Why Other Credit Card Processors Aren’t Integrated With Sage ERP

Sage has recently announced that Sage Payment Solutions is the exclusive credit card processor used to tightly integrate with Sage ERP products such as Sage 100 ERP (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200), Sage 300 ERP (formerly Sage ERP Accpac), Sage 500 (formerly Sage ERP MAS 500) and Sage ERP X3.  As a result, I’ve had several conversations with channel partners, development partners, customers, prospects, Sage employees, and even customer’s bank representatives on this topic.  Everyone wants to know why Sage has made the business decision to exclusively use Sage Payment Solutions and eliminate integration with other payment processors.

Sage Payment Solutions is a full-service credit card and payment processing solution provider that was acquired by Sage a little over five years ago.  At the time, the credit card industry had just started to establish credit card security standards. Originally the standards that surrounded security of cardholder data only applied to large merchants that processed huge amounts of credit card transactions.  But on July 1, 2010 that changed when PCI-DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards were amended to state that PCI Data Security Requirements apply to all members, merchants, and service providers that store, process or transmit cardholder data.  No longer were the requirements only for the big retail players; they now applied to everyone. This means that any software application that stores credit card numbers needs to comply with those standards, as does any company that uses the software application to store or process credit cards.

Meanwhile, some Sage products for accounting and ERP had already been developed to store credit card numbers within the Sage software and merchants were already established using other credit card processors.  One example is Sage 100 ERP, formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200.  In order for Sage 100 ERP to be Payment Application-Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) compliant, Sage was required to submit the software to a full compliance audit.  This audit took over 26 months, and by the time compliance had been achieved (enter ‘Sage’ at the PCI website to view compliant versions) countless resources in development, product management, customer support, learning services, sales, and more were consumed, not to mention the cost of the auditor’s services and the fees required by the PCI council.  And this was only for one of the Sage product lines – Sage has dozens of product lines that offer credit card processing in North America that were subject to the same process!  Doing this for all of our products became a logistical and financial pain for Sage.

Leadership at Sage determined there had to be a better way to handle this across Sage North America. And thus Sage Exchange was born. Sage Exchange is technology that was developed by the team at Sage Payment Solutions to processes credit card transactions in a way that is linked with Sage accounting and ERP applications while storing sensitive credit card data in a safe, secure vault in the cloud.  Because sensitive credit card information is no longer saved in the ERP software, that software, once integrated with Sage Exchange, will no longer be subject to PA-DSS audits.  This means Sage can invest the resources previously spent on audits delivering more features and functionality that help solve our customers’ business challenges.

On the right is a graphical image of the Sage Payments Environment.  In the center is the Sage Exchange Payments Hub, which connects everything to the credit card networks as depicted by the credit card images.  At the bottom is your ERP system from Sage.  On the left are a variety of credit card and payment capture devices, including mobile phones and the Sage Payments Virtual Terminal. Disconnected from the Sage Exchange Payments hub, these devices are commodities. But when you connect them to the Payments hub, information collected on the devices can flow through the Sage Exchange hub and into the ERP system.  Likewise, if the ERP system isn’t connected to the Sage Exchange Payments hub, credit card payments captured on the disconnected devices need to be manually entered into ERP, allowing for mistakes and extra work.  But when the payments hub is connected with ERP, Sage customers gain time and cost savings by having the information captured on the various devices flow directly into ERP.  And, to top it all off, the Sage Exchange portal provides an administrative dashboard and user toolset to help each merchant manage their own payments environment.

The entire Sage Exchange environment is a PCI free zone all delivered by Sage.  If other processors or software integrators come into the environment, Sage cannot ensure that all is compliant because we would no longer control the environment. This elevates the risk of exposure to a level that is not in the best interest of our customers’ businesses.  And, as PCI compliance requirements become more stringent, it will be increasingly difficult as time goes by for a merchant to obtain compliance with ‘mixed and matched’ parts.

Compliance is not something that a merchant does once and then never has to do again. Rather, merchants need to either undergo a compliance audit or submit a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) annually. Having software that meets PA-DSS compliance doesn’t mean that our merchant customers can automatically achieve compliance themselves, but it does help them to know that the software they use meets compliance standards and will help to protect their customers’ sensitive credit card information.

On to the adventure,

Czarina Erika

The Top 8 Credit Card Processing Questions about Sage 100 ERP 2013

In the release overview of the Sage 100 ERP 2013 Initial Pre-Release Guide, you’ll learn that “The Sage 100 ERP 2013 release (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 5.0) will focus on providing compelling value to existing customers, generate interest in the marketplace with new connected services and add-on solutions, and continuing to offer more deployment and pricing options. Substantial value will be provided to existing customers by addressing their top enhancement requests, Auto Updates for easy application of Sage 100 ERP Product Updates, enhanced Credit Card Processing using Sage Exchange, and more.” This blog sneak peek will focus on the credit card processing enhancements coming in Sage 100 ERP 2013. 

Credit Card Processing in Sage 100 ERP 2013 will utilize Sage Exchange to provide many enhancements and increased flexibility including card-swipe capabilities, charges for repetitive invoices and Accounts Receivable invoices, mobile payments, improved cash flow management and forecasting, and will provide a consolidated view of payment activity. 

 

What is Sage Exchange?

Sage Exchange is the cloud-based technology developed by Sage Payment Solutions that provides the integration between Sage 100 ERP and the Sage Payments Gateway. It consists of three key elements, the Sage Exchange Vault, the Sage Exchange Portal, and third party developer tools which enable Sage Development Partners to connect to Sage Exchange. The Sage Exchange technology includes connection to a secure vault for storing all sensitive credit card information outside of Sage 100 ERP, as well as for processing credit card transactions.

 What is the Sage Exchange Portal?

The Sage Exchange portal provides a user-configurable dashboard and flexibility to view payments information on the web via a tablet or desktop.  Customize My Dashboard to gain access to the payments information you want to see.  Assign access to the Sage Exchange portal for your employees, and easily establish connections to link employee’s tablets and mobile phones to Sage Exchange.  Plus have 24/7 access to the Sage Payment Solutions customer support database right at your fingertips.

Sage Exchange Portal

Why is the Sage Exchange Vault important?

The cloud-based vault helps to reduce fraud exposure by storing all sensitive cardholder data there rather than in Sage 100 ERP data tables.  For added cardholder security, Sage 100 ERP 2013 will also allow a one-time use credit card for a payment transaction without saving credit card information. Customers migrating from previous versions of the software will be able to easily move their customers’ credit card information from their current location into the secure Sage Exchange Vault. The process will be streamlined for customers who are already using Sage Payment Solutions, so if you are using another processor now, it is highly recommended that you consider switching before you upgrade to Sage 100 ERP 2013.

 

How will card swipes be integrated in Sage 100 ERP 2013?

Sage Exchange will reduce merchant transaction fees when cards are present and speed the data entry process when swiping credit cards using a Sage Payments recognized USB card swipe device attached to the terminal. Our new card swipe capabilities have been truly integrated so that payments processing is built into the normal Sage 100 ERP workflow, which can replace the disconnected card swipe capabilities many companies use.  So, for example, when processing an order within Sage 100 ERP, after all line items are entered in the order and the clerk proceeds to the payments tab, after indicating that the payment method will be credit card, the Sage Exchange window pops up to allow the customer’s credit card to be swiped directly into Sage Exchange.  But if the card isn’t present and the card number is already stored in the vault, the same workflow will allow selection of the correct customer’s card for retrieval from the vault.  And if the order is being entered while the customer is on the phone, a card can be entered for one time use using the same workflow.  It’s all been streamlined to be simple and fast.

Sage Payment Solutions with credit card swipe active

Approved Sage Exchange card swipe device

 

How Will Sage Mobile Payments be Integrated with Sage 100 ERP 2013?

Sage Exchange will allow payments to be collected anytime, anywhere, via smart phone. Ideal for cash sales, Sage Mobile Payments will immediately capture the cash transaction information for a sale and send it to Sage Exchange, for secure transfer to Sage 100 ERP 2013 Accounts Receivable Cash Receipts Entry.  A cash receipt batch will automatically be created for these mobile cash transactions which can be updated by accounts receivable personnel at the end of each day.  Companies that provide services and collect fees in a mobile environment, such as mobile pet grooming, will find this functionality especially helpful.

 

What other functionality will be available from Sage Mobile Payments?

Sage Mobile Invoice Query, Pay and Post will be introduced in a Product Update shortly after the release of Sage 100 ERP 2013. This functionality will benefit companies with a mobile sales force that also collects payments on outstanding invoices. The software will include the ability to identify an existing Sage 100 ERP customer from the mobile device, view the customer’s open invoices, and select one of the open invoices to pay. With a Sage Mobile card swipe device connected to the smartphone, the salesperson can swipe the customer’s credit card and present the touch screen of the mobile device to the customer for signature approval of the charges. The credit card receipt can optionally be emailed directly to the customer from Sage Exchange.  And, not only will the payment go directly into the merchant’s bank account just like any other credit card transaction, but it will also create a cash receipts batch within Sage 100 ERP to complete the financial transaction.

 

What is happening with the PCCharge Payment Server Integration to Sage 100 ERP?

PCCharge Payment Server will no longer be integrated with Sage 100 ERP 2013.  The way in which PCCharge was integrated with previous versions of Sage 100 ERP required Sage 100 ERP software to store credit card numbers.   As detailed above, with version 2013, credit card numbers will no longer be stored within the ERP software, therefore PCCharge will not work.  Also, Sage’s customer support department will answer questions about the ERP side of PCCharge for older versions of Sage 100 ERP through December 31, 2012. As of that time, Sage 100 ERP support for PCCharge will end. 

 

On to the adventure,

 Czarina Erika

Money Makes The World Go Around

“Money makes the world go around
…the world go around
…the world go around.
Money makes the world go around
It makes the world go ’round.

A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound
…a buck or a pound.
Is all that makes the world go around
That clinking, clanking sound…
Can make the world go ’round”……..”Money…Money” from Cabaret, lyrics by Fred Ebb

Money moves into and out of North American businesses in a constant ebb and flow, but knowing exactly how to make more of it flow in and stay put is sometimes a mystery. Everyone wants to unravel that mystery and know how to keep cash flowing into their own pocket, be that a personal pocket or a business one.  Let’s look at a few basics on how to improve cash flow.

Decrease Expenses.  Probably the most obvious way to increase cash flow is to cut major expenses.  In some companies this may mean more conference calls and fewer face to face business meetings to cut down on travel. Or it may mean deferring the purchase of new manufacturing equipment or computers for the accounting staff until replacement is absolutely critical.  And cutting down on non-essential expenses can be done just about everywhere.  There’s not a personal budget guru alive that doesn’t say “Eliminate your daily caffeine fix at your favorite Starbucks and you too can eventually afford <insert your expensive want here.>” Businesses have non-essential expenses that can be reduced or eliminated too.  Identify your company’s ‘Starbucks fix’ and see how you can cut back gradually.

Manage Receivables.  This one too seems obvious….all ya’ gotta do is get folks to pay you faster.  Yeah, right, like that’s easy to do in today’s economy when 90 days is the new 60 for outstanding payables.  Perhaps the answer is to not extend the credit to begin with.  And by that I don’t mean losing the sale, I mean, what about offering a credit card as a payment method to your customer?  The customer gets the benefit of a 35-30 day grace period before they need to pay Visa/MasterCard, but you get your cash within 24-48 hours. And you get the added benefit of re-purposing your collections clerk to a role that drives more revenue to your bottom line.

What are the top business practices that you have put into place to help increase your company’s cash flow?

The Road Ahead

     There’s something about spring that makes everyone in our industry start thinking about roadmaps.  I don’t know if that’s because we used to hold partner conferences in May, or if it’s because many of our current projects are planned to release in the fall so everyone is wondering what’s next, or if it’s just something about spring itself that causes thoughts to gravitate toward roadmaps. But they seem to be on everyone’s mind right now.

      In my role as liaison between Sage Payment Solutions and all of the products in the Sage ERP product portfolio, my roadmap thoughts lean toward the integration roadmap for each of our products. So last week I hopped a plane and went to visit the Sage Payment Solutions team at their headquarters in McLean, VA to work collaboratively on a roadmap plan. Our goal was to gain agreement on what we expect to deliver to our joint customers in the months and years ahead.  

      So how do we determine what to include in our joint roadmap?  Well of course we look to feedback from our customers and channel partners that have been submitted in the Ideas website for each of the respective ERP products. But ideas in those sites lean towards ERP features, and don’t really touch on integrated payments functionality. So we look to see what competitors are offering. But that’s not too easy to do because we don’t really have ERP competitors that offer the full-service credit card and payment processing integration that is unique to Sage. So we look to other sources where Sage customers can go to obtain payment processing and related services; their banks. We researched the offerings banks have that mid-market customers would like to see integrated with their ERP system so they can improve efficiencies and reduce manual effort.  One of Sage’s long-term goals is to be the one-stop shop for all payments related products and services, offering functionality that customers could get from their bank, but that they will prefer to get from Sage because of the unique integration with their ERP software that we provide and their bank cannot. 

      How do we prioritize the functionality once we’ve identified it? That’s not as easy as it might seem. First, we spent time evaluating the usefulness and desirability of each feature or service by key types of customers: manufacturers, distributors, service based industries, and retailers. Then we evaluated them on other dimensions by asking a few key questions:

     –       Is adding this functionality important for a full solution from single source? 

     –       Do we have a better chance to win and keep customers if we add this functionality? 

     –       Does it apply to both US and Canadian markets?

     –       Does this impact the Sage image or reputation? Is it expected from the marketplace?

     –       Will customers be willing to pay for this service or functionality? 

     After this, we determined if it makes sense to move forward with further research and customer validation on the functionality on our list. So while we haven’t completely finished the roadmap process yet, we’ve made a great start and look to have something to announce at Sage Summit in Nashville this summer. Meanwhile, what functionality or service would you like to see on the Sage Payment Solutions and Sage ERP Joint Roadmap?  Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. 

On to the adventure,

Czarina Erika

Payments 101

     Does anyone really carry much cash anymore? I know I have a wallet full of credit cards that I can and do use just about anywhere: for groceries, gas, clothes, entertainment, restaurants and, well, pretty much everything. It’s easy and convenient for me to use a credit card as a consumer because it doesn’t require any knowledge about the credit card industry. All I really need to know is when I’ve got to make my payment.
    

But as a merchant who takes credit cards in business to business or business to consumer transactions, a little bit of knowledge on the credit card industry can go a long way toward understanding how taking credit cards can help drive increased sales and how using credit cards as a payment method helps reduce your outstanding receivables .
    

There are many players in the credit card industry besides the cardholder and merchant. There’s the merchant acquirer, the processor, the card associations, and the card issuer. And there’s those Independent Sales Organization folks (ISO’s) who seem to call you every other week trying to get you to switch your credit card processor. How do all of these players fit together in the process?
    

We at Sage have put together some information to make navigating the credit card industry a bit more understandable. Click here for a link to a handy Infographic that explains a bit more about these different players. And, to learn much more, please join me and my Sage Payment Solutions colleagues for a webcast entitled “Payments 101: Making Sense of the Credit Card Industry” on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 11am PT. (1pm ET). To register for the webcast, click here. We’ll discuss the differences between an integrated and non-integrated payments solution, delve into the players in the industry and what each one does, and unravel a little of the mystery surrounding merchant fees. All Sage customers running any Sage ERP product are welcome to attend.

On to the adventure,

Czarina Erika