Restaurant And Hospitality IT News For VARs — March 24, 2014
In the news, a federal court of appeals up held the 21-cent debit swipe fee ruling. Also, the PCI Compliance Guide warns restaurants they can be targets for hackers.
Debit Swipe Fee Upheld
The U.S. Court of Appeals up held the ruling that sets a 21-cent limit on debit swipe fees. In a statement issued following the ruling, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) said: “We are disappointed in the outcome of today’s U.S Court of Appeal’s decision to largely uphold the Federal Reserve’s debit card interchange fee rule and network non-exclusivity rule. We are currently reviewing the opinion and exploring further legal options. The U.S. District Court’s original ruling appropriately took into account the concerns raised by small ticket merchants. Allowing higher fees on small-ticket bills was not the intent of Congress and an unintended consequence of the Federal Reserve’s flawed implementation of the law. We hope the Federal Reserve will exercise its existing authority to reconcile this failure and ensure the major card brands cannot continue to impose unreasonable debit card fees on the restaurant and foodservice industry to the detriment of thousands of businesses and ultimately our customers.”
Protect Your Restaurant Clients From Hackers
A PCI Compliance Guide article reports restaurants can be a prime target for hackers. According to Visa, restaurants account for 73 percent of data breaches in the United States. The article lists potential vulnerabilities you may want to discuss with your customers, including non-business class firewalls, outdated POS systems, non-segmented networks, unsecure remote access, and lack of employee education.
Breakfast Traffic Increases For Third Year
An article in Nation’s Restaurant News reports recent research by The NPD Group shows your clients might want to focus on breakfast. The research shows breakfast traffic grew by 3 percent in 2013 — the third year in a row it increased. Traffic declined, however, by 1 percent for both lunch and dinner; overall, restaurant traffic was flat for 2013.
Restaurant and Hospitality IT Talking Points
A new app, Soupfly, by Spectrum Solutions, provides results of recent health inspections for restaurants, bars, and supermarkets.
Starbucks is debuting a new feature on its mobile payment app that enables a customer to add a tip to their bills.
A Fast Company article discusses the results of a survey by the Media Insight Project that reveals social media is not replacing traditional news outlets — it’s adding to it. The survey focused on the "personal news cycle,” and found that people generally do not rely only on a few primary sources for news.