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Customers force restaurants to deal with identity theft issue!

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According to Visa, the most common place for credit card information
to be stolen is at a restaurant.

"We have seen a recent spike in requests from restaurants who want merchant accounts with wireless technology that will support credit card processing at the table…” - Says Doug Olsen of Cardservice International

"…It turns out that restaurants are the most likely place to get your identity stolen and become the victim of credit card fraud. Customers are demanding that their credit cards never leave their view when they dine out. This high demand and recent media attention has caused our phones to ring off the hook. Restaurants want to convert their old credit card terminals into new secure wireless credit card terminals that can be used at the table.

Many of our restaurant merchant account holders have told us that even their non-concerned patrons appreciate the change. These patrons have commented on the restaurant’s pro-active approach and have even been telling their friends that your identity won’t get stolen when you visit their restaurant. The customers really appreciate it and since we introduced our special wireless merchant accounts for restaurants, our business has tripled.”

Also, in a recent story By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ of ABC News we learned that 40 percent of all credit card theft occurs at dining locations - 97 percent more than at any other type of merchant.

He also said that Gourmands are not being ripped off by waiters or busboys who quickly copy down their information, although that can happen. The problem is a bit more high tech than that.

Most of the theft actually occurs when hackers break into a restaurant’s computer system and download the credit card information.

Visa is now starting to crack down on restaurants and other merchants that aren’t properly storing credit card data.

Jennifer Fischer, a director in Visa’s payment systems risk and compliance department, said the company was not sure why restaurants were more of a target than other businesses...

...The running theory, she said, is that once vulnerability is found at a particular well-known restaurant franchise, crooks then exploit that weakness across the entire chain...

Get wireless credit card processing for your restaurant today.

...Hacking Into Stored Data

The theft problem stems from how some merchants — including restaurants — store data.

When a credit card is swiped for payment, several pieces of information are provided. Merchants receive the account number, the expiration date and a verification code that Visa and other credit card companies use to confirm the transaction.

That verification code is not supposed to be stored on the merchant's computer, butt Visa's Fischer said that some companies stored the code.

If thieves gain access to that data, they can create a copy of the credit card that can be swiped at stores...

...Cards Are Restaurants' Bread and Butter

Credit cards are vital to the restaurant industry. A majority of diners pay with them, and a Visa study of 100,000 quick-serve restaurant transactions showed that customers using plastic spent on average 30 percent more than those paying with cash.

Restaurants also pose another threat for credit cards: They are one of the few places where a card leaves its owner's sight.

There have been cases of dishonest employees who — with the help of their own hand-held scanner — downloaded the card's data for their own illegal uses later.

Paul Stephens, a policy analyst for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer education and advocacy group based in San Diego, said those thefts were probably underreported because they did not affect as many people at once as a hacker stealing a restaurant's entire database.

So what can consumers do?

"Unfortunately, there really isn't a whole lot that one can do. You can't follow the employee back to wherever it is they take the credit card," Stephens said. "One choice obviously, if you really want to be careful, is you don't use your credit card in a restaurant."

But Stephens noted that credit cards came with financial safeguards that essentially held the consumer harmless for fraud. He suggested that people check their statements regularly and notify the credit card company if they notice anything irregular.

What can the restaurants do?

Making Transactions Visible:
Some of the large national restaurant chains are taking steps to ensure that credit cards never leave the table.

Last month, Ruby Tuesday restaurant announced it was outfitting all of its waiters and waitresses at its 900-plus locations with portable credit card scanners, allowing them to charge the tab in front of patrons. The company said it was a proactive measure to protect against theft.

Juan Fuentes, manager of Pappardella, an Italian restaurant in New York, said that 80 percent of his customers paid with credit cards..."

Here at Cardservice International we have the technology and equipment to make wireless, portable credit card scanners available and affordable to almost any size restaurant. You would be amazed at how cost effective it really is and the public relations effect it has on your customers is unbelievable.

When your waiters and waitresses start explaining to your customers that the restaurant has taken precautions to protect their identity, word will spread like wild fire. In fact, we have even seen the local media knock on the restaurant's door asking to do a news story on their new way of accepting credit cards.

Get wireless credit card processing for your restaurant today. Click on the apply now button below.