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30 Apr 2024

The UK’s estimated 7.6 million cyclists are being urged to get on their bikes on Saturday May 4th and head down to their local independent bike shop, as many prepare special activities to...

23 Apr 2024

This May, join the movement to create safer, more bike-friendly streets with the Bike Month Challenge and #MakeEveryRideCount!

23 Apr 2024

The number of reported e-bike thefts doubled in the space of a year in the UK, with a 103% increase in 2023 compared to 2022, according to a study by Evolve E-bikes. While the...

22 Apr 2024

Small shops have been more "agile" at fighting COVID sale slumps than chain stores, according to a new report.

22 Apr 2024

For the first time in its campaign to help the city address escalating lithium-ion battery fires, the Fire Department of New York filed criminal charges against a Brooklyn e-bike shop owner for...

22 Apr 2024

The managing director of Brompton has backed a campaign to introduce stricter e-bike battery regulations in the UK, amid "too many examples of e-bikes, e-scooters and light electric...

15 Apr 2024

The Rediscovery Centre, the National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland, today announced its partnership with Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for...

12 Apr 2024

Just two weeks remain for the UK cycle industry to have its say on the current Government consultation to double the permissible power of e-bikes, and to remove the need for pedalling.

10 Apr 2024

Award-winning cycling business Spokes Bikes has added a new shop in Greenock to existing shop in Bridge of Weir.

9 Apr 2024

Communities across England are to be given access to £101 million of government funding for high-quality walking and cycling routes, improving the quality of local public engagement for...

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Updated guidance on Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

UK Finance have announced that from 1 June 2021 you must be ready to support Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) if your business accepts online card payments.

If your online checkout for card payments does not meet the new legal requirements for SCA, customers may not be able to buy from you.

Strong Customer Authentication is the way your bank or payment services provider verifies your identity or validates a specific payment instruction is changing. These changes are designed to reduce the risk of a fraudster pretending to be you to steal your money. Your customers' checkout experience will be different, they will be required to complete an extra security step to complete the purchase. 

 

What do I need to do now to minimise business disruption?

  1. Contact the organisation responsible for processing your online card payments for help getting ready
  2. Familiarise yourself with SCA and understand the impact on your customers' checkout experience
  3. Update and test your checkout processes well in advance of 1 June 2021 to minimise your customers' online card payments from being declined

The benefits of SCA:

✓ Reduced fraudulent transactions - reducing your losses
✓ Improved customer satisfaction - confidence and loyalty
✓ Shift in liability - from you to your customer's card provider
 

What could happen if I'm not ready?

X Loss of online sales - customers abandoning or being declined at checkout
X Loss of customers - to more secure competitors
X Reduced customer satisfaction - due to increased friction and payments being declined 
 
 

Finding the best card processing service for you

The ACT and ActSmart have partnered with two card processing partners to ensure the we can provide the best solution for all business.
 
We recommend Global Payments for established businesses with medium to high card turnover and Paya Card Services for new and smaller businesses with lower card volumes.
 
To find out more about which service is best for your business please visit the ActSmart site here or ACT site here.

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