Copper Cellar Turns to Tokenization, Payment Gateway for Data Security
The Copper Cellar Corporation, which owns and operates 19 Copper Cellar,
Calhoun's, Smoky Mountain Brewery, Cherokee Grill and Chesapeake's restaurants,
recently installed TransactionVault,
Merchant
Link's tokenization solution, and
the Merchant Link Payment Gateway across all of their locations in Knoxville,
Nashville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Maryville and Lenoir City.
The company chose to utilize these solutions to safeguard customers’ sensitive
payment data and remove it from the premise to ensure that it is transmitted
safely and effectively, while reducing their PCI DSS compliance footprint.
"It's comforting to not have to worry about the security of our guests' credit
card information," says Mike Gaston, vice president of information services for
Copper Cellar Corporation. "The fact that it is not stored anywhere on our
network is a huge relief."
The Merchant Link Payment Gateway sends payments quickly, while detecting and
correcting errors along the way. It ensures funds are delivered accurately and
consistently, prevents expensive chargeback fees and reduces clerk or system
errors and prevents them from showing up on customer credit statements.
TransactionVault removes customer credit card data at the point of sale where it
would be at risk from hackers. The data is instead stored in Merchant Link's
hosted "vault," effectively securing "data at rest" and reducing the cost and
effort of attaining and maintaining PCI compliance.
Double posted batches eliminated
The Copper Cellar Corporation utilizes a Squirrel point-of-sale (POS) system for
customer payments. Their previous payment processor and data security solution
created problems for them by posting batches twice. Merchant Link's full suite
of reporting and error detection tools help to eliminate failed batch attempts,
duplicate batches or no settlement attempts.
"Our old processor had double posted batches before," said Gaston. "Despite not
being directly responsible for the error, it made us look bad in the eyes of our
guests. Merchant Link monitors for potential batch issues and ensures that
problems such as these are a thing of the past for Copper Cellar, its
restaurants and its customers."
The wide-scale implementation was completed shortly after a pilot site went live
successfully with Merchant Link's solutions.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood Latest to Jump on Smartphone
App Bandwagon
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida has teamed up
with
MacroView Labs to develop mobile applications for the
iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and other smartphones, that will serve as a mobile
concierge, area tour guide, casino handbook, and social media hub - all rolled
into one.
“Our new mobile applications are a fun and easy way for our guests and customers
to explore all that the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood has to offer - right from
their mobile device,” says Jeanine Repa, senior vice president of brand
marketing for Seminole Gaming. “Whether they are already at the Seminole Hard
Rock, or if they’re planning a visit, our mobile apps offer users from virtually
anywhere, and at any time, the ability to access the information that they need
for their stay.”
An innovative and unique feature for the South Florida market is the Quick
Response (QR) code. QR codes allow mobile users to snap a picture of the code
using their phone’s camera, and using a QR code reader, can be automatically
redirected to a website, receive additional information, connect to a wireless
network, and other functions. The Android operating system has a built-in QR
code scanner called ZXing on many models, and the iPhone Apple iOS operating
system offers many free QR code reader apps.
Sample application features include:
- Shows, attractions and amenities: Check
out Hard Rock Live listings to grab tickets to world-class shows. Browse through
top shopping, reserve some pampering time at the Spa, or view memorabilia
featuring old and new music
- Rooms and suites: Set the
stage for unsurpassed rock star indulgence! Preview the guest rooms then book a
stay using special offers and packages
- The casino: Review the rules
to different games, register for poker tournaments, and get your game on.
- Restaurants, clubs and lounges: Want
to check out a menu or make a reservation at one of our restaurants? Curious to
see what celebs and DJs are appearing at Seminole Paradise nightclubs? It’s all
here.
- Maps: Use detailed property
maps to navigate the resort or access overhead custom GPS maps of the casino,
hotel, and the surrounding area. You can even drop a pin onto the satellite map
to remember where you parked.
- In-app search: Use the
embedded smart-search bar to find content by keyword.
- My Hard Rock: Whether you want
to bookmark information about our attractions or remember the number to the
business center, you can save any page to create your own itinerary.
- Meetings: Event attendees can
see private, passkey-protected content only accessible to registered guests.
They can access up-to-the-minute event schedules, programs and materials,
speaker bios, break-out room agendas, convention maps and more.
- Order room service – anywhere: Experience
rock star treatment firsthand! Order room service when you’re still in the cab,
playing blackjack or swimming. We’ll bring it to your room so that it’s ready
when you are.
- Full-service directory: Need
to contact the box office? The front desk? The Rock Shop? Get connected,
instantly.
- Offline mode: Lost cell tower
and WiFi access? No problem. The app will automatically go into offline mode so
that you can continue to browse certain content and features until your
connectivity resumes.
- Feedback surveys: Let your
voice be heard – comment about the app and your experience at Hard Rock, or rate
any of the featured services.
- Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and tell-a-friend integration: Stay in touch and update the world
right from the app.
Additionally, in the future, guests will be able to link to videos, discounts
and additional property advertisements.
UK Domino's Customers Pay for Pizza with PayPal
Domino’s is making ordering a pizza online even
quicker and easier by linking up with PayPal. Following customer feedback,
Domino’s has launched
PayPal as its newest payment method for
pizza. Customers in the UK simply need to log in to their PayPal account once
they’ve placed their pizza order, enabling them to pay just by entering their
e-mail address and password. PayPal is free to use on all Domino’s orders.
“Online orders account for an increasingly large proportion of our sales and as
part of this, we are continually looking for ways to improve the process and
make it even more user-friendly,” says Simon Wallis, sales and marketing
director for Domino’s. “Our customers and Facebook fans told us they wanted an
easier way to pay – we listened to them and we’re now pleased to introduce
PayPal, which is fast, safe and secure. It’s great to be able to offer our
customers the option of using PayPal to pay for pizza in just a couple of
clicks.”
