US Bankcard Services (1/3)

AVOIDING CHARGEBACKS: 1 Control Risk for Mail, Phone and Internet Rransactions Mail order/telephone order (MO/TO) and Internet transactions are more prone to chargebacks. Here are some ways to reduce the risk of MO/TO chargebacks: Negative Database – By maintaining a database of problem customers, you can identify high-risk transactions, block specific credit card numbers and disallow future purchases. Multiple Orders – By limiting the number of transactions per hour, day or week from a specific customer, you can limit a source of potential fraud. Address Verification Service (AVS) – AVS helps you verify the address given to you by the cardholder at the time of sale. The AVS system indicates if there is a full, partial or no-match on the address by comparing the customer’s address with the card issuer database. Know Your Customers – You can avoid many chargebacks simply by getting to know your customers – for example, capture the customer’s telephone number,then call back to verify the order. Customer Service Phone Number – Make sure your customer service phone number is printed on the receipt. This makes it easy for customers to resolve disputes by phone rather than by chargeback. CVV2/CVC2 – Both Visa and MasterCard have this additional security feature printed on the back of their cards which you can verify as an additional security check. Contact Customer Service for more details on this feature. 2 Get A Manual Imprint and Signature If you are unable to swipe a card through your point-of-sale terminal, you must obtain a manual imprint of the card. This manual sales slip must contain the customer’s signature, the transaction date, the authorization code, the purchase amount and merchant information — otherwise chargebacks can result for these reasons: Fraudulent transaction – no cardholder authorization Fraudulent transaction – no imprint obtained Fraudulent transaction – signature not obtained Verify that the signature on the back of the card and on the receipt matches the name embossed on the front of the credit card. 3 Respond Promptly to Requests for Transaction Copies If a customer requests a copy of a transaction receipt through their credit card company, that request is forwarded to you through your Merchant Services Chargeback Department. Respond to this request as soon as possible; slow or unfulfilled requests can result in one of the following chargebacks: Non-receipt of requested item Requested copy illegible Faxing is the preferred method of response; there is no recourse to these chargebacks. Protect yourself from retrieva l request chargebacks: Keep a Record of Your Sales Drafts – Retrieval requests specify credit card number, transaction date and purchase amount — not customer name; file your sales drafts by date and credit card number. Be Sure Sales Drafts are Legible – A hard-to-read sales draft that produces an illegible copy may be returned if it cannot be properly processed. Always check the ink cartridge or ribbon on your printer. Make Your Transactions Easy to Identify – If cardholders do not recognize a transaction on their billing statement, they could question or dispute the purchase. If you send a purchase confirmation to the cardholder’s address that identifies the business name that will appear on the cardholder’s statement, you can eliminate many of these retrieval requests. Put Your Customer Service Number on the Cardholder Statement – You can have your business phone number appear on the cardholder statement in the city/state field. This will allow the customer to contact you directly to inquire about the transaction. Please contact Customer Service if you are interested in having this done. 4 Credit/Refunds