Category Archives: Rotary

Rotary International – District 7980

Credit Card Fraud Liability pushed to Non-compliant Merchants as of Oct 1st

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On Oct. 1, 2015, new credit card rules went into effect which will transfer fraud liability to whichever party is the least EMV-compliant in a fraudulent transaction. This would apply directly to merchants who continue to use old “swipe” credit card processing machines. Compliance is deferred to 2016 for most ATM providers and 2017  for pay-at-pump gas stations and the balance of ATMs.

EMV-compliant card with embedded chip

EMV-compliant credit card with embedded chip

To address increasing credit card fraud, the U.S. has formally moved to EMV-compliant cards, which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa. EMV is a global standard for cards equipped with computer chips and the technology used to authenticate chip-card transactions. EMV is embedded onto a payment card in a microprocessor chip that stores and protects cardholder data.  The EMV technology is designed to improve payment security, making it more difficult for fraudsters to successfully counterfeit cards.

EMV-compliant merchant card reader

EMV-compliant merchant card reader

Businesses who accept credit card payments have been faced with updating all credit card processing machines to comply with the new cards being issued. Those firms that did not update their machines by Oct. 1 can be held financially liable for any credit card fraud that takes place. This represents a major shift in liability from the credit card companies to the businesses that accept card payments.

Consumers are already seeing a difference in the way that they use their credit cards as instead of swiping in the traditional way, cards are either inserted into a terminal slot (card dipping) or tapped against the terminal scanner (near field communication) for processing.

Dipping the card begins the process of data verification between the issuing bank and the chip.  Once the card is verified, the unique transaction data is created. Near field communications cards (aka as Contactless cards) have been rolled out largely in Canada and Europe.  Most cards and terminals in the U.S. will require dipping.

EMV does not totally reduce the risk of credit card data being captured and reproduced as it still has vulnerabilities, which is why we can probably expect to the additional authentication requirements of a signature or a PIN layered on to all transactions in the near future.

Sources: Molly Brogan (NSBA.biz) and Sienna Kossman (Creditcards.com) 

 

Bassett’s Blog Rebooted: Small Business Entrepreneurship

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Blog Clearwater 2015-10-09 15.21.54

There is no reason that business can’t be transacted poolside as technology is the great ‘place shifter’.

This Blog has been home to well over 400 Rotary related posts over the past few years. While it has enjoyed a rich and an extremely large global readership as a Rotary Portal of sorts, it’s time to reboot it with an entirely new focus: Small Business Entrepreneurship with an emphasis on technology challenges and opportunities.

One of the challenges that a college professor wrestles with is determining exactly what their research focus / agenda is going to be as it largely defines their academic career. While some professors are able to narrow down a research focus very early on, others vacillate for years before settling into an area that suits their unique qualifications and interest level, unfortunately I fall into the later camp.

For nearly the past 15 years I’ve done research and/or published papers on Cybersecurity, Outsourcing, Databases, Social Media Mining, Sustainable ERP, Project Management, Cloud Computing and Infrastructure hoping that a thread amongst them would emerge as a single theme. Finally the preverbal lightbulb has lit up with the focus of: Technology challenges and opportunities  Small Business Entrepreneurs face.

It’s surprising that it took this long to narrow down this research focus as I have over 3 decades of first hand experience as a successful Small Business Entrepreneur running several companies and working directly with nearly 1,000 other Small Business Entrepreneurs but sometimes you just can’t see the hand in front of your face until it slaps you hard enough.

Rick Bassett
Associate Professor & Dept Chair
Management / Mgmt Information Systems / Int Business Dept
Southern CT State University

D7980 District Assembly is Saturday at the Sheraton 4-Points in Meriden!!!

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Gerry Tom - District Governor Nominee

Gerry Tom – District Governor Elect

The District Assembly Schedule/Agenda is released by DGE Gerry Tom

Click here for the agenda as a PDF: Agenda District Assembly 2015

We have a great line of programs and speakers and over 225 attendees registered. Didn’t register yet? Come on by on Saturday at 7:30 am with $50 and you’re in.

The District Training Assembly  prepares incoming club leaders for their year in office and exposes new Rotarians to core Rotary knowledge. The Assembly is also an opportunity for club leaders to meet with district leaders (the district governor-elect, incoming assistant governors, and district committees) who will support club projects and activities.

 

 

Paul Mangels to become District Governor in 2017-18

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MANGELSThe District 7980 Nominating Committee has nominated Paul Mangels of the Milford Rotary Club to be District Governor in 2017-18.

The nomination challenge period has expired and not a single objection was made; thus confirming Paul’s nomination.

Paul has been a member of the Rotary Club of Milford since 1998, serving as President in 2006-2007. He served as Assistant Governor from 2007-2010, Club Vision organizer and chair, Beacon editor, and has just begun a term as Permanent Fund chair for the District. He has been received several awards at the club level, the Norm Parsells award and the Don Adams award. He is a Rotary Foundation Major Donor and Paul Harris Society member.

Paul was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1959. Five years after receiving a degree in Finance from the University of Connecticut, he opened his first business, Connecticut Engravers, in Bridgeport in 1986. In 2002 he opened H Mangels Confectioner and has been managing both businesses since that time. A member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Milford, he has served in various leadership positions and has just completed a three-year term as Senior Warden. Paul resides in Milford with his wife, Marcy, and they have a son, Jeffrey, who resides in Arlington, Virginia.

DG PinPaul has joined the Governor Track Team with the title of District Governor Nominee Designee (DGND) as he begins his DG training. The Governor Track Team consists of Mukund Nori (DG), Gerry Tom (DGE), Chris Johnson (DGN) and now Paul Mangels (DGND).

Feel free to congratulate Paul by sending him a message via email @ ctengraver@aol.com

NE PETS Registration is now open

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NE PETS IMG_4392NE PETS 2015 will be held in Framingham MA – March 12 – 14, 2015. Thursday the 12th is an optional day for Presidents-elect and Assistant Governors but attendance is recommended for the entire program as the required program kick off early in the morning on Friday March 13th.

All D7980 Presidents-elect, Assistant Governors (1st & 2nd year only) and Facilitators are now able to register for NE PETS by clicking here.

NE PETS will draw just about 600 Rotarians including ; 440 Presidents-Elect, 80 Assistant Governors plus numerous Program Facilitators, Volunteers and Speakers from the eight Rotary International Districts from New England and southern Quebec.

The goal of NE PETS is to train incoming  Club Presidents (Presidents-elect) and New Assistant Governors for their new leadership positions in the upcoming Rotary year.

NE PETS will be held at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel and Conference Center, in Framingham, MA

Registrar Louisa Tripp sent out registration invitations to attendees this afternoon – the direct registration link is: http://www.bit.ly/NEPETS2015

Rotary Means Business – It’s Ok to do business with fellow Rotarians

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RMB-fellowship-logo-detailed-200Assistant Governor Arisleyda Riehl (Area #1 & #2)  reports the success of the inaugural Rotary Means Business event held on the evening of Thursday January 15th at the Stamford Library.

23 Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Darien, Greenwich, New Caanan, Stamford and Westport were in attendance representing different professions including medicine, banking, real estate, wealth management, accounting, insurance and law.

This event marks another first in our areas and the entire district. Special thanks to President Elect Dan Morris (Stamford Rotary) for developing this initiative as well as the Area Presidents for their exceptional support and making sure their Clubs were well represented.

The purpose of Rotary Means Business is to encourage Rotarians to support the success of their fellow Rotarians by doing business with them, and by referring others to them.

Please take a look at the Rotary Means Business website – www.rotarymeansbusiness.com. This is a good resource for those of us that see Rotary as a place where like- minded people can do business or refer business to one another.

Next meeting will be hosted by The Greenwich Club.

Yours in Rotary,
Arisleyda Riehl
Area Governor 2014 – 2017