Being able to process card payments is essential for small and medium-sized B2B AND B2C companies, especially as consumers increasingly choose to use plastic over cash. But when your funds are being held up or your account is frozen, it can slow down business. Some of the main causes for accounts holds and freezes include chargebacks or fraud. Moreover, your money can be held up if your processor requires a reserve fund investigation or if unusual activity occurs, including a sudden spike in sales. Thus, it’s important to know what measures to take to reduce chargebacks, account holds and freezes. Here are some tactics to consider:
Take Preventative Measures to Reduce Fraudulent Trickery
To lessen the burden of liability, some credit card processors require that you take specific measures to prevent fraudulent behavior. Some common fraudulent prevention tactics you can employ includes requiring signatures for delivery of products, performing fraud scrubbing or turning on gateway fraud filters that require the Card Verification Value or CVV number from the back of the consumer’s credit or debit card and the billing address or Address Verification System (AVS) code to process payments for online purchases and EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) chip cards with PIN for in-store purchases. By taking these preventative steps, you reduce the chances of your money being held up by your processor.
Be Transparent to Reduce Chargebacks
It’s vital to be upfront with your customers. If it’s hard to find your contact information to make a complaint or to dispute a charge, your customers may just contact their bank instead. Moreover, if customers cannot recognize the name of your company, they may also dispute charges. This can lead to chargebacks and account holds. Avoid this by clearly identifying all business names that may appear on your customer’s credit card or bank statements. Also, make sure customers can find your contact information by including it on shipping return labels and on the bottom banner of your website page.
Pick the Right Credit Card Processing Service From the Start
Whether you’re using point-of-sale services for business solutions, such as in-store transactions or credit card processing services to support transactions for your online store, it’s important to choose merchant services that are transparent and clear about their account hold and freeze process. Choose a processor that is clear about the type of agreement you have with them including what security measures and liabilities you’re expected to take. Also, consider a processor that offers services you need for online, mobile and in-store transactions, such as the flexible payment options provided by Velocity Merchant Services. By knowing what measures to take, you can avoid account holds and freezes and get back to business
Helpful Tip
Knowing the basic categories of charges will allow you to speak knowledgeably to your credit card processor and help ensure you’re getting the best value for you money.
Read more about the basics of starting a company here: insight.getvms.com/get-ahead-in-credit-card-processing-know-the-terms