The following guidelines, which supplement your Talus Merchant Agreement, will help you comply with card organization regulations, reduce risk to your business, and increase profits.
- Include sales tax in the total transaction amount
- Don't split sales using one cardholder account
- Don't authorize estimated tips
- Don't give cash refunds
- Deposit receipts within 24 hours of authorization
- Deposit transactions from only your own business
- Deliver goods and services as promised
- Follow PCI Data Security Standards
Include sales tax in the total transaction amount
Include any required sales taxes in the total credit card transaction amount. Do not collect taxes separately as cash or another form of payment. This policy reflects the needs of the many credit cardholders who must have written records of the taxes they pay for goods and services.
Don't split sales using one cardholder account
Prepare only one sales receipt per transaction, using the full transaction amount. Merchants are not allowed to split the cost of a single transaction between two or more sales receipts, using a single cardholder account to avoid authorization limits.
Don't authorize estimated tips
For restaurant transactions with a credit or debit card, authorize only for the known amount, not the transaction amount plus an estimated tip. An authorization that includes an estimated tip can reduce a cardholder's available funds or credit by an unrecognizable or unexpected amount and can increase the potential for a chargeback.
Don't give cash refunds
Complete a credit card receipt for merchandise returns or adjustments. Do not provide cash refunds for returned merchandise originally purchased with a credit card. Card associations do not permit cash refunds for any credit or debit card transactions. By issuing returns (also called credits) to the same credit card provided to you for the original transaction, you protect yourself and your customers from fraudulent activity.
Deposit receipts within 24 hours of authorization
Deposit or “batch out” your credit card receipts within 24 hours of the credit card authorization. Card associations may begin downgrading credit card transactions 24 hours after the authorization is obtained. Cardholders will not see the credit card transaction on their account until the transaction is batched, thus increasing the potential for a chargeback.
Deposit transactions from only your own business
Only deposit transactions for your own business. Depositing transactions for a business that does not have a valid merchant agreement is called laundering or factoring. Factoring is prohibited by all major card associations and is a form of fraud that is associated with high chargeback rates.
Deliver goods and services as promised
Deliver the products and services promised to the cardholder, in the time frame, quantity, and quality represented. Any warranty or refund policies offered are also considered part of the service.
Follow PCI Data Security Standards
You must comply with the PCI Data Security Standards as defined by each card brand. For information about security standards and recommendations for securing card data, please see thePCI Security Standards Council's website
.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.