Not so long-ago, companies relied on servers and systems that resided in their own premises. If more capacity was needed a new server would need to be spun up, a task that could take weeks and would then need to be maintained, kept up to date via patches and capable of scaling as the company grew over the following years. This was a complex and costly exercise, one that would frighten the hardiest of IT managers.

Increasingly, as the consumer experience moves online, convenience is becoming the number one priority. Not only can consumers shop from the comfort of their homes, but they can have products delivered within days, and sometimes even on the same day.

Due to this, when consumers purchase in-store, they do not then want to be faced with the frustration of queueing, or a payment process that goes on far longer than is deemed necessary. Customers can be put off completing a transaction simply by having to fish out a card to type a series of numbers (pin code) into a payment terminal. The introduction of innovations such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay have made this even more so, with customers’ devices memorising payment details for them, and acting as a contactless card.

As a result, in order to remain competitive and ensure conversions in this fast-paced modern world, retailers are tasked with providing a frictionless experience. But that’s not all. As digital payments systems have developed, so too have data regulations, adding another consideration to merchants’ plates – providing a seamless system without sacrificing security.

As technology advances and payments are increasingly made online, fraud cases are unfortunately on the rise too. This can come in many guises, from traditional ‘phishing’ cases, to data breaches, and ever-increasing ‘friendly fraud’. Whatever the method, fraud can have devastating effects on businesses, their reputations, and finances. It was reported that in 2018 alone, criminals successfully stole £1.2 billion through fraud and scams, so it’s more important than ever to keep up to date with the latest information on how to prevent your business or customers falling victim.

On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. At the time of writing, hundreds of thousands of lives and businesses have been affected. With multiple countries issuing bans on travel across borders and ordering shutdowns of cities and towns, many businesses are seeing the virus take its toll.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements are a minefield of acronyms and, for many merchants, it can be difficult to understand exactly what they need to do to ensure they are compliant. In brief, the PCI standards are a set of security compliance frameworks that merchants must maintain in order to take physical and/or digital card payments either in store, online or on their mobile. Without PCI compliance, merchants will not be able to work with an acquirer and may also be fined by the card schemes such as Visa or Mastercard.