.1, 7, Vista, as well as server versions of Windows which users access via Remote Desktop. The good news is the new version of this Runtime needed for compatibility will be a free upgrade from Micro Focus. We just have to request it on your behalf for those needing to use Answers on Windows 10 PC's.
Our plans are to test this new Runtime with Answers as soon as possible once it becomes available, but please understand its release could be delayed and that is beyond our control. Once we feel comfortable with the new Runtime and its use with Answers and various versions of Windows including the new Windows 10, we will post updates in the News section of our Support Home Page, so feel free to check back for updates as they become available.