Sun-News from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina • D3

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25 2016 3DBusinessMYRTLEBEACHONLINE.COM millions and millions of on new terminals, he said. Instead, the banks and other credit card issuers are reaping the savings, he said. is a big money grab, he said. A representative for the card networks, banks and other card issuers acknowl- edged problems with the switch, but said it is making a dent in credit card fraud. The industry also is rolling out fixes, he said.

are seeing a drop in said Jason Oxman, chief executive of the Elec- tronic Transactions Associ- ation. He cited data from Visa indicating that fraud dropped 26 percent at mer- chants that have made the switch. the problem today is criminals still have plenty of merchants to choose among companies that upgraded, said Ox- man. MORE SECURITY, LONGER WAITS Traditional cards have customer data recorded on magnetic strips that are more easily copied and counterfeited. When fraud happened, card issuers typ- ically absorbed the cost or passed it on to customers through finance charges.

The chips in the new ATLANTA These are trying times for shoppers who use plastic, and for merchants who accept it. Which is most of both. Nearly a year has passed since the Oct. 1, 2015, in- dustry deadline when mer- chants were supposed to be able to accept upgraded credit and debit cards aimed at squelching fraud. The deadline also applied to banks issuing the new cards, a name stem- ming from the small chips embedded in them.

But only about half of the merchants have new terminals to process the cards, and many who do face delays in getting them tested and certified, accord- ing to industry experts. Meanwhile, merchants who made the switch or been able to are grumbling about higher fraud costs, according to industry play- ers. because the ma- jor card networks, Visa and MasterCard, shifted liability for fraud to merchants after Oct. 1 unless they used the new chip system. Previously, banks and other card issuers bore those costs.

And some businesses, especially fast-food restau- rants, have put off the switch out of fear the slower chip card process will gum up operations during busy periods. Stuck in the middle are customers like Spencer Mar- tinez, who wonder what to do when it comes time to pay for their purchases: swipe (for the traditional card-readers) or insert (for chip card terminals). With retailers using a variety of old and new ter- minals, or new ones that yet working, never know which one going to said Martinez, a Californian who was recently buying supplies at the Home Depot in Mid- town Atlanta. Home Depot was among the first big retailers to make the switch last year. But the Atlanta-based com- pany, as well as Walmart and Kroger, recently sued Visa and MasterCard, alleg- ing that the new cards and terminals still fraud- proof and require them to pay too much for some transactions.

Some companies that have converted are angry not seeing any pay- back from the upgrade, said Mark Horwedel, chief exec- utive of The Merchant Ad- visory Group, a trade group representing more than 100 of the largest retailers. no reduc- tions in their fraud-related (costs) despite spending cards create an identity code for each transaction. Banks have upgraded about 60 percent of the 1 billion credit and debit cards held by U.S. consumers, while about 30 percent of the 8 million mer- chants have upgraded ma- chines in operation, accord- ing to Oxman. Up next, with an Oct.

1 deadline this year: bank ATMs on network. Service station fuel pumps and ATMs on system have until Oct. 1, 2017. The new cards require customers to plug their card into a new type of terminal until the transaction is done. It can take up to 30 seconds, much longer than the mo- ment or two for a swipe.

The delay bothers some customers and businesses. Mellow Mushroom, an Atlanta-based pizza chain, switched yet due to concerns over cost and com- plexity. not as simple as pick- ing up one said Annica Kreider, Mellow vice president of brand development. After studying options for a year, she said, the company be- lieves many restaurants will have to upgrade their Wi-Fi networks and buy hand-held terminals still under devel- opment. Chip credit cards tough switch for many BY RUSSELL GRANTHAM Cox Newspapers FRANCINE ORR TNS Retailers are switching to credit card readers that handle those with chips.

prices, says Steven Szakaly, chief economist for the National Automobile Deal- ers Association. Auto sales dropped 4 percent year-over-year in August, but Szakaly calls it a In fact, 2016 is shaping up to be a strong year with an expected sale of 17.7 million vehicles, the association predicts. Meanwhile, figures from car shopping site TrueCar show the average trans- action prices for 2015 and 2016 dropping across the summer and into fall while sale incentives remain high which is a good combina- tion for buyers. Cavano warns that buyers shopping for newly rede- signed or recently intro- duced models will pay dear- ly for wanting to be the on the block to own that Manufacturers a few vehicles for each dealer to drive up interest. Eager buyers will have to pay sticker price and sometimes a bit more.

2. END-OF-MONTH PRESSURE Of all the days of the month, traditionally the last five are when dealers have the greatest incentive to sell. because some car- makers offer bonuses when dealers hit certain sales numbers, says Christian Wardlaw, an analyst for the New York Daily autos section. know they can take a loss on that vehi- cle because they know they'll get the bonus for hitting their War- dlaw says. These kinds of bargains are more common at high- volume domestic dealers.

However, hard for the average consumer to know which dealers are facing the pressure to hit quotas, Sza- kaly points out. Shopping at the end of the month can help you better your odds. hoping you are the lucky person who walks in at the end of the month and the dealer is missing the one sale he he says. 3. YEAR-END SALES The final week of the year brings with it some great deals, particularly from luxury carmakers such as Lexus, Mercedes and BMW, Cavano says.

when are trying to eke out those last few sales and they will push money out to their dealers and say, guys, get this Keep in mind, however, that with dwindling invento- ries, you might not be able to get your first choice of color and options. 4. MODEL REDESIGN When manufacturers redesign models, dealers have both the outgoing and new models for sale at the same time. That leads them to offer incentives and dis- counts to get rid of older models. Of course, the resale value of the vehicle would be lower.

And sometimes, the new model may be and tails better than the outgoing Wardlaw says. 5. LAST YEAR OF A MODEL'S PRODUCTION This tip is for serious penny pinchers. When a car is being discontinued or as a different model, the outgoing prices drop even more dra- matically. Examples on the market include the 2016 Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200, according to handy list of best leftover cars for 2016.

Current pric- ing in California for the Chrysler 200 shows a sav- ings of nearly $5,000 off the sticker price, according to pricing. Times when you buy a car follows a simple pattern, according to these experts. When there is plen- ty of foot traffic on the car lot, the dealer will keep prices higher, believing there will be a better offer from another shopper. So weekend afternoons optimal because be- sides higher pricing, the sales staff will be busy and test-drives will be rushed. Instead, shop mid-week, communicating with dealers via text or emails.

Swapping advice about car buying is a great sport for buyers, and Wardlaw has a final recommendation: be lured by the prom- ise of crazy deals. it comes down to it, the best time to buy a car is when you really need he says. FROM PAGE 1D CARS CHRISTOPHER GOODNEY Bloomberg A touchscreen control panel with the Tesla Motors Inc. 8.0 software update displays a map navigation feature inside a Model P90D vehicle in Brooklyn. N.Y., on Tuesday.

For bargain hunters, this could be a great time to get a good deal on a new car, although sales downturns the only time to buy a new car. New model roll-outs, car redesign schedules and other events can uncover bargains. ATMs or on the Internet. Instead, more square footage for personal bankers to assist customers with their needs or possibly sell them additional products. Wells makes a point of call- ing its locations instead of branches.

selling is hard, difficult work, but ultimately about keeping customers banking with Hedges said. you also risk alienating your customers when you cross sell too Wells Fargo, familiar to customers for its stagecoach logo, had also long been known in the banking in- dustry for its aggressive sales goals. The average Wells Fargo household had on average more than six products with the bank, a metric Wells top executives would highlight every quar- ter with investors. The bank even had a pro- gram aiming to raise that number to eight. Wells nev- er reached that level.

definition of a covers many types of services, Hedges said. Online banking, a savings account and a checking account could all be considered separate products at Wells. Custom- ers at other banks usually have no more than three products, said Hedges. Wells CEO has said the bad behavior was isolated to only a handful of employees and managers, even though Wells acknowl- edged that it had fired more than 5,000 employees for misconduct. After being fined last week, Wells pledged to end the sales goals program by the end of the year.

Ruth Landaverde, a form- er worker at both Wells Fargo and Bank of America, said the pressure was in- tense at Wells and at BofA. She worked for Wells Fargo from 2009 to 2010 at a division of the bank that sold additional products like credit cards to already exist- ing customers. Stress got so high that Landaverde said she developed a tic in her eye and sleep problems. Landaverde said she had to sell four credit cards and four auto loans each week, as well as three home mort- gages or refinance submis- sions. She said the quotas were simply to keep her job, not to earn any substantial commission or bonus.

going to do something unethical, but the sales pressure was very she said. can see why some employees did what they FROM PAGE 1D BANKS Eight years ago, Jeff Am- mon, now 55, began notic- ing a feeling of pressure in his ears every day after work. Over the next months, when his symptoms pro- gressed into a slight loss of hearing and sensitivity to noise, he became worried. Ammon, a construction worker for 32 years, eventu- ally started wearing ear protection hoping this would address these complaints but it was too late. From that point on, sounds ranging from the hum of a lawnmower to normal tones of conversa- tion caused a piercing, jab- bing pain in his inner ear.

He stopped working in 2011, when the pain became un- bearable. He also hears ringing in his ears and expe- riences dizziness, both side effects of the auditory dam- age. debilitating com- he said. Ammon spent almost all of his working life surround- ed by the loud noises of jackhammers, saws and air compressors. Now he avoids going outdoors, choosing instead to stay in his sound- proof basement in Lebanon, and communicate with his doctor mostly through an online patient portal.

medication to ad- dress pain has not been very successful at all. also on some medication for stress, anxiety and depres- he said. has isolat- ed me from Ammon is not alone in suffering from workplace- related hearing loss. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion, it is the most common work-related injury with approximately 22 million workers exposed annually to hazardous levels of occupa- tional noise. Workers in the mining sector, followed by those in construction and manufacturing, are most likely to suffer from hearing impairment.

An estimated $242 million is spent on compensation annually for hearing loss disability, according to the Department of Labor. In an effort to reduce these numbers, the Labor Department launched a challenge this summer called and in which it is soliciting pitches for innovative ideas and technology to better alert workers of hazardous noise levels. But critics say that while these efforts might help, technology to reduce hear- ing injuries already exists. They contend that the maxi- mum level of noise exposure allowed before employers are required to provide sound-protection equipment is too low, and the regula- tions developed by the Oc- cupational Safety and Health Administration are outdated. For example, those regulations use sound level limits that factor in the noise exposures that occur beyond the workplace at restaurants, concerts and sporting venues, for instance that can add to cumulative risks of harm.

According to OSHA offi- cials, the agency will issue a request for information later this year about current reg- ulations at construction sites to figure out if more strin- gent protections are needed and how companies are complying. Shhh! most common workplace injury is hearing loss BY ZHAI YUN TAN Kaiser Health News FOTOLIA TNS Welding requires protective goggles but probably should need attention for the ears also..