How To Safely Dispose Of A Metal Credit Card
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Banks issue some pretty incredible travel credit cards with benefits that can easily save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars each year. But they know its not just the perks that count. You can quickly deduce the best cards from the worst just by the cards feel and weight. Thats because the most valuable are often made of metal.
I own two metal credit cards the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the . I often get comments about the cards sturdiness when I hand one of these over to the cashier. And when they expire, Ill need to replace them. But how am I supposed to get rid of the expired cards? I cant just toss them in the paper shredder it warns you against it right on the back of the card!
If you find yourself in a similar situation, do you know how to dispose of metal credit cards?
Send Metal Credit Cards Back To Your Issuer
Some card companies issue metal cards that are meant to offer additional durability. Two examples are Chase Sapphire Visa and Amazon Prime Visa.
Many cardholders wonder how to dispose of metal credit cards and dont realize that their card issuers will do this safely for you for free. Simply call the issuer of your metal card and ask them for a prepaid mailing envelope.
Disposing Of The Card
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Clients Can Pay From Wherever They Are
Going device-free opens the door to remote payments as well, so your clients can pay you from wherever they are.
For example, why not let parents pay for their kids haircut from the car? Or why not let clients pay from home by texting them a link to pay? You could even let your client pay right from the salon chair while their color sets.
Pro tip: Not already set up with a Schedulicity account? Streamline your business by tying both your schedule and your payments together with a Schedulicity business account.
What About Mobile Chip Card Readers
But wait, you say. I dont have a POS or cash register, or even a physical storefront. I just take payments on my phone or tablet. And people are still giving away free magstripe readers. Why do I need to upgrade?
The mobile processing space has been the slowest in terms of EMV chip card adoption. But even so, mobile chip card readers are starting to catch on, too.
Most basic magstripe readers still rely on the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is obsolete on recent iPhone models. Most Lightning connector magstripe readers are expensive as Im writing this, only Square offers a free version compatible with iPhones.
Instead, mobile payment companies have switched their focus to Bluetooth connections, which work with iOS and Android equally well. And rather than make just magstripe readers that work with Bluetooth, these devices also have chip card readers built in.
The Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader has a retail price of $29, but new merchants are eligible for one free reader.
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Researching And Choosing Pos Systems
When deciding on a POS system, there are two ways to go about it.
1) You can decide on a system and then choose a processor who can support it, or..2) You can find your processor first and then pick from the POS systems that processor can work with.
If you require specialty features or have a particular function in mind only available with certain systems, you should choose your POS system first. However, if you dont need special features and want to ensure the lowest cost for processing, you should choose your processor first. Many processors support a range of different systems, so youll still have multiple POS systems to choose from.
If youre not sure you want to be locked into a processor by purchasing a Clover station that cant be reprogrammed, check out our extensive product directory to get factual information on other models and see POS system reviews.
If youre ready to see competitive pricing from multiple processors and then choose a POS system from supported options, try our .
Have questions about POS systems? Ask us in the comments!
How To Dispose Of A Credit Card No Burying Required
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Disposing of unwanted items in our lives often means simply throwing them into the garbage or recycling bin or, if theyre still useful, giving them away. Its different with old credit cards and other payment cards, which should be destroyed so nobody can use them fraudulently.
But how to destroy a payment card properly is not obvious, especially with new metal credit cards. Heres how to get rid of an old card no burning or burying required.
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Maximized Return On Credit Card Terminal Recycling And Destruction
And in addition to reusing the rare metals and plastics that are common in credit card terminal equipment, we use a process to remarket and repurpose many of the materials as well, which means we can pay you more for recycling your expired electronic goods. Using our unique ITAD strategy, we can make more of your credit card terminal usable again, and make the recycling process more secure, safer and cheaper than our competitors.
What Will Happen To Your Card Reader
To reduce any transport pollution, card readers will be collected through branches andoffices where they will be bulk shipped to our reprocessing partner, Helistrat.
The batteries will be removed and sent to a specialist recycling plant. Your card readerwill then be shredded and sent to be refined. This is where precious metal and metalrecovery happens. Any residual waste from this is turned into energy to recycle morecard readers.
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Unique Ways To Reuse Old Credit Cards
Your old credit cards dont have any use to you, do they? Like almost anything else, we want to do with old things to throw them away or give them out.
However, unlike other things, your credit cards are sacred. You cant throw them away. You cant also give them as gifts. You cant even repurpose them for other uses. This is because your credit cards contain sensitive information. And keeping them with you is also risky.
So, what do you do with old credit cards? Follow through to know this.
Resale Recycling Or Disposal: Options For Obsolete Equipment
In the POS industry, change is accelerating, and this means retailers are turning over POS equipment faster than ever. For the most part, older equipment simply cant keep up with EMV security requirements, new payment methods, and changing retailer preferences.
Thanks to competition and plentiful market supply, new POS equipment is both inexpensive and feature-rich. While this puts great options into your merchants hands, it results in a growing pile of discarded terminals, printers, PINpads and peripherals. So, what options do you have for all that obsolete equipment?
Resale Outside the Box
Resale options for used POS equipment in restaurant/retail are limited – after all, theres a reason equipment became obsolete. But if you look beyond retail, there are some viable options. Refurbished equipment can be a good solution for closed loop settings such as EBT or healthcare. Alternately, providing equipment to overseas markets is another option, although since EMV rates in most parts of the world are even higher than the US, you’ll find limited options for terminals.
Merchant Owned Equipment
Your merchants may be tempted to make a few bucks selling used equipment directly or to a third party wholesaler. A quick Google search of sell used POS equipment will turn up plenty of leads, but also some major concerns.
Recycling and Disposal
Hardware Disposal
Dont Forget the Data
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Reduce Your Energy Consumption
MyEmissions Exchange is a new website that allows you to earn money for reducing your home energy use.
I have not yet sent any old electronics or other recyclables to these sites . Though, I’m looking forward to testing a few of them with an old laptop and a few cell phones. Has anyone been paid to recycle through these sites or other programs? What was your experience?
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No More Buggy Devices Or Bad Hardware
Weve all had the experience of standing at the register, groceries all bagged, ready to get home. And then, when it comes time to pay wouldnt you know it! theres something funky going on with the card reader thats not allowing your credit card to go through.
Taking the payment device out of the equation and having clients pay directly on their phone eliminates any silly hardware malfunction that could potentially put a wrench in your day and the clients.
See To The Destruction Of Your Credit Card
What you will need is a pair of scissors. Use these scissors to cut through the credit cards. Ensure that cover the chip when cutting. Cut it into two or more pieces.
Cutting your credit cards would only be possible if you have a credit card made from plastic. If your credit is metal material, you may have to forward it to where it came from. That is back to your credit card issuer.
This is because trying to destroy your metal card may pose some difficulties for you. Unlike its plastic counterpart, your metal card is not easy to cut through.
So, destroying or sending back your card will be determined by what type of cards you have. The most important thing to do is to ensure that you are doing it well.
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Wait So The Clover Station Cant Be Reprogrammed
As of autumn 2019, no.
Processors cannot reprogram Clovers like they can with other machines. While the Clover POS can work with many different credit card processing companies, you can only accept payments through Clover with the company from whom you purchase it.
So if you buy a Clover station from Processor A, and then want to switch to Processor B, you cant use the payment functions of the Clover you bought from Processor A once you switch. Annoying right? Youd need to purchase a new Clover Station from Processor B.
Where To Take Household Weee
The seven waste recycling centres in Oxfordshire are registered as collection points for household waste electrical and electronic equipment . This means you can take electrical items there, including:
- clocks
- washing machines/tumble dryers
…and place them in the appropriately-marked container.
Some district councils also collect small electrical items from the kerbside, or have containers around the county. For more information please visit:
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What Are Credit Cards Made Of
A banking card is usually composed of the following raw materials:
- Several layers of plastic laminated, usually using synthetic resin, alternatively a bio-sourced material.
- Inks for printing credit cards with a magnetic stripe. Metal oxide particles with solvents are often the basis for inks.
*
There are different types of cards, all using different materials . As a consequence, the way we should dispose of them should be adapted to each component. We can easily imagine the metal within the card shall go to a different recycling stream than the plastics.
How To Dispose Of A Credit Card
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If a bank or credit card account expires, you will have to dispose of your old card safely and securely. To confirm your credit card status, call your bank representative, before destroying your credit card. The contact number is usually labeled at the back side.Thoroughly destroy the card to ensure that it is unusable and limit the possibilities of any fraud. Demagnetise the magnetic strip, destroy the chip, cut up the card, and then dispose of the fragments in multiple bags.
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The Way You Manage A Cards End
Many people wonder what to do with old credit cards, how to dispose of them, or even destroy them once they reach end-of-life or when they need to be renewed.
The good news is that we can definitely help you to find the right solution for your customers.
Thales’ role is to facilitate your end-of-life cards management by acting as an intermediary between you and our partner recycling companies.Weve started working with a long-term partner in Europe to recycle banking cards. This involves recovering the energy from the plastic through incineration.
The metal in the cards is also recycled and then sent for use in other industries, such as jewellery and electrical circuit manufacturing.
This is hugely beneficial, as it means 0% of these materials end up in a landfill.
Additionally, we aim to recycle these materials in Europe to mitigate the carbon footprint of the bank cards even further. Weve also developed next-generation products where weve put recycling at the heart of the design process.
This includes removing unnecessary components such as the magnetic stripes or the signature panel to make recycling possible. It also means working on a simplified colour design for the cards.
Swedish pioneer of sustainable payment cards, Doconomy is yet again leading the way with a card which comes with mono colour printing, a light signature panel and no magnetic stripes. Its not only an eye-catching design but also a way of putting recycling at the heart of card production.
Do I Need To Accept Emv Chip Cards
EMV is officially here to stay. However much to my dismay magstripe transactions probably arent going away yet, either. So where does that leave us?
As a business owner, you should have an EMV chip card terminal or mobile reader. It is the smart decision to protect your business and it can also help win over customer trust by showing that youre keeping up with the latest hardware and security measures.
If youre a very low-volume business, or youre in the type of industry with very small transactions , I will admit that the risk of a fraudulent transaction is fairly low. But its still a risk, and an EMV terminal isnt all that expensive.
If youre a larger business, you have a high average transaction size, or you deal in the sort of goods that are desirable to scammers, you absolutely should be looking at an EMV terminal if you dont already use one. Again, the cost of the reader isnt all that much, and if you do deal with larger transactions, the cost of one case of fraud could easily be equal to the cost of an EMV terminal or reader.
Have questions? Concerns? Check out our comment policy and leave us your thoughts below!
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