Insurance Installment Payments: Visa Credit Card Processing Rules Change 2017

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Insurance companies must comply with new VISA installment credit card processing rules changes effective October 2017 to maximize business profits and mitigate chargeback risk. Everyone in the payment ecosystem has or will need to make changes to comply, including acquirer, issuer, payment gateway, merchant, and sometimes integrated billing software.

payment gateway SaaS recurringVISA DEADLINE:

  • October 14, 2017 Visa stored credentials compliance mandate.

INSTALLMENT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING BEST PRACTICES:

  • Obtain cardholders’ consent to store the credentials. Opt-in check box stored with payment gateway record is recommended.
  • Have a solution to retrieve consent records on request.
  • Disclose to cardholders how stored credentials will be used.
  • Notify cardholders when any changes are made to the terms of use.
  • When capturing card data for the first time, use a PCI compliant payment gateway to create a random token replacing sensitive data; eliminate paper credit card authorization forms or digital signature forms where payment data is collected on the form, not via a payment gateway.
  • Inform the issuer via a transaction that payment credentials are now stored. For example, perform an Account Number Verification Transaction via a Zero Dollar Authorization with 3-D Secure Verifed by Visa.This is managed by the payment gateway, and requires specific transaction indicator.  TIP: If the solution you’re using performs a $1 authorization, often with a void or reversal after, that’s because the payment gateway, and or the implementation, are out of date and don’t support current requirements. Ask how yours works- assume nothing!
  • Identify subsequent transactions with appropriate indicators when using stored credentials. Payment gateway to identify all future transactions after storing:

– With an indicator that shows that the Transaction is using a Stored Credential for either Installment, Recurring or Unscheduled Credential On File.
– With the Transaction Identifier of the Initial Transaction.

  • Follow all cardholder disclosure and consent requirements specified in the Visa Rules. Opt-in check box with digital record managed by the payment gateway is recommended to comply with issuer records requests.
  • If performing a preauthorization for any transactions, additional new requirements must be met, including for reversals and reauthorizations.

INSURANCE INSTALLMENT BEST PRACTICES

Increasingly complicated rules vary by card brand, business type and many other factors. This article may oversimplify such complexities. Merchants are advised to:

  • Use tools, including intelligent cloud-based payment gateways, to help comply automatically.
  • Segregate payment acceptance from applications; example, embedded payment object or i-frame.
  • Review Visa Stored Credential Transaction Framework bulletins
  • Review Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules
  • Review workflow for the customer payment experience and confirm payment technology workflow is compliant with new rules. There is no automated update; merchants must actively participate in process to ensure compliance.

COMPLIANCE RISKS AND REWARDS:

  • Compliance will increase approvals, customer satisfaction, and profits.
  • Reduce time spent on collections, increase automation, reduce attrition.
  • Cardholder authentication can qualify some transactions for lower interchange rates plus mitigate losses related to “it wasn’t me”, more commonly seen in higher risk insured policy holders.
  • Compliance required to participate in Visa Account Updater service.
  • Non-compliant transactions are essentially invalid authorizations, and issuers will be within their rights to chargeback via Reason Code 72. This is different than a consumer generated chargeback. Issuers are getting slammed with missed payment cardholders and need to get their money back some way; JP Morgan wrote off about $1B in Q1 2017 according to one source. The Wall Street Journal has published several articles over the last year about the surge in subprime credit cardholders missing payments. Overall, we’re looking at a national rate over 4% per quarter- over 16% annually, representing over a trillion dollars. Issuers may want to offset losses from subprime cardholders by collecting monies from merchants for the same.
  • Chargeback Risk includes the initial transaction and all subsequent transactions that are not in compliance for the allowable chargeback period. For example, if non-compliant the issuer could chargeback installments on October 14, November 14, and December 14.

Reference: Visa Stored Credential Transaction Mandates and also Visa Core RulesTable 5-21: Requirements for Prepayments and Transactions Using Stored Credentials.

Before selecting a payment gateway for installments payments, ask these questions:

  • How will it help with new Visa Stored Credential Mandates compliance?
  • Does it support 3-D Secure cardholder authentication, for customer initiated payments?
  • What type of digital record is created at the time of customer opt-in to terms, how is it retrieved, and how long is it retained?
  • Does it support Zero Dollar Authorization?
  • Does the receipt dynamically change based on type of transaction, i.e. cash, credit card single payment, installment payment etc.
  • Does it support level 3 processing for commercial cards (if applicable to business type)?
  • If I change banks or payment processors, how will it affect my customers? My business?

TIP: Most payment gateways will not be compliant on October 14. An easy starting point to reduce the list of vendor choices is to ask the payment gateway what type of digital record is created at the time of creating an installment agreement, and how will it be accessed? Need help to get compliant? Contact Christine Speedy to learn more about solutions for your business that are quick and easy to adopt, increasing efficiency and growing profits virtually overnight.

Christine Speedy, CenPOS authorized reseller, 954-942-0483 is based out of South Florida and NY. CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant’s banking relationships.

Best Quickbooks Credit Card Processing – Card Not Present 2017

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Due to new credit card processing mandates effective October 14, 2017, business to business merchants especially need to review practices for card not present transactions. Compliance will boost profits and improve customer experience; non-compliance will increase costs, penalty fees and customer dissatisfaction. Our Quickbooks plugin for all desktop and enterprise versions (except Quickbooks Online) eases the burden of compliance, while improving customer buying experience, cash flow and profits. For business to business (B2B), we have the best solution.

Card Not Present Credit Card Processing Rules & Guidelines:

  1. Never store full card data on paper or digitally.  If you can retrieve it, so can a criminal. Merchants are never, ever allowed to request the security code (Visa Core rule 5.4.2.5) on paper, or via digital methods such as email or text. Paper credit card authorization forms as well as digital signature forms that can be unencrypted to view sensitive cardholder data are prohibited. We fix this problem by delivering electronic invoices and empowering customers to self-store payment methods.
  2. When first storing a credit card, perform a Zero Dollar Authorization with the correct transaction type flag. This process is managed seamlessly in the background if supported and enabled by the payment gateway.  (TIP: Some solutions perform a $1 authorization and then void the transaction- this is non-compliant.) We automate this this process in full compliance.
  3. Perform Cardholder Authentication. The two authentication options are card security code and 3-D secure, such as Verified by Visa. The latter is a global standard that requires the cardholder self-initiate payment, a more secure solution; Merchants using 3-D secure benefit by increased sale approvals, fraud liability shift to issuers, and for some cards, lower rates.
  4. When first storing a credit card, have your customer opt-in via a manual checkbox to return and cancellation policies.
    hosted online paypage

    Hosted online pay page, partial screenshot

    If your gateway does not include this option for customer initiated checkout, including paying invoices, it’s an easy way to identify your payment gateway is not compliant with new rules yet.

  5. Use a payment gateway that supports new authorization rules, including stored card pre-authorization, incremental authorization, final authorization, authorization reversal, partial authorization reversal, and credit authorization.initial authorization

Both the payment gateway provider and processor must support 3-D secure and zero dollar authorization.

Alternative Quickbooks Credit Card Processing Module- features for card not present:

  • EBPP- Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment to send invoices and accept ACH/eCheck, credit card, wire, Paypal
  • Customers self-manage payment methods
  • Unscheduled charge card on file supported
  • 3-D Secure and additional security tweaks
  • Customer portal for 24/7 invoice retrieval and payments
  • Deliver invoices via text and email
  • Automated collections reminders
  • Opt-in checkbox with custom text
  • Optional custom fields
  • Works with all the acquirers, including First Data, Paymentech, Heartland, Global Payments, Elavon, TSYS, Moneris etc.
  • Level III 3 processing supported for reduced merchant fees when applicable for purchasing, business and corporate cards.
  • Smart Rate selector optimizes transactions for lowest qualified rate

Want the best Quickbooks credit card processing plugin for your B2B business? Contact Christine Speedy today for a virtually instant ROI, maximize profits and cash flow while improving your customer buying experience. Quick and easy to adopt, you’ll wish you had found this solution sooner.

Christine Speedy, CenPOS authorized reseller, 954-942-0483 is based out of South Florida and NY. CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant’s banking relationships.

ACH eCheck and Online Payments Solution

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Do you need eCheck services due to mail service disruption from recent disasters like Hurricane Irma and Harvey? Or do you just want to boost cash flow and get paid faster? Online payment solutions are quick, easy, and relatively cheap to implement. Using a third party solution vs bank can be cheaper and provides flexibility to change financial services partners without creating customer friction.

Why use a hosted pay page to accept eChecks?

A payment gateway hosted pay page enables customers to passively pay bills online 24/7 via a secure web page. Payment types may include credit cards, Paypal, ACH (echeck), wire and other methods. Because it’s hosted by a 3rd party PCI level 1 certified service provider, PCI Compliance burden is reduced for merchants that want to accept more than eChecks.

online payments echeckA hosted pay page empowers customers to make secure payments online.

Hosted Pay Page Implementation options:

  1. Direct customers to 3rd party payment gateway custom URL- no change to business web site needed. Just email or text the link.
  2. Link from business web site to 3rd party payment gateway custom URL by updating. Html and pay now graphical button available.
  3. Embed the secure payment object on business web site via iframe html. Customers never leave merchant web site, and even though payment is accepted on the 3rd party web site, an SSL certificate is strongly recommended.

There are other ways to collect ACH and eCheck payments remotely, including our alternative service that enables businesses to push out payment requests via via email or text. This method is proven to increase loyalty as well as reduce time to collect payment and is available for an additional fee. It’s available both integrated or standalone.

eCheck Hosted Pay Page Vendor Selection:

The two key methods to process eChecks are FTP direct to the business bank and 3rd party check processor (Web Payments). With FTP, money is in the bank account when the batch is delivered. With traditional eCheck services money is delivered typically in 2-3 business days. In either case, a payment gateway or technology solution secures the data transmission and facilitates compliance with eCheck processing rules.

Vendor selection checklist- which do you need and which would be nice?

  • ACH with guarantee
  • ACH, no guarantee needed
  • Tokenization for quick repeat payments (no need to enter banking info each time, just select the account)
  • Accounting integration
  • Hosted pay page
  • Other payment types supported
  • Text payment request capability
  • Email payment request capability
  • Hosted pay page (only, no text or email)

Managing Costs with Online Payments:

If you’re just accepting eChecks, you’ll be surprised at just how cheap the service is. If also accepting credit cards, the hosted payment solution selected directly impacts the cost of credit card processing. For example, our solution with Smart Rate Selector automatically optimizes the transaction to qualify for the lowest rate. Compliance with rules are complex and few payment gateways have a solution to comply with every situation. With the right implementation, the cost of card not present transactions are often exactly the same as card present, and can be lower than if employees key enter transactions into a virtual terminal.

Free Hosted Pay Page Info:

  • Quick and easy to set up
  • Optional customer registration to store payment data for repeat purchases
  • Echeck / ACH directly to your bank overnight in most cases
  • Optional ACH with guarantee additional fee
  • If applicable, works with your existing merchant services account
  • Month to month service

Christine Speedy, CenPOS authorized reseller, 954-942-0483 is based out of South Florida and NY. CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant’s banking relationships.

B2B Donations Checkout Solution: Accept Donations Anywhere

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Collect charitable donations for your favorite causes wherever your customers pay with our simple donations checkout solution for all sales channels and payment types. Fully compliant with credit card processing rules, such as producing a receipt that lists the subtotal sale of goods and services, a separate line for the donation, and a total for the complete amount.

  • Employees don’t ask- customers never feel uncomfortable. The system automates the donation process via each sales channel. For example, if it’s an e-invoice or hosted pay page, the customer sees a donations field to add an amount if desired.
  • Easy to adopt- Works with multiple accounting, software and financial partners such as First Data.
  • Activate, deactivate and change the beneficiary on demand. You’re in control.

We’re helping your business help others. The donations service is included at no additional cost with our standard services.

Christine Speedy, 954-942-0483, specializes in enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. Secure, cloud-based solutions optimize acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting merchant banking relationships.

Free Hosted Pay Page for Irma Business Disaster Relief

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A hosted online web pay page ensures business cash flow and continuity after a disaster like Hurricane Irma by enabling customers to make online payments from wherever they are. With no USPS mail delivery, businesses that depend on checks in the mail need immediate solutions to get paid. A pay page helps solve the problem for both parties.

A hosted pay page enables customers to passively pay bills online via a secure web page. Payment types may include credit cards, Paypal, ACH (echeck), wire and other methods. Because it’s hosted by a 3rd party PCI level 1 certified service provider, PCI Compliance burden is reduced for merchants.

hosted paypage online payments

A hosted pay page empowers customers to make secure payments online.

Hosted Pay Page Implementation options:

  1. Direct customers to 3rd party custom URL- no change to merchant web site needed. Just email or text the link.
  2. Link from merchant web site to 3rd party custom URL by updating web site. Html and pay now graphical button available.
  3. Embed the secure payment object on merchant web site via iframe html. Customers never leave merchant web site, but payment is accepted on the 3rd party web site.

There are other ways to collect payment remotely, including our alternative service that enables businesses to push out payment requests via via email or text. This method is proven to increase loyalty as well as reduce time to collect payment and is available for an additional fee.

Managing Costs with Online Payments:

The hosted payment solution selected directly impacts the cost of credit card processing. For example, our solution with Smart Rate Selector automatically optimizes the transaction to qualify for the lowest rate. Compliance with rules are complex and few payment gateways have a solution to comply with every situation. With the right implementation, the cost of card not present transactions are often exactly the same as card present, and can be lower than if employees key enter transactions into a virtual terminal.

Mitigating Fraud Losses and Chargebacks:

Merchants can reduce risk of lost credit card disputes and resulting chargebacks with a multifaceted approach:

  • Verify address & zip code
  • Verify CVV / CID security code; if using token billing, prior validation is OK
  • 3-D Secure: Verified by Visa (Vbyv) and MasterCard SecureCode – cardholder authentication shifts fraud liability back to issuer.
  • Comply with transaction authorization rules (it’s complicated, especially if performing an authorization now and capture later.

Free Hosted Pay Page Info:

  • Quick and easy to set up
  • Start-up fee waived
  • Works with your existing merchant services account
  • Echeck / ACH directly to your bank overnight in most cases
  • Optional ACH with guarantee additional fee
  • After power is restored, optionally continue with services at predetermined rate (hosted pay page always included with other services)
  • Available to all businesses impacted by Hurricane Irma or Harvey exclusively through Christine Speedy.

Christine Speedy, CenPOS authorized reseller, 954-942-0483. CenPOS is a merchant-centric, end-to-end payments engine that drives enterprise-class solutions for businesses, saving them time and money, while improving their customer engagement. CenPOS secure, cloud-based solution optimizes acceptance for all payment types across multiple channels without disrupting the merchant’s banking relationships.