What is “pending”? Check your receipts for partial authorizations

Recently, several of our credit card processing participants have noticed pending charges on some of their credit card sales receipts. Unfortunately, they noticed it too late, after the customer had signed and left their business, costing them money.

The updated terminals, such as the VeriFone Vx520, include by default a “partial authorization” feature that allows the merchant to accept a partial payment from a card that would have been declined. Visa and MasterCard made this change to allow cardholders using debit, gift and prepaid cards to use another form of payment, rather than being declined if there isn’t enough of a balance on their card.

Some terminals are not prompting on the screen, so the cashier must pay attention to every processing sales receipt that is printed out to make sure the full charge was paid. If this is the case, you should contact your processor for a new terminal download. If you process through RCSC, contact Michele or Nicholl at (800) 442-3589 to get information about the download you need.

Hypercom/Optimum terminal not working?

Please note: If you have a Hypercom/Optimum M4100, M4230, M4240, T4205, T4210, T4220, T4230, or T4260 – A software certificate contained in many of these terminals expired on October 19, 2015. DO NOT REBOOT or POWER DOWN your device. If you receive an error message, you will most likely need to replace your terminal. Contact Carly at (800) 442-3589 for more information.

Your terminal has a slot, but that doesn’t mean you can accept chip cards

Members have already reported chargebacks since the October 1, 2015 EMV liability shift. Many merchants mistakenly believe since there is a chip card slot on their terminal, that they are all set to accept chip cards and avoid liability for fraudulent cards. This is not the case. Your processor must set up your terminal with the appropriate software download, or you may need a new terminal altogether.

One member recently had a chargeback for $182.50 after a customer disputed the charge. That member is liable for the $182.50 because he accepted a chip credit card as payment, but his terminal was not EMV (chip card)-enabled.

If you do not have the correct software on your terminal and you swipe a chip card, the terminal will not prompt you to insert the card. It will process the card just like any other mag stripe card, but you will be liable for any fraudulent charges.

Contact Michele or Nicholl with your questions about EMV terminals at (800) 442-3589.