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Merchant Memos

Discover Network Card Processing
Vantage Card Services, Inc. (“Vantage”) and Global Payments Direct, Inc. (“Global”) are pleased to inform you of a business relationship with Discover Financial Services, LLC (“Discover® Network”) whereby Global now offers Discover Network card acceptance as an integrated processing solution to merchants, which includes one source for settlement on a single statement as well as one source of customer service for your authorization, chargeback processing and risk management needs. Merchants also benefit with direct pass through of Discover Network Interchange, Dues and Assessments.

Important PCI DSS Compliance
Effective January 1, 2008, Phase 1 of the Visa Payment Application Mandates stipulates that no merchant may be boarded that uses a payment application identified as storing vulnerable data.

Industry Update: Visa Goes Public
March 19, 2008, Visa raises $17.9 billion in record IPO. Then the next day underwriters of the share offering of credit card payments group Visa exercised an option for another 40.6 million shares, boosting the record IPO to $19.1 billion dollars. Shares in the San Francisco-based firm, which processes credit card payments and fees around the globe, began trading under the stock ticker symbol "V." Visa's giant IPO (now the largest in US history) easily smashed the US record of $10.6 billion dollars set by AT&T Wireless in 2000.

Early reports:
Visa announced on October 11, 2006 that it will restructure itself to become a global public corporation called Visa, Inc. The new company would be created through merging Visa Canada, Visa USA, and Visa International, which includes the operating regions for Asia-Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean; Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The resulting organization will be a stock corporation owned by Visa's members. After the completion of those mergers, the company would begin the process of becoming a public company by conducting an initial public offering. As part of the restructuring, the board of Visa Inc. will be comprised of a majority of independent directors. Searches for independent directors and a chief executive officer for Visa Inc. are underway.

Visa Europe, however, would not become part of the new corporation but remain a membership organization owned by its European member banks. Visa Europe would operate as a licensee of Visa Inc. Visa reports the boards of its six regions and Visa International unanimously approved the restructuring plan. Visa's members and regulators still must approve the plan.

MasterCard Expands QPS Program
The MasterCard Quick Payment Service (QPS) program provides chargeback protection and allows the flexibility of no signature required on qualifying transactions (under $25 except under $35 for movie theaters and under $50 for parking lots). Registration does not affect pricing; therefore merchants may qualify for small ticking pricing without registration. Twelve merchant categories are eligible to register: 5411 Grocery/Supermarkets, 5499 Food/Convenience/Markets, 5541 Service Stations, 5735 Music Stores*, 5814 Fast Food Restaurants, 5912 Drug/Pharmacies, 5942 Bookstores*, 5994 Newsstands*, 7216 Dry Cleaners*, 7523 Parking Lots, 7841 Video Stores*, 7832 Movie Theaters (* must have one check out lane accepting the contactless MasterCard PayPass).

Visa AFD updates
Please be advised that effective April 5, 2008, Visa is changing the chargeback protection limits for all Automatic Fuel Dispenser (AFD) transactions on Visa consumer and Visa Business products from $50 to $75 when a status check authorization is obtained. The chargeback protection for Visa Fleet cards will continue to operate at the recently revised $150 limit.

Visa Utility Registration
Visa has recently updated their Utility Interchange Reimbursement Fee (VUIRF) Program guide and registration form requirements. Merchants classified under MCC 4900 provide the generation, transmissions, and/or distribution of electric, gas, water or sanitary utility services on an ongoing basis are eligible to register for participation. To further build Visa card acceptance, registered VUIRF participants qualify at $0.75 for Visa consumer debit and consumer credit transactions and $1.50 for Visa small business products.

Unembossed Visa and MasterCard Acceptance
Unlike an embossed card with raised numbers, letters, and symbols, the unembossed card has a smooth, flat surface. From a merchant perspective, the processing of an unembossed card at the point of sale should be seamless. There's no need for new software, special hardware, or modified terminal procedures. Simply swipe the unembossed card just as you would an embossed card, obtain an authorization and cardholder's signature. Because of the unembossed card's flat surface, it cannot be used for transactions that require a card imprint.

Merchants are going to start seeing more and more unembossed cards since they are now being issued in the U.S. to accommodate the changing payment environment and new customer segments.

New Card Association Rule for Restaurant Tips
Restaurants are now protected for up to a 20% tip without the additional authorization request.  You may be most familiar with this issue on check cards.  For example, the restaurant industry would get a $12 authorization code for a $10 base amount .  When customers rush home to look at their online banking, some think they were overcharged (i.e. they didn't leave a tip or tipped in cash).  With this change, restaurants authorize the base amount for $10 and receive an approval code for $10 (still protected up to $12 by rule).  Your POS or terminal application should be updated to reflect this change.

Card Usage Surcharges
As you know, it is against the rules for merchants to charge cardholders a surcharge for using their credit card. The penalties for being reported by a cardholder escalate from a slap on the hand on the first offense to a $5,000 fine on the third. However, there are two exceptions. Merchants may impose a Convenience Fee if this fee meets the following criteria: 1) It is a flat fee and not a percent of the sale, for example, a flat $5 regardless of the dollar value of the sale, 2) It must be charged equally on all forms of payment including other card products, checks, and even cash payments, 3) It is charged only for non-standard acceptance methods, for example, an Internet business cannot charge for accepting payment over the Internet and a restaurant can't charge for accepting cards at the POS (these are the standard acceptance procedures for these industries, and 4) It must be fully disclosed prior to the sale. The second exception is the Visa Tax Payment program where a Service Fee is allowed given the following: 1) The merchant must be enrolled in the pilot, and 2) The transaction and the Service Fee must be two separate transactions, for example, the tax payment transaction of $5,000 and the Service Fee transaction of $125. If the merchant only accepts MasterCard and not Visa, then registration is possible for the MasterCard Convenience Fee program which is open to educational institutions and public sector merchant categories. For more information, please call us at 800-397-2380.

Know the Difference Between a Void and a Credit
Use a void to reverse a transaction if the batch hasn’t been closed yet. This erases the transaction before it’s processed so you won’t be charged. Use the credit to return funds to a customer after you’ve received payment for a transaction (such as returned merchandise or unused services). To find out how to void or credit transactions, just check you terminal operating quick reference guide, or call us.

Declined Transactions
If you receive a decline when processing a transaction, discontinue the transaction and request another form of payment from the cardholder. Do not attempt to process the card at a lower authorization amount. The cardholder’s issuing bank may not honor subsequent transaction attempts on the card even if you do finally get an approval code.

Card Number Truncation
New laws and rules are being rolled out to require that cardholder information be truncated on all receipts that a customer receives from the credit card terminal. This is to protect the cardholder from the possibility of their card number being compromised if they lose their receipt. Your terminal will be updated prior to these rules going into effect in your state or by the card associations. You will be contacted to modify your application to truncate receipts.

International Orders
Use caution when taking an overseas order. Fraudulent transactions that originate overseas are on the rise. Remember that international transactions are high-risk transactions. Know your customer, properly identify the person you are dealing with, take a second look at what is being ordered and where it is being shipped. Did your customer offer you multiple cards as payment? Is the customer asking for immediate shipment? Does the transaction make sense? If not, you may have just detected a fraudulent transaction and saved yourself from taking a loss.

Supply Order Warning
Do not place credit card supply orders (paper rolls, ink ribbon, etc.) with people calling you to ask if you need supplies or calling to verify your order for supplies. Vantage will NOT call you to ask if you need supplies - you must call Vantage. We will NOT follow up with a “verification” call. There are a lot of companies who scam merchants by sending them supplies and then charge them hundreds of dollars for supplies that are probably free or at a minimum cost.