Sage 100

Has anyone had to yet address clients who are currently using PCCharge, but don't want to switch to SPS as their Merchant once the client decides to upgrade to v2013+? Is it basically a ""too bad"". via @WayneSchulz CREDIT CARD PROCESSING POWERED BY PCCHARGE The Credit Card Processing module powered by PCCharge Payment Server will retire as of December 31, 2012, and will not be compatible with the Sage 100 ERP 2013 release. Sage will no longer provide Customer Support for any versions of Credit Card Processing by PCCharge after December 31, 2012. We strongly recommend that customers running on older releases switch to Sage Payment Solutions for their Credit Card Processing and obtain a Sage Payment Solutions merchant account prior to upgrading to Sage 100 ERP 2013. Without a Sage Payment Solutions merchant account, integrated credit card processing cannot occur. November 6 at 6:46 pmfrom iPhone

Well, we have one customer using PC Charge who has applied - twice - for SPS and been denied. Our SPS rep says they may finally consider them from an underwriting standpoint....

Are they like one of Wayne's clients who sells certain types of movies and other ""adult"" items?

No, they are an organic products company - shampoos, lotions, etc. Apparently, if it says anti-aging, it is considered 'risky'.

That's interesting though. So lets fast-forward to after v2013 has been released. Will they just automatically have to approve a Sage 100 client?

Gotta love the cc industry. They can pretty much do whatever the hell they want.

No, they may still not approve them - they will just NOT have an integrated cc system. That's my understanding.

They are SOL. I have had several conversations with Erika Jelovsek at Sage and our rep at SPS regarding our clients who are either in denied industries or have all-inclusive banking relationships. For the primary reason of PCI-DSS compliance, Sage Exchange will be the only option. Lately, SPS pricing has been getting whipped by competitors and we've gotten a couple of complaints. Fortunately SPS has re-priced to keep the business.

I spotted a note in SWK's channel email (via Patti Benitez ) where they seemed to say that POS will have some mechanism to continue using PC Charge but that it wasn't ready (yes big surprise right). They seemed to imply that their PC Charge workaround would indeed store cards outside the software. I queried Patti and I got several evasive replies about whether this type of PC Charge support might be rolled out for non POS modules. The issue is - as you all know - that the removal of credit card info from the Sage 100 software means any third party has to retain that data outside of Sage 100 or they will NOT be in PCI Compliance. That raises all sorts of security flags and the likely need for third parties to undergo a PCI compliance audit as well as take on not only security risks but have a data center with very high uptime. Overall I'm not sure Sage is playing this any differently than the competition. I don't know if Intuit allows for integration to QuickBooks - at least not at that closest levels that would write data directly to the Intuit files.

This is going to be a tough thing for developers to write around. I would think that the better way to go for a 3rd party is perhaps to sell an enhancement which stores the data locally (outside of Sage 100 ERP) at the customer (if that's even possible) and was PCI certified.

Organic"". I think I know why they were declined.

Wayne, I think something like that may be the only work around.

Anyone who thinks clients will limp along without an integrated credit card system is in for a surprise. Competitors are going to capitalize on this opportunity in short order. CEO's/CFO's that embrace a relationship with a software publisher that controls credit card access and prohibits reasonable alternatives should begin updating their resume.

It's called lock-in. And I agree with Mark - it's a bullshit move by Sage and they're gambling that customers with lots of data in the system won't be going anywhere soon. I'm not sure that the executives at Sage really gave this much thought other than looking at the spreadsheet cost benefit. If they loose 1% of customers and gain 10% revenue - they've probably modeled that as an acceptable risk. These guys are all reporting to UK and their jobs depend upon revenue growth not exceptional customer service.

You're right but I think they're beginning I care less and less about customers who aren't using Sage's services.

Yes - it's management by spreadsheet and risk assumption. How many customers will leave if we change. How many customers will buy if we direct sell.

And this all goes back to @MarkChinsky who was the first I remember to correctly bring to all of our attention that Sage is a holding company now versus a technology company.