June 22nd, 2016 by Elma Jane
What is ARC, IATA, and CLIA? what’s the difference? What it does and what type of agents would benefit most from it.
CLIA Number – is issued by the Cruise Lines International Association. It’s a way for vendors to identify you as a travel agent. It serves the same purpose as the ARC or IATA number, it’s just issued by another organization and has different barriers to entry and costs associated with it. CLIA agencies without ARC accreditation cannot issue airline tickets since CLIA numbers were designed specifically for cruise-focused travel agencies. You can always go under an umbrella organization like a host agency, you don’t need to get your own CLIA number if you’re working with a host agency. You can use their identification number and won’t incur the costs associated with obtaining your own CLIA number. While CLIA is accepted nearly everywhere, it’s NOT accepted by the airlines. If you are not issuing airline tickets, CLIA is a practical option.
CLIA vs. ARC/IATA Number – If you’re ticketing air-only reservation, ARC and IATA are must-haves.
ARC (Airlines Reporting Corporation) – gives out these ARC numbers to accredited agencies, which allows travel agencies to issue airline tickets. The use of an ARC number extends from a hotel to a cruise ship booking not only air tickets for travel agencies. For a home-based travel agent or a storefront agency that only books leisure travel (no air), having your own ARC number is too much.
IATA – International Air Transport Association Network (IATAN) use extensive data resource to connect the suppliers to the U.S. travel distribution network. IATAN ID card holders get promotional benefits and concessionary incentives from suppliers (participating members) who identify the agent with an IATA/IATAN number as a valid associate, in addition to approving travel agents for the sale of travel tickets. IATA certifies a referral agent or an affiliate travel agent to find clients for the hosting travel agency’s business needs as well.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: agents, card, data, host agency, travel agent, vendors
September 16th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Card-not-present merchants are battling increasingly frequent friendly fraud. That type of fraud..The I don’t recognize or I didn’t do it dispute. This occurs when a cardholder makes a purchase, receives the goods or services and initiates a chargeback on the order claiming he or she did not authorize the transaction.
This problem can potentially cripple merchants because of the legitimate nature of the transactions, making it difficult to prove the cardholder is being dishonest. The issuer typically sides with the cardholder, leaving merchants with the cost of goods or services rendered as well as chargeback fees and the time and resources wasted on fighting the chargeback.
Visa recently changed the rules and expanded the scope of what is considered compelling evidence for disputing and representing chargeback for this reason code. The changes included allowing additional types of evidence, added chargeback reason codes and a requirement that issuers attempt to contact the cardholder when a merchant provides compelling evidence.
The changes give acquirers and merchants additional opportunities to resolve disputes. They also mean that cardholders have a better chance to resolve a dispute with the information provided by the merchant. Finally, they provide issuers with clarity on when a dispute should go to pre-arbitration as opposed to arbitration.
Visa has also made other changes to ease the burden on merchants, including allowing merchants to provide compelling evidence to support the position that the charge was not fraudulent, and requiring issuers to a pre-arbitration notice before proceeding to arbitration, which reduces the risk to the merchant when representing fraud reason codes.
The new “Compelling Evidence” rule change does not remedy chargebacks but brings important changes for both issuers and merchants. Merchants can provide information in an attempt to prove the cardholder received goods or services, or participated in or benefited from the transaction. Issuers must initiate pre-arbitration before filing for arbitration. That gives merchants an opportunity to accept liability before incurring arbitration costs, and Visa will be using information from compelling evidence disputes to revise policies and improve the chargeback process
Visa made those changes to reduce the required documentation and streamline the dispute resolution process. While the changes benefit merchants, acquirers and issuers, merchants in particular will benefit with the retrieval request elimination, a simplified dispute resolution process, and reduced time, resources and costs related to the back-office and fraud management. The flexibility in the new rules and the elimination of chargebacks from cards that were electronically read and followed correct acceptance procedures will simplify the process and reduce costs.
Sometimes, an efficient process for total chargeback management requires expertise or in-depth intelligence that may not be available in-house. The rules surrounding chargeback dispute resolution are numerous and ever-changing, and many merchants simply do not have the staffing to keep up in a cost-effective and efficient way. Chargebacks are a way of life for CNP merchants; however, by working with a respected third-party vendor, they can maximize their options without breaking the bank.
Reason Code 83 (Fraud Card-Not-Present) occurs when an issuer receives a complaint from the cardholder related to a CNP transaction. The cardholder claims he or she did not authorize the transaction or that the order was charged to a fictitious account number without approval.
The newest changes to Reason Code 83, a chargeback management protocol, offer merchants a streamlined approach to fighting chargebacks and will ultimately reduce back-office handling and fraud management costs. Independent sales organizations and sales agents who understand chargeback reason codes and their effect on chargeback rates can teach merchants how to prevent chargebacks before they become an issue and successfully represent those that they can’t prevent.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: account, account number, acquirers, agents, Back Office, card, card holder, card-not-present, Card-not-present merchants, cardholder, cards, chargeback, chargeback fees, chargeback rates, cnp, CNP merchants, CNP transaction, fees, fraud, fraud management, Independent sales, independent sales organizations, issuer, management protocol, Merchant's, organizations, protocol, purchase, Rates, resolution, resolution process, resources, risk, sales agents, services, transaction, visa
As a society, our smartphones are increasingly becoming a more important in our daily lives. Already replacing watches, alarm clocks, wallets and calendars today we carry our smartphones with us everywhere, including the bathroom. While smartphone users are traveling everywhere with their smartphones, are they actually booking travel with their smartphones? eMarketer asked that very question in a survey of 1,200 internet users and asked about their travel booking habits on the internet. The responses indicate that 40% of digital travel researchers will use their smartphones and tablets and mobile payments to complete travel bookings. Read more of this article »
Posted in Merchant Services Account Tagged with: agencies, agent, agents, credit card, e-commerce, gateway, ipad, Iphone, laptop, merchant account, notebook, smartphone, tablet, ticketless, travel
