The Green Sheet Online Edition
December 12, 2018 • 18:12:02
Letter from the editors
When this issue mails out and goes live online on Dec. 24, we hope you will be enjoying a respite before your merchants begin dealing with returns and exchanges, and you turn your focus toward implementing plans for the coming year.
As we prepared this final issue of 2018, we appreciated the wisdom of the many payment professionals who took time to offer insights on a range of topics and weigh in on critical issues of the day. In researching the year-in-review article featured on our front page, several key trends stood out: cost control with cash discounting and decoupled debit; mounting interest in PIN debit and PIN authentication; ongoing data security concerns; and developments in the fintech and mobile arenas.
As we all know, payments is a highly complex industry. You may want to add to or even disagree with our analysis. We will welcome your thoughts. This could lead to your penning an article or two for us. We fully appreciate the industry experts who contribute articles month after month that provide insights and tips directly focused on your needs. As the industry changes, so do they. And they readily share what they've learned about navigating successfully in our dynamic sphere. In this issue, you'll find tips on what ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) can learn from community banks; key considerations, from a legal perspective, pertaining to liability that arises from data breaches; reasons why MLSs part ways with their ISOs; and the not so fast progress toward faster payments.
You'll also find briefs on several of the news stories we've posted recently at www.greensheet.com. We've covered growth in electronic payments, the Faster Payments Council, perspectives on multifactor authentication, the Fed's torpedoing of fully electronic checks, Walmart's acceptance of cash for in-store online ordering, too much personally identifiable information for sale on the Dark Web, and more. And we've included company and product profiles, along with updates from you, our readers, advertisers and media partners. Spreading the word about your milestones is central to our mission, and we appreciate the support we've been able to give and receive throughout the year.
In the new year, we'll continue our mission of providing resources for the educational and professional enrichment of the industry's dedicated feet on the street. How can we help you? Please share your thoughts at greensheet@greensheet.com. And don't forget to send press releases to press@greensheet.com. 
Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
