FileMaker is arguably the easiest database to use on the planet. Anybody, regardless of their programming or database experience can pick FileMaker up and build a database.
This has always been FileMaker's greatest strength. People who use FileMaker typically do not want to move away from FileMaker because of the usability features that are inherent in the application. The fact that it's a cross platform solution that runs on both Mac and Windows is an added bonus.
Of course, every database platform has its advantages and disadvantages. Typically the trade off for ease of use is power. As an application grows more powerful, it also becomes more complicated. FileMaker has maintained it's ease of use for the last 20 years! But, to maintain that ease of use, it has sacrificed the power that some of FileMaker's competitors have. It is the standard trade off - most database vendors choose power over ease of use. FileMaker distinguishes itself by choosing ease of use over power.
The disadvantage of that philosophy is that, while it's extremely easy to use, more complex tasks become very difficult. For example, if a company is using FileMaker and they would like to add real time credit card acceptance or real time ACH acceptance, it is not an easy undertaking. It is difficult to integrate, and costly to setup.
NELiX TransaX has changed all of that! With the latest release of NELiX TransaX FleXPort (http://blog.nelixtransax.com/2008/10/nelix-transax-flexport-20-press-release.html), we have included sample FileMaker databases that show how easy it is to integrate payment processing within FileMaker! These examples work seamlessly with the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway. FileMaker developers can easily copy and paste our scripts and calculations into their customers database and have real time payment processing setup with in minutes!
Best of all it is free! Any customers who use the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway have access to this FileMaker integration example with full documentation without any costs.
This represents something extremely powerful for developers! It adds more tools in their arsenal when delivering solutions to their customers, which will generate more developer dollars. A partnership with NELiX TransaX will generate another stream of revenue for developers. Additionally, real time payment processing will save their customers time and money!
For more information, visit http://www.transaxdevelopers.com/filemaker
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
NELiX TransaX FleXPort 2.0 Press Release
NELiX TransaX LLC, based in Schaumburg IL, has made life a little easier for FileMaker developers.
Several Months ago, NELiX TransaX, LLC released the NELiX TransaX FleXPort Toolkit. This toolkit contains documentation and a suite of examples to assist developers with integrating payment processing (credit card and ACH acceptance) within the applications they build.
"Our goal has always been to make the lives of our partners easier. The NELiX TransaX FleXPort toolkit allows a developer to simply cut, paste, tweak code and voila - their system will support payment processing." says Adam O'Hare, Vice President of NELiX TransaX, LLC, "And now FileMaker developers will also be able to take advantage of the toolkit."
With the release of NELiX TransaX FleXPort 2.0, we have added FileMaker support. The tool now comes with documentation and examples for FileMaker integration. FileMaker's ease of use is unsurpassed, but setting up a FileMaker database to allow real time credit card or ACH acceptance is very difficult and costly. Not anymore! With NELiX TransaX FleXPort, FileMaker developers can simply cut and paste from our examples, and then modify the scripts and calculations to meet their needs. Best of all, these tools are free for customers who use the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway!
The NELiX TransaX FleXPort Toolkit includes documentation and example integrations for:
- VB.NET 1.1
- VB.NET 2.0
- C#
- Classic ASP
- Microsoft Access
- PHP
- Ruby
- 4D/4th Dimension
- FileMaker
The examples support all features available in the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway - powerful features such as merchant defined fields, recurring billing, strong fraud prevention tools, and the "Customer
Vault".
"The response has been tremendous," according to Matt Schwartz, President and CEO of NELiX TransaX. "Our tools provide new options that developers can bring to their clients, which results in increased development dollars. Additionally, we help developers establish a new revenue stream. Best of all, we can help their customers save time and money."
Information about NELiX TransaX
Information on NELiX TransaX FleXPort
Information on FileMaker credit card/ach integration
Several Months ago, NELiX TransaX, LLC released the NELiX TransaX FleXPort Toolkit. This toolkit contains documentation and a suite of examples to assist developers with integrating payment processing (credit card and ACH acceptance) within the applications they build.
"Our goal has always been to make the lives of our partners easier. The NELiX TransaX FleXPort toolkit allows a developer to simply cut, paste, tweak code and voila - their system will support payment processing." says Adam O'Hare, Vice President of NELiX TransaX, LLC, "And now FileMaker developers will also be able to take advantage of the toolkit."
With the release of NELiX TransaX FleXPort 2.0, we have added FileMaker support. The tool now comes with documentation and examples for FileMaker integration. FileMaker's ease of use is unsurpassed, but setting up a FileMaker database to allow real time credit card or ACH acceptance is very difficult and costly. Not anymore! With NELiX TransaX FleXPort, FileMaker developers can simply cut and paste from our examples, and then modify the scripts and calculations to meet their needs. Best of all, these tools are free for customers who use the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway!
The NELiX TransaX FleXPort Toolkit includes documentation and example integrations for:
- VB.NET 1.1
- VB.NET 2.0
- C#
- Classic ASP
- Microsoft Access
- PHP
- Ruby
- 4D/4th Dimension
- FileMaker
The examples support all features available in the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway - powerful features such as merchant defined fields, recurring billing, strong fraud prevention tools, and the "Customer
Vault".
"The response has been tremendous," according to Matt Schwartz, President and CEO of NELiX TransaX. "Our tools provide new options that developers can bring to their clients, which results in increased development dollars. Additionally, we help developers establish a new revenue stream. Best of all, we can help their customers save time and money."
Information about NELiX TransaX
Information on NELiX TransaX FleXPort
Information on FileMaker credit card/ach integration
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Merchant Cash Advance to the Rescue!
These are scary times! The real estate market has bottomed out. Gas prices, groceries and just about everything else is getting more expensive by the day. Massive organizations are dying. The Stock Market is going crazy - it's up, it's down, it's up, it's down. What will happen next?
One of the biggest issues facing businesses across the nation is the credit crunch. Lending has dried up. It is just impossible to get capital! How is a business owner able to raise the funds they need to run their business if no lending institution has the funds to lend?
Luckily, there is a vehicle that can help! Most business owners are not aware of the merchant cash advance option. If you have been processing credit card payments for more than 6 months, you can receive a cash advance of up to 150% of your average monthly volume. Process $10K per month? You can get $15K. Process 30K per month? You can get $45K! Process $100K per month? You can get $150K! And you have the money within a week!
It's a fantastic vehicle for getting capital when no other options exist. The cash advance program is a purchase of future processing. It's not a loan! There are many advantages:
One of the biggest issues facing businesses across the nation is the credit crunch. Lending has dried up. It is just impossible to get capital! How is a business owner able to raise the funds they need to run their business if no lending institution has the funds to lend?
Luckily, there is a vehicle that can help! Most business owners are not aware of the merchant cash advance option. If you have been processing credit card payments for more than 6 months, you can receive a cash advance of up to 150% of your average monthly volume. Process $10K per month? You can get $15K. Process 30K per month? You can get $45K! Process $100K per month? You can get $150K! And you have the money within a week!
It's a fantastic vehicle for getting capital when no other options exist. The cash advance program is a purchase of future processing. It's not a loan! There are many advantages:
- No personal guarantee or collateral needed.
- The money advanced does not appear on your credit report.
- It is a variable payment based on your credit card processing that month - have a bad month? You pay less that month!
- There are no stipulations on what the money is spent on! Add a new oven, renovate your office, hire more people, pay payroll, by a yacht! It doesn't matter.
In these trying times, the merchant Cash Advance program could be a life saver! More information on the NELiX TransaX Merchant Cash Advance program.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
70%
70% is the percentage of all payment processing decisions that are made by a merchants technology advisers.
That is a statistic that I heard at ETA this past summer. I always knew that the technology staff/vendor played a key role in determining who a merchant processes with, but I never realized just how large that role was until hearing that number.
When you think about it further, it makes sense. When a retailer purchases a point of sale system, who will they ask about merchant accounts? The point of sale vendor or integrator. When an online merchant setups a shopping cart, or builds an e-commerce enabled website, who will they ask about payment gateways and merchant accounts? The web developer. When a company must process payments from within their enterprise system, who will they ask? The software vendor or developer.
Most technology people don't understand the impact of this fact. When the vendor, developer or integrator refers their clients to a payment processing partner, they are making an extremely important decision for both the client and the vendor, developer or integrator themselves. For the vendors, developers and integrators, this is a key point. Depending on which gateway they choose, they will be arming themselves with a tool set that they can use to better serve their clients. This results in increased business for the vendors, developers and integrators. It also allows clients to make the most out of their payment processing automation.
NELiX TransaX recognizes the importance of the IT community in the payment processing arena and welcomes partnerships. Learn more about becoming a partner with NELiX TransaX.
That is a statistic that I heard at ETA this past summer. I always knew that the technology staff/vendor played a key role in determining who a merchant processes with, but I never realized just how large that role was until hearing that number.
When you think about it further, it makes sense. When a retailer purchases a point of sale system, who will they ask about merchant accounts? The point of sale vendor or integrator. When an online merchant setups a shopping cart, or builds an e-commerce enabled website, who will they ask about payment gateways and merchant accounts? The web developer. When a company must process payments from within their enterprise system, who will they ask? The software vendor or developer.
Most technology people don't understand the impact of this fact. When the vendor, developer or integrator refers their clients to a payment processing partner, they are making an extremely important decision for both the client and the vendor, developer or integrator themselves. For the vendors, developers and integrators, this is a key point. Depending on which gateway they choose, they will be arming themselves with a tool set that they can use to better serve their clients. This results in increased business for the vendors, developers and integrators. It also allows clients to make the most out of their payment processing automation.
NELiX TransaX recognizes the importance of the IT community in the payment processing arena and welcomes partnerships. Learn more about becoming a partner with NELiX TransaX.
Monday, October 6, 2008
PCI Compliance - Storing Credit Cards in an Application
I frequently see the question posed in various forums and community sites on how to maintain PCI Compliance within a software application.
For example - "If my customer processes credit cards out of the system I built for them, how do I have to store the credit cards to be compliant? Do they need to be encrypted, double encrypted - double encrypted with an encrypted key, etc"
Let's face it - it's a scary world out there when you hand your credit card information over to a complete stranger. With all of the SQL Injection Attacks, Cross Site Scripting Attacks, Root Kits, Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, etc - it seems like there are many opportunities for a hacker to compromise a system. Additionally, we hear horror stories about identity theft every day, with systems being compromised left and right and massive amounts of personal data being stolen.
Add to that the hefty fines levied by Visa and Mastercard should a breach occur and card numbers get compromised - fines heavy enough to put any small or medium merchant out of business - it almost makes a merchant not want to store those credit cards.
So, what's the answer? The answer is to NOT store the credit cards in the application. By storing the cards, the merchant puts themselves at great risk. The NELiX TransaX gateway has a feature called the "Customer Vault". The Vault allows a merchant to process an initial transaction, and return a Vault ID. The Vault ID is then stored in the database. The credit card info used to run the initial transaction is discarded. Any subsequent transactions can then be run against the Vault ID without having to recollect the credit card information.
This process allows merchants to be clear of the liability of storing credit cards, whether encrypted or not. The cards are stored in the PCI compliant gateway. The liability is on us, not the merchant. Storing credit cards in general is a bad practice, and should be avoided at all costs.
More information the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway
More information on PCI Compliance
For example - "If my customer processes credit cards out of the system I built for them, how do I have to store the credit cards to be compliant? Do they need to be encrypted, double encrypted - double encrypted with an encrypted key, etc"
Let's face it - it's a scary world out there when you hand your credit card information over to a complete stranger. With all of the SQL Injection Attacks, Cross Site Scripting Attacks, Root Kits, Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, etc - it seems like there are many opportunities for a hacker to compromise a system. Additionally, we hear horror stories about identity theft every day, with systems being compromised left and right and massive amounts of personal data being stolen.
Add to that the hefty fines levied by Visa and Mastercard should a breach occur and card numbers get compromised - fines heavy enough to put any small or medium merchant out of business - it almost makes a merchant not want to store those credit cards.
So, what's the answer? The answer is to NOT store the credit cards in the application. By storing the cards, the merchant puts themselves at great risk. The NELiX TransaX gateway has a feature called the "Customer Vault". The Vault allows a merchant to process an initial transaction, and return a Vault ID. The Vault ID is then stored in the database. The credit card info used to run the initial transaction is discarded. Any subsequent transactions can then be run against the Vault ID without having to recollect the credit card information.
This process allows merchants to be clear of the liability of storing credit cards, whether encrypted or not. The cards are stored in the PCI compliant gateway. The liability is on us, not the merchant. Storing credit cards in general is a bad practice, and should be avoided at all costs.
More information the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway
More information on PCI Compliance
Thursday, October 2, 2008
4D Payment Processing Integration
It always amazes me when I see a merchant who uses a enterprise wide database system to manage all of the processes for their business, but then goes to a swipe terminal to manually punch in credit card numbers when a new order comes in via fax or phone.
I was at a customer's office the other day and they had this exact scenario. They were using a 4th Dimension database system (commonly referred to as 4D) and did not even realize that processing payments directly out of their system was possible.
We brought up this possibility, and needless to say, they were ecstatic! The problem is that most developers don't know that this can be done or, if they do, they do not know how to accomplish it. In the 4D world, there are few companies out there with the knowledge needed to integrate the custom developed system with a payment processing system.
NELiX TransaX has made this easy! We have the sample code in 4D / 4th Dimension available for anybody to see. The sample integrates with the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway to perform Credit Card, Debit Card and ACH (e-check) transactions.
You can download the code on our 4D Credit Card/ACH Integration page!
We have the same code in many programming languages - VB.NET, C#, Classic ASP, Microsoft Access, RUBY, PHP, etc. These examples can be found NELiX TranasaX FleXPort page.
I was at a customer's office the other day and they had this exact scenario. They were using a 4th Dimension database system (commonly referred to as 4D) and did not even realize that processing payments directly out of their system was possible.
We brought up this possibility, and needless to say, they were ecstatic! The problem is that most developers don't know that this can be done or, if they do, they do not know how to accomplish it. In the 4D world, there are few companies out there with the knowledge needed to integrate the custom developed system with a payment processing system.
NELiX TransaX has made this easy! We have the sample code in 4D / 4th Dimension available for anybody to see. The sample integrates with the NELiX TransaX Payment Gateway to perform Credit Card, Debit Card and ACH (e-check) transactions.
You can download the code on our 4D Credit Card/ACH Integration page!
We have the same code in many programming languages - VB.NET, C#, Classic ASP, Microsoft Access, RUBY, PHP, etc. These examples can be found NELiX TranasaX FleXPort page.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Case Study: Banks and Programmers Don't Connect
At NELiX TransaX, we regularly encounter scenarios where computer programmers have trouble servicing clients in the area of payment processing. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but it presents two big problems for developers:
1. Integrating payment processing is problematic
2. Developers don't make any residuals income after the project is done.
NELiX TransaX can correct both of these issues. Check out this recent case study as it may relate directly to you.
Developer profile:
Expertise in all major programming languages and database types
Creates custom applications, both web and LAN based
Maintains/Modifies existing softwares
Referred clients to PayPal, Authorize.net, etc. for payment processing
Project:
Developing online purchasing system. Client uses QuickBooks for accounting.
Project Problems:
1. Gateway integration – limited options, bad documentation, and processor doesn’t understand programming
2. Security – client couldn’t operate without storing card holder data, not PCI compliant, gateway didn’t have good solution
3. Testing Support – developer couldn’t access the client’s gateway account to see transaction responses during testing
4. Data Management – client couldn’t export transaction data from gateway into QuickBooks. Manual, double entry was only way to update revenue accounts.
5. Opportunity Cost – developer spent too much time on integration, lost profit margin on project. Processor didn’t pay developer residuals on processing, lost out on future revenue.
Solution:
Partnership with NELIX TransaX
NELiX TransaX is the only payment processing provider, a fully registered ISO of Visa and MasterCard, whose founders came from the application development world. We have a team of programmers on staff who fully understand what you do, your daily processes, and the pains of custom development. We’ve been there ourselves and we are here to help!
NELiX TransaX has a suite of developer tools to make your life easier. Our payment gateway has several integration options, sample code in major and niche technologies, and thorough documentation. The NELiX TransaX Customer Vault allows you to store card holder information in our PCI compliant system so that you and your clients don’t have to worry about security. We have QuickBooks file exports to pull transaction data from our system on demand and our agent level controls keep you in touch with all of your clients accounts.
Best of all, we will pay you! Stop giving money away to PayPal! By partnering with us, you will earn ongoing, residual commission on all payment gateway accounts, credit card processing accounts, ACH accounts, and more. You can add value to your clients, make your programming life easier, and gain a new stream of income.
Interested in learning more? Contact NELiX TransaX today:
Call our professional Business Development Managers at 866-513-1547
E-Mail sales@nelixtransax.com
Register online
NELiX® TransaX LLC is a registered ISO/MSP of BancorpSouth Bank, Tupelo, MS.
NELiX® is a registered trademark of NELiX, Inc.
1. Integrating payment processing is problematic
2. Developers don't make any residuals income after the project is done.
NELiX TransaX can correct both of these issues. Check out this recent case study as it may relate directly to you.
Developer profile:
Expertise in all major programming languages and database types
Creates custom applications, both web and LAN based
Maintains/Modifies existing softwares
Referred clients to PayPal, Authorize.net, etc. for payment processing
Project:
Developing online purchasing system. Client uses QuickBooks for accounting.
Project Problems:
1. Gateway integration – limited options, bad documentation, and processor doesn’t understand programming
2. Security – client couldn’t operate without storing card holder data, not PCI compliant, gateway didn’t have good solution
3. Testing Support – developer couldn’t access the client’s gateway account to see transaction responses during testing
4. Data Management – client couldn’t export transaction data from gateway into QuickBooks. Manual, double entry was only way to update revenue accounts.
5. Opportunity Cost – developer spent too much time on integration, lost profit margin on project. Processor didn’t pay developer residuals on processing, lost out on future revenue.
Solution:
Partnership with NELIX TransaX
NELiX TransaX is the only payment processing provider, a fully registered ISO of Visa and MasterCard, whose founders came from the application development world. We have a team of programmers on staff who fully understand what you do, your daily processes, and the pains of custom development. We’ve been there ourselves and we are here to help!
NELiX TransaX has a suite of developer tools to make your life easier. Our payment gateway has several integration options, sample code in major and niche technologies, and thorough documentation. The NELiX TransaX Customer Vault allows you to store card holder information in our PCI compliant system so that you and your clients don’t have to worry about security. We have QuickBooks file exports to pull transaction data from our system on demand and our agent level controls keep you in touch with all of your clients accounts.
Best of all, we will pay you! Stop giving money away to PayPal! By partnering with us, you will earn ongoing, residual commission on all payment gateway accounts, credit card processing accounts, ACH accounts, and more. You can add value to your clients, make your programming life easier, and gain a new stream of income.
Interested in learning more? Contact NELiX TransaX today:
Call our professional Business Development Managers at 866-513-1547
E-Mail sales@nelixtransax.com
Register online
NELiX® TransaX LLC is a registered ISO/MSP of BancorpSouth Bank, Tupelo, MS.
NELiX® is a registered trademark of NELiX, Inc.
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