Author Archives: Mary Sauers

You’ve probably heard of people stealing, buying, and selling credit card information.  You don’t want your business to be the victim of such a transaction. But on any given day, your small business is now vulnerable.

The cardholder’s issuing bank previously took care of these situations.  Previously.

That’s the way it used to be.  Now your small business could be the one that is liable–not the issuer.  Starting October 1, the rules changed for Europay, Mastercard and VISA (EMV) cards.  Now, there are “chip cards”, and U.S. credit card companies set October as the deadline for the national adoption of their new chip cards.  So, if you have not integrated EMV technology that processes chip cards, your business will now become financially responsible for fraudulent transactions previously covered by the cardholder’s issuing bank.

Why are credit card companies taking this route?  Roughly 90 percent of credit card terminals in Europe are chip-enabled.  According to Barclays, the United Kingdom has seen nearly a 70 percent decline in counterfeit card transactions since making the transition. Meanwhile, America has 25 percent of the world’s credit card use, but 50 percent of the world’s credit card fraud,  and that’s enough reason for card companies to demand a shift from antiquated swipe-and-sign to microchips on credit cards.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is concerned that many U. S. entrepreneurs are still in the dark about this change.  It is estimated that about 20 percent of our nation’s payment terminals are currently equipped to accept chip cards, but most of these are at larger retailers. This means the majority of America’s small businesses will need to upgrade their payment systems as soon as possible. Depending on the cost of the goods and services that a small business sells, being held liable for fraudulent card use could have serious financial consequences.

Most small businesses can’t afford their own fraud departments and definitely can’t afford to be behind the curve while large competitors move forward with technology upgrades. That’s why the SBA has partnered with Square to educate small businesses about how to increase your payment security and to protect cardholder information. Visit the SBA website www.sba.gov/emv to read all about the change to EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) cards and what you need to do. You can learn how to prevent risk and protect both you and  your customers against credit card fraud and the liability that comes along with it.

Reprinted from SBA Nebraska District Office news release received October 19, 2015.

A live training webinar, “Marketplace.cms.gov: The Official Marketplace Information Source for Assisters and Outreach Partners,” will be presented on Thursday, November 12, 2015.

Register today for “Marketplace.cms.gov: The Official Marketplace Information Source for Assisters and Outreach Partners”

• Start time: 2 p.m. (Eastern)
• Duration:  60 minutes
• Speakers:
  • Maria Everette, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Content Manager, Marketplace.cms.gov
  • Valerie Perkins, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Writer, Marketplace Consumer Products
• Learning outcomes: Marketplace.cms.gov is the official online Marketplace resource for assisters and outreach partners. During this webinar, CMS staff will present an overview of the information that’s available on Marketplace.cms.gov. The site provides information about assister programs and tools to help existing and new Health Insurance Marketplace consumers. The presentation will highlight the outreach and education section of the website, where users will find materials for consumers, resources for presentations, and promotional tools. The webinar will include a walkthrough of the site.
• Expected level of knowledge for participants: No prerequisite knowledge required.

The webinar is free, but registration is required. Upon registering, a confirmation email will be sent to you. This registration confirmation email includes the instructions for joining the webinar.

Registration confirmations will be sent from sqldba @ icohere.com. To ensure delivery of registration confirmations, registrants should configure junk mail or spam filter(s) to permit messages from that email address. If you do not receive the confirmation, please notify GPO.

GPO’s eLearning platform presents webinars using WebEx. In order to attend or present at a GPO-hosted webinar, a WebEx plug-in must be installed in your internet browser(s). Download instructions.

Visit FDLP Academy for access to FDLP educational and training resources. All are encouraged to share and re-post information about this free training opportunity with others.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today that it has awarded $100,000 to GROW Nebraska for projects promoting the development, success, and long-term survival of Native American firms eligible for assistance under the SBA’s 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance Program.  Project funding is provided by SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs.

The SBA grant program announcement sought unique and innovative proposals to provide specialized training, executive education, and tools to promote business development of Native American small businesses.  This funding will help to address some of the challenges Native American firms and other 7(j) eligible firms face, including teaming with other businesses; mastering the process of federal contracting; and reversing declines and re-energizing small businesses.

GROW Nebraska will work with partners Lakota Hope and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) Extension to capitalize on the talents and interests of entrepreneurs on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and in the Whiteclay, Neb., area to create a group of entrepreneurs who work together and support each other as they build scalable small businesses that will generate a livable income for the business owner and his/her family, create jobs, and have a positive impact on Reservation residents.  With this grant, GROW Nebraska, Lakota Hope and UNL Extension will create an innovative, entrepreneur-focused program that builds and supports a powerful business strategy for each participant involved in the program.

To learn more about the SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs, please visit www.sba.gov/naa.