Envision this: A loved one spends a couple days in the hospital. During one of your visits, you stop in to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin.

Not long thereafter, however, you find out the hospital’s payment system has been hacked – meaning your personal data is at risk. After going through the headache of safeguarding your accounts with new passwords and maybe new account numbers, a thought strikes.

If the hospital’s payment system isn’t secure, what does that mean for the loved one’s medical records?

They may well be at risk, according to BitSight Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., which recently analyzed S&P 500 stock index companies and concluded that healthcare and pharmaceutical companies rate even worse than retailers when it comes to security performance.

Scary findings included:

• Not only did healthcare and pharma companies fare the worst, but they took the longest amount of time (5.3 days) to fix problems.

• An undisclosed healthcare company was the single-worst performer of the 500 companies reviewed.

• Healthcare companies had the highest percentage of infection with the Conficker worm – even though the malware is well-known, has been around for a long time and is relatively easy to eliminate.

This evidence is concerning, particularly since solutions are readily available.

We’ve been beating the drum for companies of all sorts to invest in a secure and robust commerce platform that offers the benefits of stored value and loyalty programs, among other incentives.

Consider some of these advantages:

Above all else, the FreedomPay Commerce Platform offers organizations the ability to leverage the highest level of payment data security (P2PE). Even better, the system deployment can be customized.

FreedomPay’s technology encrypts data from hardware-to-hardware and eliminates clear-text account data from a merchant’s environment – virtually eradicating the risk for malware to infect software and putting the merchant’s POS and network 100 percent out of scope for PCI compliance.

Meantime, companies can improve their speed of service and increase customer satisfaction. The importance of efficiency can never be understated, especially in a fast-paced environment such as healthcare.

And it reduces the time and resources spent handling cash, which can be significant. The opportunity to use mobile payment apps also is there.

Considering the tidal wave of hacking stories appearing each week, how can this not make sense (and dollars and cents)?

To learn more about how the FreedomPay Commerce Platform can fit your needs, please contact us.

When people think about changes in the food service industry, their first thoughts are probably about the latest food trends, such as the interest in gluten-free diets or the ramen noodle craze.

But behind the scenes, technology is taking the industry by storm – all in the name of increasing consumer convenience and minimizing disruptions. From kiosks and tablet-based menus, to online and mobile ordering features, companies must enlist the best technology to meet the needs of demanding customers, tight margins and fierce competition.

Contract food service organizations can keep pace with innovation and deliver the best customer experience possible by investing in a secure and robust commerce platform that offers the benefits of stored value and loyalty programs, as well as healthy eating and wellness incentives.

What are some of the advantages of a multi-functional commerce platform for contract food service?

First and foremost, the FreedomPay Commerce Platform offers organizations the ability to leverage the highest level of payment data security (PCI certified P2PE), while customizing the system deployment to meet their needs.

FreedomPay’s technology encrypts data from hardware-to-hardware and eliminates clear-text account data from a merchant’s environment – virtually eradicating the risk for malware to infect software and putting the merchant’s POS and network 100 percent out of scope for PCI compliance.

Given the security issues that are regularly bedeviling online and brick-and-mortar retailers, it makes sense to have state-of-the-art protection.

In addition, companies can improve their speed of service and increase customer satisfaction. As always, time is money – and the faster customers are served, the better their experience, which increases the likelihood they return (and spend more) in the future. The importance of efficiency can never be understated.

Meantime, it reduces the time and resources spent handling cash, which can be significant. The opportunity to use mobile payment apps is there as well.

And a multi-functional commerce platform can drive higher spending through wellness programs that offer incentives. For example, via the platform a provider can offer redeemable points for dollars spent – with more points awarded for those who select healthy offerings.

Considering the rising cost of health insurance, companies are looking for ways to improve the well-being of their employees. Through this platform, you can make that salad look like a better option that the cheeseburger.

We’re just scratching the surface here of the possible benefits food service organizations can gain from a multi-functional commerce platform. Contact us with any questions you might have about how we can customize our platform to meet your unique needs.

There’s a lot of talk these days – and an equal amount of confusion – about payment data security topics such as PCI compliance, point-to-point-encryption (P2PE), EMV and NFC, among others.

Few seem to understand the various solutions on the market – and fewer still can explain what they can and cannot do.

And given the ever-increasing number of significant hacker cases impacting major organizations, now is not the time for any company to look the other way when it comes to security issues. Considering the amount of personal data held, healthcare companies have extra incentive to be both well informed and properly protected.

That’s why FreedomPay is hosting a webinar entitled “Separating fact from fiction: How to keep your payment data secure” from 2-3 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 12.

This webinar will separate the facts from the fiction when it comes to payment data security issues. Join us for an in-depth look at what products are available and what they mean for you and your environment.

FreedomPay Vice President, Solution Sales Paul Guidone will host the webinar.

To register for the webinar, visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5478560036083549185.