Broken Hypercom Credit Card Terminal.
Credit card terminal suddenly not working? Are you getting an error code upon start up that says, “Authentication Failed Security Error Code 1”? Does it then say, “Security Error. Call Service Provider”? Well I have some bad news! In short, you are now the proud owner of an electronic doorstopper, as your credit card terminal is now worthless.
I’ll try to explain briefly about this issue, as I understand it and what your potential options are. This issue is isolated to the Hypercom/Optimum/Equinox terminals of the M and T series. (Hypercom, Optimum and Equinox are the same with a different name). So, if you have a M4100, M4230, M4240, T4205, T4210, T4220, T4230 or T4260 you might be having issues. Here’s the official page from the company http://lp.verifone.com/global/hypercom-optimum-upgrade/
In all honesty, I was completely blindsided by this issue that began October 20th, 2015 and I’m still trying to get more details, but I’ll share what I know. I am Personally working to help my merchants with this issue, with limited information from my vendor, Signature Card Services. I work with other vendors as well and I’m sure many Service Providers are dealing with this issue. For me though, Signature has been my only provider that I’ve utilized these particular terminals for. My other providers have either promoted a different type of terminal in the past or already upgraded these types of terminals in anticipation of the EMV liability shift. Why Signature hasn’t done that already like the others isn’t completely clear to me.
Anyway, it appears that the firmware certificate on these terminals expired on October 19th, 2015. From other sources, I gather that they are 10 year certificates. The original manufacturer of these terminals was Hypercom which was bought out by a competitor, VeriFone. I guess one could assume that there was little incentive to support these older terminals and in fact it would appear that this could be a boon for them with new terminal sales. It’s worth noting that some of the terminals have firmware that is not expiring at this time and they will continue to work (for awhile). The service providers, however do not track the firmware that goes out in the terminals, so there’s no way for them to know if a terminal will have these issues.
So, what happens is, since the certificate has expired, which disallows any further use of the terminal. It checks the certificate upon start up, so this issue will only be discovered after the terminal is powered off. This will happen if a power outage or it is unplugged or the electricity is turned off at night. So, if you have one of these terminals that is working, DO NOT TURN OFF THE POWER until you have a back up method of processing credit cards!
So, you’ve got a dead terminal. Now what? Well, call your service provider tech support. As soon as you tell them what terminal you have and the error code, they’ll realize you need a new terminal. If you’re lucky they’ll overnight you a new one at no charge. They may want you to sign a Free Terminal Agreement. If you have issues with your current provider, or they seem to want to capitalize on your misery, then there are plenty of other credit card providers that would LOVE to give you a new machine for free to earn your processing business. And they can do it quick. If you need a suggestion, I know a really good one that I might be able to convince to help you out! Contact me and I’ll get you on the right path right away.
If there’s a silver lining to this issue, it’s the fact that the terminals that are dropping like dead flies are all older terminals and aren’t EMV compliant. The fact is, as of October 1st, there’s been a liability shift and it’s time to upgrade these outdated terminals anyway for the merchants protection. The new replacement terminals will be EMV compliant and by all accounts should last for many years. To maximize the value of this terminal change and extend the life expectancy and functionality I have one very important tip.
Get a terminal that isn’t only EMV compliant but is also NFC compliant. NFC stands for Near Frequency Communication and it is a reader within the terminal that allows it to communicate with NFC chips that are in mobile phones. This allows mobile phone payments like Apple Pay, Google Pay and more. Yes, I know it’s not that common to see these transactions right now, but let’s think beyond the next 6 months if upgrading anyway!
Better yet, ditch the outdated terminals completely and upgrade your entire business to a real Point of Sale system! Here’s an example of an incredible all inclusive system that has no start up costs, extremely low cost of ownership and incredible functionality. www.harbortouchbizzgrizz.com.
Robert McBeath is a Certified Payment Professional and President of Cornerstone Business Solutions and the COO of BizzGrizz. Robert has extensive experience offering merchant services and cash advances to business owners. He can be reached at 888.979.4731 x802 or by email Robert@cornerstonecard.com.
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