October 30th, 2024 by Elma Jane
This is a question we encounter on a daily basis. Travel environments are unique in that your transactions are usually keyed, there is almost always a delayed delivery period, large ticket transactions are not uncommon since one cardholder may be paying for multiple tickets, they tend to be seasonal, with peak season months generating an unusual spike in their “average” monthly volume, and chargeback’s pose a potential threat by travelers who are unable to complete their trip. Combine even a few of these factors together and you have cause for a reserve, or even account termination.
Being a part of a MO/TO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) or Keyed environment carries an increased risk of potential fraud or unauthorized use of a credit card. Since the credit card and cardholder are not present at the time of the transaction, the merchant has a limited ability to ensure the card is not being misused or that the proper AVS (address Verification Service) information is provided. NTC stresses the use of Credit Card authorization forms in order to obtain the correct credit card number, expiration date, billing address, and signature of the cardholder.
Travel merchants tend to have periods of increased volume based on peak travel seasons, whereas most other industries tend to have the same average monthly volume every month. This can generate spikes in volume on the merchant account that can trigger security concerns with the processor. Helping the merchant to analyze their volume trends and reporting the trends to the underwriters helps eliminate the security concerns when these spikes occur.
Large transactions which exceed the average sale amount for the merchant account can also trigger security concerns. Merchants who do not inform their merchant processor of large transactions prior to charging the credit cards can trigger security concerns and cause funding delays and reserve holds. Educating and clearly communicating with the merchant how to handle large tickets, volume spikes, and group bookings, prevents reserves, funding delays and/or other merchant account issues.
Another concern from the underwriters is the delayed delivery time frame. Delayed Delivery refers to the amount of time between accepting a credit card payment (whether a deposit or full purchase) and the time the cardholder travels. The client’s credit card is billed and the travel agent is paid however, the trip the travel agent was paid for doesn’t generally take place for 2 to 3 months. This leaves a lot of time for things to change, and should the client not travel for some reason, the first thing they do if the travel agent does not issue a refund, is claim a chargeback. NTC offers quite a few tips that can help protect the travel agent from chargeback situations.
Most merchants do not realize that merchant processors carry a financial risk on merchant accounts, and normally fund merchants prior to receiving payment from the client’s bank. Essentially, a merchant account is an unsecured loan. The merchant runs a transaction and at the end of the day they settle their batch. Generally the merchant will receive the funds for that batch in their bank account within 2 business days even though the travel arrangements the client paid for do not take place right away.
Here at National Transaction Corp, we specialize in understanding what makes your transactions, as a travel agent, unique in how they affect your merchant account. Educating the merchant and ensuring they have a good understanding of what makes travel merchant account high risk, is one of our specialties. We have established a special relationship with our underwriting department which facilitates our ability to approve your high risk travel merchant account.
Contact your travel merchant account specialists at NTC today.
Mark Fravel
National Transaction Corp
Founder and President
888-996-2273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: address verification service, avs, card holder, card payment, chargeback, credit card, Mail Order/Telephone Order, merchant, merchant account, merchant processor, moto, transactions, travel agent, Travel environments, travel merchants
April 27th, 2017 by Elma Jane
Adding Tokenization Service
Important notes when adding tokenization:
– Tokens replace credit or gift card numbers.
– The terminal must be enabled to accept tokenization.
– Tokens are unique for each merchant, for example:
The same card will produce a different token for each merchant.
– Merchants with multiple terminals sharing tokenization domains will receive the same token for a unique card and the token can be used across their stores if they wish to do so.
– Merchants may supply the token in place of card information in any subsequent transaction.
– Tokenization is supported for both credit cards and gift cards.
Tokenization protects card data when it’s in use and at rest. It converts or replaces cardholder data with a unique token ID to be used for subsequent transactions. This eliminates the possibility of having card data stolen because it no longer exists within your environment.
Tokens can be used in card not present environments such as e-commerce or mail order/telephone order (MOTO), or in conjunction with encryption in card present environments.
Tokens can reside on your POS/PMS or within your e-commerce infrastructure “at rest” and can be used to make adjustments, add new charges, make reservations, perform recurring transactions, or perform other transactions “in use”.
For Electronic Payment Set up with Tokenization call now 888-996-2273
or click here NationalTransaction.Com
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: card present, card-not-present, credit, e-commerce, electronic payment, encryption, gift Card, merchant, moto, POS, terminals, tokenization, tokens, transaction
January 12th, 2017 by Elma Jane
Accepting non-cash payments from your customers are valuable. If you don’t, you will miss out on sales; because of the growing numbers of customers who only carry plastic or wish to pay online. Today, you have many payment solution options.
Credit Card Terminals – you might remember the beginning of the credit card era and i’ts evolution with today’s countertop terminals. From the traditional swipe of their credit, debit or even gift card to make a purchase to today’s modern terminals. Like accepting EMV chip cards (to be in compliance with a PCI mandate) and NFC payments like Apple Pay.
Beyond the basics; these systems are generally supported by reporting sites that can help you monitor sales, and assist you with maintaining customer loyalty programs.
E-Commerce Solutions – online sales are growing every year. If you are considering an expansion of your business online; you need a complete hosted payment solution for transactions in all payment environments. Including in-store, back office mail/telephone order (MO/TO), mobile and e-commerce, that make your customers’ experience as intuitive and efficient as possible.
Point of Sale Systems – smart registers have evolved into high-tech point-of-sale (POS) systems due to technology advances. Not only taking customer payments; but it can transform your business with an advanced marketing programs, inventory management and sales and profitability tracking and reporting. Over the past years these advanced systems have become cost-effective and easy to use.
Wireless Terminals – in today’s hardware you have the option of accepting payments wirelessly, through a full-service terminal that is smaller than a countertop model, or through a mobile card reader plugin for a smartphone or tablet.
The advantage of a full-service wireless terminal is that it allows for receipt printing on the spot through the device and most modern full-service wireless terminals are EMV compliant and accept both EMV (chip card) and NFC payment types.
Call now 888-996-2273 and speak to our payment consultant to know which solution is best for you.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, e-commerce & m-commerce, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Mail Order Telephone Order, Near Field Communication, Payment Card Industry PCI Security, Point of Sale Tagged with: card reader, chip cards, credit card, debit, e-commerce, EMV, gift Card, mobile, moto, nfc, online, payment solution, payments, PCI, point of sale, smartphone, terminals, transactions
December 19th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Surcharges and Convenience Fees:
A surcharge is a fee that is added to a card transaction, either as a set amount or a percentage of a transaction. Typically, used to cover the cost of the merchant service charge.
There are rules, exceptions and state laws to observe to ensure you are compliant.
At present there are surcharge bans in the following states:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. (Appeals are pending for California and Florida)
Surcharge Rules:
- Applicable only to credit card transactions, not debit or prepaid card transactions.
- The surcharge cannot be greater than the merchant’s average discount rate for that brand’s credit card transactions.
- Maximum surcharge allowed is 4%.
- Cardholder must be notified of the surcharge.
- Surcharge must be listed on the receipt as a line item and the primary payment amount must be processed together as one transaction.
A convenience fee is a fee charged for the “convenience” of being able to pay using an alternative payment channel outside the merchant’s customary payment channel.
Any merchant can charge a convenience fee IF the fee charged is for the legitimate convenience of being able to pay using a different payment channel than the merchant’s usual payment channel.
Example: Your business customary payment channel is face-to-face or card present and you provide an alternative payment channel, such as the option to pay by phone using a credit card, that could then charge a convenience fee along with the payment.
Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO) merchants and ecommerce merchants, whose customary payment channel is exclusively non face-to-face or card-not-present, are NOT permitted to charge convenience fees.
Convenience Fee Rules:
- Customer must be notified of the convenience fee prior to finalizing payment and given the opportunity to cancel.
- Payment must take place through an alternative payment channel.
- The fee can only be added to a non face-to-face transaction. Must be flat or fixed, regardless of the value of the payment due.
- The fee must be applied to all means of payment accepted through the alternative payment channel. Must be included in the total transaction amount.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mail Order Telephone Order Tagged with: card-not-present, Convenience Fees, credit card, debit, ecommerce, merchant, moto, payment, prepaid card, Surcharges, transaction
September 9th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Multi Currency Conversion (MCC):
- In addition to 100+ supported currencies and all transactions autosettle at 6pm (eastern) daily.
- Customer is unaware of the converted currency, also customer may not opt-out at the point of sale.
- Conversion occurs between the point of sale and settlement.
- E-commerce only and no merchant rebate.
- Price listed in customer’s currency conversion also Supported by Internet Secure or direct certification.
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC):
- Customer is aware of the Conversion Currency, also customer may opt-out at the point of sale.
- Conversion occurs at the point of sale and five supported currencies less than MCC.
- Merchants may choose settlement method and time in addition to merchant rebate up to 100bp.
- Price listed in merchant’s currency conversion.
- For Retail, Restaurant, MOTO and E-commerce.
- Supported by terminals, via Warp and Virtual Merchant.
For more information give us a call at 888-996-2273 or visit our website: www.nationaltransaction.com
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mail Order Telephone Order Tagged with: customer, e-commerce, merchant, moto, Multi Currency Conversion, point of sale, terminals, transactions, virtual merchant
August 11th, 2016 by Elma Jane
CURRENCY CONVERSION
Multi Currency Conversion (MCC):
In addition to 100+ supported currencies and all transactions autosettle at 6pm (eastern) daily.
Customer is unaware of the converted currency, also customer may not opt-out at the point of sale.
Conversion occurs between the point of sale and settlement.
E-commerce only and no merchant rebate.
Price listed in customer’s currency conversion also Supported by Internet Secure or direct certification.
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC): Customer is aware of the Conversion Currency, also customer may opt-out at the point of sale.
Conversion occurs at the point of sale and five supported currencies less than MCC.
Merchants may choose settlement method and time in addition to merchant rebate up to 100bp.
Price listed in merchant’s currency conversion.
For Retail, Restaurant, MOTO and E-commerce.
Supported by terminals, via Warp and Virtual Merchant.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mail Order Telephone Order, Point of Sale Tagged with: currency, customer, DCC, Dynamic Currency Conversion, e-commerce, Internet Secure, MCC, merchant, moto, Multi Currency Conversion, point of sale, retail, terminals, transactions, virtual merchant
April 15th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Dynamic Currency Conversion
- Five supported currencies
- Retail, Restaurant, MOTO, E-commerce
- Price listed in merchant’s currency
- Customer is aware of currency conversion
- Customer may opt-out at the point of sale
- Conversion occurs at the point of sale
- Merchants may choose settlement method & time
- Supported by terminals, viaWarp and Virtual Merchant
- Merchant rebate up to 100bp
Multi-Currency Conversion
- 100+ supported currencies
- E-commerce only
- Price listed in customer’s currency
- Customer is not aware of currency conversion
- Customer may not opt-out at the point of sale
- Conversion occurs between the point of sale and settlement
- All transactions auto settle at 6pm (eastern) daily
- Supported by Internet Secure or direct certification
- No merchant rebate
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mail Order Telephone Order, Merchant Account Services News Articles, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: currency, Currency Conversion, customer, e-commerce, merchants, moto, point of sale, terminals, virtual merchant
April 14th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Accepting credit card payments is a must if you’re planning to start a business. It’s good to know what is out there and how it applies to your situation. So you need to learn about credit card processing machines, depending on your business.
Here are some of the different types of credit card processing machines:
Dial-Up Terminal – the grandfather of credit card processing machines. Dial-up terminals use a phone line to connect with a credit card processing company. The advantage is that they are normally inexpensive than some higher-end options. The disadvantage is slower processor speed.
IP Terminal – connect the merchant over a high-speed internet connection. The advantage of IP terminal over dial-up terminal is speed. IP machines can process transactions as fast as 3 seconds as opposed the 10 to 25 seconds that a dedicated dial-up machine might take. IP terminals now cost about the same as dial-up units and that a single DSL link can accommodate more than one credit card terminal.
Wireless Terminals – the priciest yet most convenient type is a wireless machine that runs on a wireless network, much like your mobile phone.
Virtual Terminal – virtual terminals are computers running credit card processing software connected to a credit card reader. Virtual terminals are a great addition to an office because they don’t require a standalone credit card processing terminal.
There are many options available for your business, whether you’re e-Commerce, MOTO, In-Store or Mobile there’s a credit card processing machine and platform out there that will fit your business.
Give us a call to know more at 888-996-2273 or visit us at www.nationaltransaction.com
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Credit Card Reader Terminal, e-commerce & m-commerce Tagged with: card reader, credit card, credit card processing, e-commerce, merchant, mobile, moto, payments, terminal, virtual terminal
February 2nd, 2016 by Elma Jane
Businesses continue to struggle with the prohibited storage of unencrypted customer payment data. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), merchants are instructed that, Protection methods are critical components of cardholder data protection in PCI DSS Requirement.
PCI DSS applies to every company that stores, processes or transmits cardholder information. Regardless of the size or type of business you operate, the number of credit card transactions you process annually or the method you use to do so, you must be PCI compliant.
Data breach is not a limited, one-time occurrence. This is why PCI compliance is required across all systems used by merchants.
Encryption and Tokenization is a strong combination to protect cardholder at all points in the transaction lifecycle; in use, in transit and at rest.
National Transaction’s security solutions provide layers of protection, when used in combination with EMV and PCI-DSS compliance.
Encryption is ideally suited for any businesses that processes card transactions in a face to face or card present environment. From the moment a payment card is swiped or inserted at a terminal featuring a hardware-based, tamper resistant security module, encryption protects the card data from fraudsters as it travels across various systems and networks until it is decrypted at secure data center.
Tokenization can be used in card not present environments (travel merchants) such as e-commerce or mail order/telephone order (MOTO), or in conjunction with encryption in card present environments. Tokens can reside on your POS/PMS or within your e-commerce infrastructure at rest and can be used to make adjustments, add new charges, make reservations, perform recurring transactions, or perform other transactions in use. Tokenization protects card data when it’s in use and at rest. It converts or replaces cardholder data with a unique token ID to be used for subsequent transactions.
The sooner businesses implement encryption and tokenization the sooner stored unencrypted data will become a thing of the past.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: card, card data, card present, cardholder, compliance, credit card, customer, data, data breach, data security, e-commerce, EMV, encryption, Mail Order/Telephone Order, merchants, moto, payment, Payment Card Industry, PCI-DSS, POS, secure data, Security, terminal, tokenization, tokens, travel, travel merchants
January 21st, 2016 by Elma Jane
Merchant accounts are as varied as the merchants themselves and the goods being sold.
What kind of account would you fall under:
High Risk Merchant Accounts – Finding a processor who is willing to take your account can be more challenging. High risk merchants range from travel agencies to multi-level marketing companies, credit restoration merchants, casinos, online pharmaceutical companies, adult/dating merchants and many other.
Internet based merchant account (Ecommerce/Website order processing) – E-Commerce is a booming market, with so many people buying and selling goods online due to the wide reach and easy access to the internet.
Mobile or Wireless merchant account – This merchant is specifically designed for small businesses, solo professionals, and mobile services (including lawyers, landscapers, contractors, consultants, repair tradesmen, etc), who are constantly on the move and require a payment to processed on the spot.
MOTO (Mail or Telephone order) – This enables phone based or direct mail orders processing for customers who can buy your product or service from the comfort of their home. Since there is no card present there is no need for traditional equipment.
Multiple Merchant Accounts – Some businesses can have merchant accounts of a couple or all different types. Merchants who fall into this category are called multi-channel merchants as they sell their goods through a number of different channels. Most commonly this is related to retail stores who also have an online presence to sell their goods. This is very common in today’s competitive market where constant contact with customers is critical to success.
Traditional Account with Equipment – Most commonly used for retail businesses (grocery, departmental stores etc) where the transactions are processed in a face to face interaction also known as Point of Sale (PoS).
Interested to setup an account give us a call at 888-9962273
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce, Mail Order Telephone Order, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Point of Sale, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: account, card, card present, credit, customers, e-commerce, high risk merchant, internet, merchant accounts, merchants, mobile, mobile services, moto, multi-channel merchants, payment, point of sale, POS, processor, transactions, travel, travel agencies