If you’re like most retail or restaurant merchants, you’re probably frequently approached by charities or civic organizations asking for donations. Here at A-AAccess, we are proud to support community groups, but we know how nice it is to get a little love in return. Here’s a win-win approach to charitable donations that you might appreciate.

The next time a charitable organization asks for a donation, propose a partnership instead of a handout. Create a special week for the organization, track referrals with a short form (be sure to ask for their email address!), and at the end of the week, donate a percentage of all of the referral sales to the organization.

Looking for a powerful yet affordable point of sale solution for your restaurant? The A-AAccess Restaurant Solution, an all-in-one point of sale system, will help you streamline your restaurant management and boost profits.

The A-AAccess Restaurant Solution allows restaurant owners to:
• Process guest checks, track tips and turn tables faster
• Boost sales with discounts, special meal combos and other promotions
Read More

Alert: a new form of credit card fraud has been targeting merchants across the country. Using sophisticated electronic attacks, criminals hack into merchant accounts and run transactions that look like normal transactions, but are actually refunds run onto credit cards issued by banks in Russia.

Unlike scams that involve a merchant being contacted with an unusual request by phone, these attacks are occurring without merchants ever being contacted. By the time that a merchant typically notices a security breach, their merchant account has already been charged hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Retail merchants, are you still dealing with holiday returns? Retail consultant Doug Fleener has a great idea for turning returns into additional sales.

Check it out at The Retail Contrarian blog.

Fraud alert: Thieves have been targeting the point of sale equipment at self-service checkout lines at supermarkets. California grocer Save Mart Supermarkets has reported breaches at 20 of its stores.

According to a Save Mart statement, tampered card-readers were found during routine maintenance at self-service checkout lanes in 19 Lucky Supermarkets locations and one Save Mart store.