Category: Industry

Beat The Numbers Game: Guard Against Card Testing Fraud

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Card not present (CNP) fraud has been on the rise: it’s projected to account for nearly 75% of all payments fraud by 2024, which is up from 57% in 2019. As merchants shift their focus to protect against this growing share of CNP fraud, they find themselves tackling a specific type: card testing attacks.

Payment solutions can play a major role in protecting businesses from card testing-related losses. But does yours have the right capabilities? Read on as we explain card testing and some fundamental ways to reduce its impact on your customers and your bottom line.

What Is Card Testing?

Card testing is a payment fraud technique where cybercriminals use automation or bots to guess valid credit card numbers. It’s literally a numbers game. Fraudsters submit a barrage of small transactions of just a few cents each, testing to see if a card number is valid. Once they’ve identified a set of card information that works, they then use it either to make larger unauthorized purchases or sell the card info on the dark web.

For merchants, falling victim to card testing can disrupt operations and generate costly chargebacks. But it means more than revenue loss: there’s also reputational damage to consider. According to a PYMNTS survey, 21% of consumers said that losing money due to fraud would be the most important factor that would erode their trust in a merchant.

4 Layers of Protection Against Card Testing Attacks

In the battle against card testing fraud, your strongest line of defense is a modern payment solution. It can safeguard your transactions and customer data in multiple ways. Here’s how:

1. ADVANCED FRAUD DETECTION

As we all know, the earlier fraud is spotted, the better. Payment solutions may employ machine learning algorithms that identify suspicious transaction patterns in real time. These fraud detection features can flag and report suspicious activity before bad actors “crack the code” and make a successful unauthorized charge, or before they can go on to do significant damage with the stolen card information.

2. TOKENIZATION TECHNOLOGY

Modern payment solutions typically replace sensitive card data with unique tokens—randomly generated values that are unrelated to the original card data. This adds an extra layer of security. Even if bad actors intercept the merchant’s card data, the tokens render that data useless for making unauthorized transactions.

3. 3D SECURE AUTHENTICATION

Modern payments solutions often integrate 3D Secure protocols, or “3DS,” which stands for 3 Domain Secure. This is an authentication method for online transactions that relies on three domains:

  • Issuer Domain — The bank or financial institution that issued the card
  • Acquirer Domain — The bank or financial institution processing the payment on the merchant’s behalf
  • Interoperability Domain (Card Scheme) — The payment card network (e.g., Visa, MasterCard) that connects the issuer and acquirer domains

If you’re using 3DS, a cardholder making an online purchase undergoes an additional authentication step. This typically involves redirecting them to a page hosted by their card issuer or having them provide a one-time authentication code that is sent to their phone. And it’s this extra step that adds another strong barrier against card testing attempts.

4. REGULAR UPDATES & MONITORING

Payment fraud techniques evolve, and so should your payments solution. Your SaaS provider should provide regular updates and enable round-the-clock monitoring, making sure your payment system is always equipped with the latest security features.

Take Action Today

Safeguarding your organization against card testing is a must. Do you know if your payment system has all these protections in place for you and your customers? Talk to us at CSG Forte, and we can help you ensure your payments security is up to task—even as fraudsters put it to the test.

Not Ready for Rising Card Fees? Try These 4 Payment Alternatives

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Credit cards emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever. After bearing the brunt of decreased recreational spending in 2020, the industry is riding the wave of ecommerce growth to top an unprecedented $500 billion in online credit card usage. Resurgent travel spending, higher wages and generous rewards programs all bode well for credit card payments.

But as card spending stabilizes among consumers, their issuers must contend with the broader impact of economic downturn.

Credit Card Payments Under Pressure

The country is seeing record numbers of credit card debt and growing delinquency rates. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York report that credit cards are the most prevalent form of household debt and expect this trend to continue—particularly with student loan payments resuming.

Talk of congressional action to lower swipe fees and rumors swirling around rising interchange fees also loom large for merchants that rely on credit card payments. With so much uncertainty, how can businesses protect their bottom line?

Bolster Your Business Growth With More Ways to Pay

Prepare for volatility in the credit card space by diversifying your payment methods. Consider these alternatives to safeguard your cash flow and generate revenue in any economic conditions.

4 Alternative Payment Methods

1. ACH

Automated clearing house (ACH) payments are a strong solution for businesses seeking reliability. This payment method allows merchants to draw funds directly from the customer’s bank account, limiting risk and excess costs.

ACH processing expenses are generally low compared to other forms of payment. Unlike credit cards, which are subject to fluctuating fees, ACH doesn’t require merchants to make authorization requests to credit card networks or issuing banks. This means that not only does using ACH save businesses money—it also insulates them from rising interchange fees if Visa or Mastercard choose to schedule increases.

ACH is also a more secure payment option. Credit card fraud is on the rise, with global losses projected to surpass $43 billion in the next five years. What does that mean for merchants? More chargebacks, less revenue and greater overall risk.

ACH payments also come equipped with security features that protect businesses from fraud. With end-to-end encryption and tokenization, sensitive payment data is disguised during transmission. It’s one of the safest payment methods available to businesses today.

2. Same-day ACH

Businesses can further optimize their electronic payments by implementing same-day ACH transfers. This method carries the same benefits as standard ACH payments, but with the added promise of receiving funds within a single day.

Payment processors traditionally could expect to see direct transfers reach their accounts in around four business days. But those that partner with a same-day ACH provider are guaranteed usable funds much sooner, provided they initiate the transaction by the designated cutoff time.

By bypassing processing delays, businesses enjoy the following advantages:

  • Faster payments, with lower fees. The speed of same-day ACH processing is comparable to credit cards. But with lower costs involved, the former provides merchants the best elements of both.
  • Streamlined cash flow. Automated transfers and reduced cycling times simplify delivery and allow for better control of cash flow.
  • Optimized customer experience. When you enable customers to pay their bills closer to the due date, both sides benefit. Same-day ACH processing helps last-minute payers avoid penalties, while faster crediting is applied to late payments.
  • Expedited payroll disbursement. Same-day ACH can also be used to pay employees via direct deposit. Faster issuance reduces administrative burdens by providing quick resolution of late payments or emergency distribution.

3. RTP

Real-time payments (RTP) can also quickly provide your business with cash flow. Much like ACH, this method supports quick electronic transfers between banks. But the similarities stop there.

RTP transactions are instantaneous—faster even than same-day ACH. These payments are initiated, cleared and settled with virtually zero perceptible delay. The unrivaled speed of RTP is a contributing factor to its international appeal: one 2020 survey found that consumers across six different markets consider real-time payments at least as important as internet access.

Speed isn’t RTP’s only convenient feature. Year-round availability is another unique benefit. Unlike ACH, real-time payments are also available on weekends, holidays and after business hours. Because it’s processed by The Clearing House rather than banks, RTP isn’t subject to the same limitations and enables 24/7/365 payments.

However, he RTP system isn’t always the answer. Transactions are capped at $1 million, and only credit payments are supported. Its network is also smaller than that of ACH—not every bank covers RTP.

But RTP is gaining popularity, and as it does, these drawbacks are expected to shrink. The U.S. Federal Reserve recently rolled out an instant payments service of its own in FedNow. As banks push for faster fund processing, the government’s network will offer them additional high-speed coverage options, making RTP more broadly available.

By stimulating competition with this move, expect to see increased adoption of real-time payments in the U.S.

4. Alternative Methods of Payment

Non-traditional payments are also available to businesses seeking credit card alternatives. To capitalize on these options, connect your bank account to an e-wallet that is compatible with popular payment methods. These might include:

  • PayPal
  • Physical or digital gift cards
  • Loyalty points
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • Direct carrier billing

Offering customers the capability to use their preferred method encourages on-time payments, increased revenue and a seamless CX.

Get A Consult: Find Your Payments Fit

Payment methods should be built for your business—not the other way around. Connect with CSG Forte to get expert advice on which payment processing options will work best for you. Get started.

Tips to Reduce Late Payments by Engaging Payers

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Late payments are on the rise, and they can weigh down your organization’s growth if they go unaddressed.

Auto loan and credit card delinquencies have bounced back to their pre-COVID rates, and late payments on consumer loans aren’t far behind. With these indicators, merchants in other industries might be right to wonder if they’ll see more missed or late payments—assuming they haven’t already.

Organizations are well aware how late payments can disrupt cash flow. As they add up, they can limit the ability to make the investments needed for growth, from purchasing new equipment, to hiring talent, to ordering inventory. Then there’s the cost of collecting late payments: sending out notices, attempting to call customers, engaging collection agencies, and so on.

Consumers often miss payments due to a lack of funds, but a large chunk of late payments are highly preventable. Among consumers who missed a payment in the previous six months, nearly half said either forgetting about the bill or mixing up the due date were factors, according to a recent survey.

So what can organizations do to help customers pay on time? By keeping them engaged with these approaches.

Make the payment experience as easy as possible

Many late payments result from transaction abandonment, which is a usually fixable problem in the customer’s payment journey. Sometimes the abandonment is accidental: think of how easy it is to get distracted in the process of paying a bill online or over the phone if it requires multiple steps. Other transaction abandonment is deliberate: perhaps the customer became frustrated to learn that they can’t make their payment online, and they put off the task for later.

To reduce transaction abandonment—accidental or otherwise—it’s important to make the payment experience as simple as possible.

Accept multiple payment methods.

You want to ensure most of your customers can use the payment method they most prefer, whether that’s credit/debit card, ACH, digital wallets, and yes, paper checks (55% of U.S. consumers wrote checks in 2022).

Offer auto-pay.

Automating regular payments is a win-win for you and your customers. Customers get to put the recurring payment out of mind, and your organization sees fewer late or declined payments. Offering and encouraging auto-pay makes a huge difference. Between April and July 2020, renters failed to make timely rent payments approximately 22% of the time. However, renters who used Rentec’s recurring payment system, powered by CSG Forte, only made late payments 1% of the time.

Allow payments in installments.

Making the payment experience easier can also involve offering a payment plan if your organization can provide that flexibility. Accepting partial or installment payments can be preferable to delinquent payments, and offering installments keeps the customer engaged. The key here is to use a payment solution that enables customers to set up their own alternative payment arrangements easily, without having to call into your call center. The payment terms, installment amounts and due dates also need to be clearly communicated to the customer through the user interface.

Send payment reminders on the customer’s preferred communication channels

The modern consumer has plenty of notifications and due dates competing for their attention. It’s easy for even your most organized customers to forget a payment unless they receive regular reminders. But reminders only matter if customers receive them on communication channels they use. Make sure you can send these automated messages by multiple methods, including email, text and outbound interactive voice response (IVR).

Also consider payment reminders that can integrate with customers’ calendar applications, increasing their visibility as part of your customer’s recurring to-dos. If you can enable seamless payments through your reminder communications, such as offering text to pay, then you’ve not only made it easier for customers to remember their bill, but also pay it in seconds.

CSG Forte Engage, a payer engagement platform, can help simplify your customers’ payment journey in these ways and more, enabling you to minimize late payments and protect your bottom line. Learn more about CSG Forte Engage and start increasing on-time payments today.

CSG Forte Engage Enables Customers to Pay Bills the Way They Want

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FORT WORTH, TX, Sept. 12, CSG Forte, a CSG® (NASDAQ: CSGS) company and a leader in complete and customizable digital payments, today launched CSG Forte Engage. A multi-channel, no-code payment solution, CSG Forte Engage puts the power into the hands of the customer to pay when they want, how they want. With CSG Forte Engage, organizations can leverage NanoSite technology to create customized, secure statements and send them to customers for payment via SMS, email, 2-way interactive voice response (IVR) or the contact center. By making it easy for organizations to send branded and personalized statements, they can securely accept payment in real time, remove their exposure to sensitive data and modernize the customer experience. Recently, CSG Forte Engage helped one company reduce uncollected payments by 85% and another to increase customer engagement by 660% leading to $8M in incremental revenue.

“The payments landscape and payer behavior are quickly changing, and customers want more flexibility in the way they pay,” said Jeff Kump, President, CSG Forte. “CSG Forte Engage offers flexibility in every form to elevate both the simplicity of the payment journey and overall customer experience. By empowering customers to pay how they want, this solution will forge the path for the next generation of secure and simple payments processing.”

With CSG Forte Engage, organizations can:

  • Increase customer satisfaction and successful payment completion by providing simple payment journeys that are configured for each customer. Multiple payment options give every customer the choice on how to be communicated with and how to pay.
  • Meet customers where they are by allowing them to securely switch between channels throughout the journey from text, email, inbound or outbound IVR or live agent.
  • Maximize revenue and see immediate ROI with a no-code, quick integration that modernizes the payer experience while leveraging existing payment processing forms including ACH.
  • Have peace of mind with automated, PCI-compliant payment processes that safeguard customer data and prevent fraud.

“In order to meet consumer expectations and create positive payment experiences, organizations need to be prepared to meet consumers where they are and give them the ability to pay in whatever ways they prefer,” said Daniel Keyes, Senior Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Organizations that can offer a variety of payment methods across multiple channels, while minimizing friction for consumers no matter how they’re paying, will be able to complete more payments and drive customer satisfaction.”

CSG Forte was recently named Best API Set in The Strawhecker Group’s annual Best of Breed Awards. With the launch of CSG Forte Engage, CSG continues to be a leader in payment technology, empowering organizations to be future-forward and customer-obsessed. For more information about CSG Forte Engage, view this short video or visit our website.

4 Best Practices for a Better Payment Experience

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Providing a smooth experience is key if you want to make on-time payments easy for your customers. But meeting their expectations can be easier said than done.

The payment experience is often reported as a source of friction for customers. According to a survey of 400 billing and collections executives, 91% of customers cited the inconvenience of bill pay as a pain point. And 34% received customer feedback that there isn’t enough choice in payment methods.

Fortunately, there are simple solutions to facilitate a better payment experience. Follow these four best practices to deliver a secure and convenient digital payment experience that cuts down friction and meets customer expectations.

4 best practices to improve the customer payment experience

1. Seek seamless integration of payment methods

Simply making a multitude of payment options available to your customers won’t create a convenient experience. You need to integrate those channels if you want to encourage prompt payment.

When the payment process is comprised of disparate solutions, it creates friction for customers who are forced to leapfrog from one to another. A customer receiving an email payment reminder doesn’t want to get on the phone with a call center agent just to provide their credit card information. Imagine instead the convenience of being directed to an online payment platform directly within the reminder email.

By integrating your payment methods and eliminating cumbersome payment journeys, you’ll encourage prompt and repeatable payments.

2. Prioritize CX to limit late payments

Providing a positive customer experience doesn’t stop at the point of purchase. The payment portal is a brand touchpoint that deserves equal consideration.

For customers, the hassle of navigating a poorly designed platform can deter on-time payments. According to a 2022 survey of more than 1,500 bill payers, 14% of respondents prioritize convenience. Millennials go even further, with 23% citing payment ease as a reason to pay some bills before others.

A business that offers a user-friendly payment experience may encourage customers to first pay their bills before tackling—or even disregarding—those that involve more convoluted processes.

3. Gain trust with a secure payment platform

Many consumers are concerned about security, for good reason. Credit card fraud is widespread, and card-not-present fraud is expected to account for 74% of all credit card fraud losses by 2024. Up to 52% of U.S. bill payers rank security as a top feature in the digital payment process.

Here’s the takeaway: if customers don’t trust your payment system, they won’t use it.

It’s critical to demonstrate that cardholder data is protected on your payment platform. Follow these strategies to keep your customers secure:

  • Use payment IVR systems to securely take payments
    Asking customers to read out their credit card information to a call center agent increases the risk of fraud. Leverage Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology to add a level of security.

    • Inbound IVR allows customers to call in and manually enter their credit card information via keypad, reducing the risk that someone will overhear the details and jot them down.
    • Outbound IVR lets customers receive a scheduled payment call at their convenience and then enter their credit card details during the call.
  • Keep call center payments secure
    Use a payment platform that makes it simple for call center agents to quickly create custom invoices and send customers a link to securely complete transactions. Customers can pay directly without sharing their account data with anyone, all while removing the organization’s exposure to sensitive payment data.
  • Choose a payment platform that offers Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant processing
    PCI regulations change frequently, making it challenging to keep up with complex security requirements. You can spare your business the risk of inadvertent regulatory discrepancies by using a payment platform with built-in PCI compliance. Trusting your payment platform to securely store sensitive customer data lets you stay focused on growing your business.

4. Make it easy for customers to read your reminders

A quick way to increase the odds of late payment is sending a customer reminders on a communication channel they rarely use. Leverage multi-channel communications for reminders to make sure you’re reaching them where they are most likely to respond.

Relying on email won’t always get your message across. Short Message Service (SMS) is gaining popularity. A Statista survey found that U.S. Internet users opened and read 42% of commercial text messages, as opposed to 32% sent by email.

The CSG Forte Payer Engagement Platform allows customers to pay when and how they want

CSG Forte’s Payer Engagement Platform is a revolutionary payments solution that meets your customers where they are. It enables any-time, any-way payment completion on the channel of their choice. Our low-code solution manages invoice creation, payment processing, and payment notifications—all on one secure platform.

Contact us to learn how the CSG Payer Engagement Platform can simplify your customer’s bill payments, improve their experience, reduce fraud exposure and encourage on-time payments.

Invite customers to receive payment reminders, confirmations and late notices on their preferred channels. Then implement a platform with calendar integrations to easily send personalized links to a custom invoice where you know they’ll see it.

CSG Forte Earns Best API Set by The Strawhecker Group in 2023 Best of Breed API Awards

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ALLEN, TX, July 13, 2023 – CSG Forte, a CSG® (NASDAQ: CSGS) company and the leader in complete and customizable digital payments, was recognized by The Strawhecker Group (TSG) as the Best API Set in the 2023 Best of Breed API Awards. The awards are based on TSG’s Global Experience Monitoring (GEM) platform, which ranks the overall API experience of payment gateways across functionality, documentation and integration and development. CSG Forte was highlighted for its user-friendly experience for developers and additionally named a runner-up for Overall API Assessment, API Set: Specifications and Developer Roadmap.

“To attract, retain and forge strong relationships with merchants, gateway and payment technology providers like CSG Forte rely on technology, open-source platforms and the development communities of the future to continuously improve our offerings,” said Jeff Kump, President, CSG Forte. “Our unwavering commitment to adaptability, innovation and investment in our platform allows us to deliver unparalleled payment experiences to our customers. This recognition is a testament to the creative minds and dedication of the entire CSG Forte team, and we are honored to be named a leader by The Strawhecker Group for the third year in a row.”

“We are excited to recognize CSG Forte for its exceptional API Set, which surpassed the average API Set total score by over 13 points,” said Mike Strawhecker, President, TSG. “Our annual awards give payment platforms the data to make impactful adjustments, and the CSG Forte team consistently uses our GEM Suite to improve and set new standards for the industry.”

CSG Forte delivers a single, end-to-end cloud-based payments platform that helps merchants grow their business quickly, scale payments smarter and mitigate fraud risks. With CSG Forte’s award-winning technology, organizations can modernize and simplify how customers pay bills, drive more on-time payments and improve customer satisfaction with a low-code, single unified digital platform. With experience in payment processing across ACH and card payments, acceptance, authorization and management, CSG Forte handles tens of billions of dollars in payments for nearly 100,000 merchants annually.

For more information about CSG Forte, please visit: www.forte.net.

CSG Forte Team

CSG Forte Team

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4 Digital Payments Trends Making Businesses Future Ready in 2023

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This year, we’re looking at a different world in digital payments. Businesses are facing down recession fears and tighter margins. Consumer spending habits are shifting as they contend with inflation.

What hasn’t changed? The payments experience is still key to maintaining healthy cashflow and loyal customers. And innovation will still pay off down the road in cost-reducing efficiency and better customer experience (CX). It’s just that businesses must adjust their priorities to navigate 2023’s economic headwinds.

CSG Forte President Jeff Kump, and Sukanya Madhavan, VP of Product Management, offer a glimpse of where merchants will make strides in the payment experience, from digital wallets to ACH to security.

Here’s what they see organizations doing to prepare not just for 2023, but for the years ahead in digital payments.

1. Digital Payments Will Help Make Businesses Metaverse-Ready

Cash is phasing out as consumers embrace more digital avenues of retail shopping, like buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS). Even as the pandemic waned, U.S. coin shortages persisted because consumers weren’t inclined to use them to buy things (which stalled circulation).

Trending up are digital wallets, which have become more commonly used than even credit cards, according to a global survey. It’s not just because of consumer preferences—businesses are encouraging digital payment options, too. They’re already trying to streamline and digitize more processes, and that includes the payments they accept.

Where is this all headed? Possibly to the ultimate digital marketplace—i.e., the metaverse—which will eschew cash or plastic entirely. Businesses will need to accept digital wallet payments if and when they participate in those immersive experiences. Even if they join in metaverse commerce after 2023, this year they’ll lay the foundation for it on the payments side.

2. Older Generation Consumers Will Ease into Next-Generation Payments

Spoiling the grandkids will look different in a cashless future. Picture Grandma slipping them a couple bucks on the sly using a peer-to-peer payment app instead of dollar bills.

But they’re not there yet. Baby boomers were the least likely generation to have tried a new payment method in the past year (only 29% compared with 79% of Gen Z). While we’re in this transition towards digital payment dominance, businesses need to accommodate consumers who remain reluctant (or unable) to pay online.

To keep serving those customers, businesses won’t shift to fully paperless and online payments just yet. In the meantime, we’ll see them encourage more customers toward digital adoption while continuing to offer traditional payment methods in the name of inclusion and accessibility. As late adopters receive a gentle education on newer payment methods, we’ll see the generation gap of digital payment adoption begin to close.

3. Organizations Will Offer Embedded Payments Everywhere

There’s no denying the connection between payment simplicity and revenue: the easier you make it for customers to buy, the easier it is to make sales. This year, we’ll see businesses speed up buying processes by using integrated payments to remove speed bumps.

In eCommerce, they’ll eliminate friction by embedding pay tools more smoothly in apps and websites. One example is Instagram, which links to your bank so you can purchase an advertised product straight from your feed with a single swipe.

Friction-free, integrated payments will transform in-person shopping, too. Seeing more consumers return to physical locations, retailers are working to streamline the brick-and-mortar buying experience. The Kroger grocery chain is testing shopping carts that track the items shoppers want to buy, allowing them to skip checkout entirely. Amazon Go stores, which already let customers purchase without checking out, continue to expand to more locations.

Whether we’re online or in-person, we’ll continue seeing businesses remove hurdles in the buying process we once thought were essential, simplifying the path to “Sold!”

4. Authentication Tools Will Help Merchants Raise Their Game Against Fraud

ACH payments have increased in volume by over 50% within a decade. The downside of ACH’s growth is that more transactions create more opportunities for fraudsters using the payment method. Businesses have recognized the heightened security risk of their transactions and are poised to combat it. According to “The State of Retail Payments in 2022” from Forrester Research, Inc., September 2022, “improving security (fraud, management encryption) jumped to the top of the list of online initiatives, with a significant 42% of retailers including it on their list of priorities.”

In 2023, more businesses will act on their anti-fraud priorities by using stronger payment security solutions to process ACH transactions. In their efforts to reduce risk, they’ll leverage authentication to verify account status and ownership in a seamless process that keeps payments easy for customers. After all, the payment experiences of the future aren’t just about keeping payments simple, but also safe.

Learn more about how CSG Forte solutions can help your business prepare for the future.

CSG Forte Team

CSG Forte Team

Categories: News,

CSG Forte Combats Fraud with Launch of End-to-End Authorization Solution, CSG Forte Authenticate

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ALLEN, Oct. 20, 2022 –  CSG Forte, a CSG (NASDAQ: CSGS) company and the expert in processing and making automated clearing house (ACH) payments more secure and reliable, today launched CSG Forte Authenticate. To be successful, merchants need lock-tight authentication capabilities that effectively reduce the risks of fraud and automate their processes.  Authenticate is an end-to-end payments security solution that empowers merchants across verticals to seamlessly verify account owner ACH payments and reduce the risk of fraud.

“At a time when fraud is surging, it is not a matter of if, but when fraud occurs. From customer convenience to ease of acceptance, CSG Forte Authenticate gives merchants the ability to process ACH payments with confidence, securely and reliably,” said Jeff Kump, head of payments, CSG Forte. “CSG Forte continues to modernize our platform to reduce time to activation, ensure that businesses get paid on-time with accuracy and introduce new products that meet evolving customer demands. We’re proud to be industry leaders in helping merchants combat fraud.”

According to “The State of Retail Payments in 2022” from Forrester Research, Inc., September 2022, “improving security (fraud, management encryption) jumped to the top of the list of online initiatives, with a significant 42% of retailers including it on their list of priorities.” With CSG Forte Authenticate at the center of ACH payments, an insurance company can reduce fraudulent deposits and increase customer loyalty and trust by depositing a check into the account owned by the person they are writing the check to.

 

With CSG Forte Authenticate, businesses can:

  • Reduce fraud or potential losses, establish a secure financial transaction relationship and improve overall profitability
  • Ensure validated and non-failing inputs to the processor/network, to drive increased acceptance rates
  • Catch errors in the early stages of a transaction and prevent transaction delays, to deliver increased customer satisfaction and loyalty

Based on the Merchant Risk Council, the volume of ACH transactions has grown by over 50% in less than a decade, which indicates that ACH payments are a growing segment of the modern payments landscape. CSG Forte’s expertise in same-day ACH technology allows merchants to fuel growth by receiving funds quicker and at a lower price than working with other payment processors. For more information about CSG Forte Authenticate, join us at Money 2020 in Las Vegas #3-222 (Venetian Tower) or visit https://www.forte.net/why-csg-forte/authenticate.

CSG Forte Team

CSG Forte Team

Categories: News,

Million Dollar Payments: Nacha Boosting Same-Day ACH Maximum

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Think of your favorite news outlet, any news outlet. Chances are, if you visit their site right now, the leading topic will be the economy. From inflation to new job numbers, several metrics and topics are commonly discussed when analyzing the economy. However, the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network often goes overlooked in economic discussions. And it definitely shouldn’t—with over 7.5 billion payments valued at $18.9 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2021 alone.  

With payment volumes and values continuing to grow, new rules are needed to foster the growth of the ACH network. The National Automated Clearing House Association (Nacha), an organization that governs and facilitates the ACH Network, develops standards and rules to ensure the ACH Network operates smoothly, and that payment information transfers securely and quickly.

In response to substantial increases in ACH payments, Nacha announced a rule that will increase the same-day ACH spending limit. Beginning March 18, 2022, businesses will be able to transfer same-day credit and debit payments up to $1 million, up from the current $100,000 cap.

And with more verticals likely to adopt this because of the increasing amount of payments they can accept, there’s never been a better time to start offering this payment option. Get paid faster, lower payment processing costs and easily manage recurring payments.

 

Choose CSG Forte for Same-Day ACH Payments

CSG Forte is the leading payments provider of same-day ACH, supporting over 73,000 merchants. With a best-in-class solution and decades of experience, we deliver a scalable and seamless solution to companies operating in a wide variety of verticals, including integrated software vendors (ISVs), healthcare, property management, government, insurance, enterprises and utility organizations.

Our payments platform can turn what was once an operational expense into a revenue generator through our revenue optimization solutions. Our platform optimizes ACH payments by validating payments in real-time, automatically re-presenting failed payments and keeping recurring payments on track.

Want to learn how you can optimize your ACH payments and take advantage of the rule change? Click here to learn more.

 

 

 

CSG Forte Recognized in Forrester’s Now Tech Payment Report

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Forrester’s Now Tech Merchant Payment Report offers an overview of payment providers to help merchants understand the value of different payment providers—and ultimately help them find a payment provider that can help grow their business. We’re proud that CSG Forte was recognized for our full, end-to-end payments-as-a-platform solution. Additionally, Forrester highlighted CSG Forte’s expertise in the government, home security and business services verticals.

To compile the report, Forrester distributes a questionnaire to the market to identify product capabilities, market presence, geographic focus, and an overview of primary market segments. Equipped with this valuable information, merchants can select a payments partner that best fits their needs.

“To be identified by an industry leader like Forrester is validation of our mission—to make payments simple, safe and scalable,” said CSG Forte’s President Jeff Kump. “Our goal is to tirelessly innovate and simplify payments for our customers. This report is evidence that we’re on the right track and that the best is yet to come.”

 

CSG Forte Product Capabilities

Forrester uses a brief assessment of product capabilities to have a well-rounded group of vendors that span markets and geographies with varying areas of expertise.  Some the key attributes of the CSG Forte platform include:

ACH Processing

As a Nacha preferred partner, CSG Forte is known for its ACH capabilities, including real-time payment processing, ACH/eCheck origination, validation and fraud prevention.

Customizable Convenience Fees

Unlike other payment processors, CSG Forte allows merchants to set convenience fees for their customers in real-time in the payments portal.

Credit Card Processing

CSG Forte’s solution makes it simple to process debit and credit card payments in-person, online and over the phone, and to set up recurring payments.

 

What Makes CSG Forte Different?

In addition to these unique capabilities, CSG Forte also offers several differentiators that benefit our customers:

Revenue optimization—By simplifying the payments process through a unified, end-to-end solution, CSG Forte helps clients grow and optimize their revenue.  With industry-leading ACH processing capabilities, clients are able to receive funds quicker than the traditional credit card process, often receiving funds the same day with Same Day ACH.

Stringent security and compliance—CSG Forte’s solutions implement cutting-edge technology and proven protocols to keep vital information secure. Through tokenization, end-to-end encryption and hosted web pages, CSG Forte allows clients to accept payments securely. Additionally, we offer built-in PCI compliance and Nacha real-time transaction compliance.

Superior support—Navigating the payments landscape can be tricky. CSG Forte simplifies the process with best-in-class client support. With a dedicated support team, comprehensive onboarding resources, a robust knowledge base and regular release notes, CSG Forte makes accepting and processing payments easy.

CSG Forte is proud to be included in Forrester’s Now Tech report. By selecting a vendor from the Now Tech Merchant Payment Report, merchants can improve how they accept and process payments—from supporting new payment methods to reducing fraud and enhancing security and compliance. Click here to read about CSG Forte’s growth into 2022.

Learn how CSG Forte delivers seamless integration through partner network to meet accelerated demand for secure, convenient digital payments.