Hello,

I'm using PCCharge to process my credit card transactions. I've been setup with the FDMS Nashville platform and it works fine with Visa/MC. I tried using my own Visa/MC for test purposes and I see that if I enter the wrong CVV2, expiration date, billing zip code, etc... the transaction is declined; which is fine because that is what I was expecting to happen.

However, when I used my Amex card and entered the wrong CID, expiration date, billing zip code, etc... the transaction got approved. This worries me because that means a customer can just have a valid credit card number and the transaction will be approved.

Does anybody have FDMS setup as their platform? Or is using PCCharge for credit card transactions? Does anybody know why this is happening??

Thank you,

olimits7

From what I remember, FDMS Nashville does not support Amex's CID code. PCCharge will let you enter it, but Nashville doesn't support verifying it (yeah, stupid)... so - that's probably why the transaction is still getting approved.

You can control which transactions PCCharge approves by going to Setup, Address Verify or Card Verification (may be located in a different place or have different names, dependant upon which version of PCCharge you are using)... here, you can control which transactions should be declined... make sure these settings match what you want.

Jared,

Is it possible with this Merchant Provider that you can actually tell them that you do not want to allow transaction that have the wrong Billing info or CID or CVV2 code? If so, does it let the shopper know that they entered something wrong and give them the chance to correct the mistake?

Rick-

olimits7 question was in regard to PCCharge - they are not doing online authorizations, they are processing them using software externally.

As for your question, whether a transaction gets approved or not is based on how you setup your gateway (or software program), not by which merchant account provider you choose (with rare exception.) So, whether you process with First Data, Paymentech, Chase or Bank of America - they all approve transactions, as long as funds are available.

You have control over the gateway, and what transactions it approves... if you're using Authorize.net, you can control what transactions you want to decline. If you're using PCCharge, you also get to choose... so it's not the merchant account that limits the approvals, but instead the gateway/software.

Hope that makes sense!

Makes perfect sense, sorry I used the wrong terminology of Merchant account, i meant gateway.

For a brief second I got the impression that a gateway could actually be set to decline an order if the end user had put in the wrong billing info or security code. We use linkpoint, and I have not seen this ability in the admin panel for linkpoint.

We get amex approvals with the wrong info NNN, NNNN, and NNNP and we always which we just weren't given these orders since we cancel them anyway.

Rick-

You should be able to automatically decline those orders... we don't use Linkpoint, but give them a call - they should be able to solve that for you.

I believe I have asked them before, only to get rejected, but I will call them again and double check it. Hopefully, it can reject the order until the customer puts in the right info. I have seen it on other sites, but not certain if that is the function of the shopping cart or the gateway.

When it comes to Amex authorizations it is terribly more critical. Olimits, if anything is fishy about an Amex authorization double-triple check it before you ship any merchandise.

Thank you for your replies, I appreciate it.


That is so weird I don't know why Amex cards get approved so easily. I would think they would have better fraud detection before they approve the card.

It seems with Visa/MC it works fine. I just did a test transaction in PCCharge with all of my Address Verify/Card Verification settings checked off so it woul have to approve any type of card. But when I tried my MC card with a wrong billing zip code, expiration date, cvv2, etc.... it declined the order which is great. I just wished Amex would be the same way.

Do you know if there is a processor that has fraud protection for Amex cards? I want to find a processor that works the same way it works for Visa/MC cards. They have great fraud protection with AVS and CVV2.

It just stinks as a merchant you try to avoid charge backs by using AVS/CVV2 checks and they don't even work on Amex/Discover cards.

Just curious, what type of processor & gateway do you guys use? And does it offer you fraud protection on Amex/Discover cards??


Thanks again,

olimits7

olimits7:

If you had allowed PCCharge to approve all transactions (whether they match AVS or CVV or not), then it is your credit card ISSUER (the bank that gave you your PERSONAL credit card) that is declining the transaction... many banks will automatically decline transactions that come through with the wrong CVV code. So, again - this is not based on your merchant account provider or your gateway/software, but instead on your credit card issuer.

Hi Guys,

I believe I can shed some light on this situation. Each software and gateway has to be what they call "certified" and each fraud screen tools needs to be certified from FDR as well. Because there are different versions of PC Charge that have come out at different times, the CVV2 for Amex on the version you have doesn't sound like it's certified or what they also call supported from FDR. This will mean the transaction will not be stopped from PC Charge at the time of the sale even if the CVV2 doesn't match.

So, here's what you should do: Within PC Charge there's a setup area for CVV, you should look for the screen that has "card verification". Please un check the box where it reads CVV2, issuer not certified. That should stop cards from going through when the issuer isn't certified under CVV2 and restrict cards that don't match.

Also, here's PC Charge help desk number 877-659-8981. They can also trouble shoot with you if you don't find that works.

Feel free to contact me, if you need more help

Julie

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your feedback.

I just tried authorizing an Amex card transaction and the transaction still got approved. I unchecked "CVV2, issuer not certified" within PCCharge and put a wrong CID number and it still got approved.

I looked under the PCCharge card processor matrix they have on their website and I see that FDMS Nashville doesn't support CID for Amex cards. But I do see other processors that have an X in the CID column for Amex cards.

So if I changed processors to one of the one's that support CID for Amex cards PCCharge should decline Amex cards with the wrong CID number, right??

Thank you, again.

olimits7

Jared,

Called linkpoint today and was told that the ability to refuse orders based on the avs and cvv2 results was not something they offered with the software. They told me with Mxvx cart that ability was available, but that if it was something we wanted then we would have to ask to program that ability into the cart.

So I guess it is another one of these features that we just will have to request and wait for years to get incoporated. Probably wouldn't even stand a chance since I would be asking them to develop something for one gateway.

So for now, we just have to continue to manually assess the NNNNs and the NYZNs and so forth.

Rick-

Or don't use Linkpoint. Authorize.net supports these features, along with probably most other gateways...

Could be wrong, but I believe card services makes you use Linkpoint, so I would basically have to apply for another merchant account and get out of my contract with Card Services. Don't know If I want to go through it right now, but I might start looking. Do you know if s Merchant have this same feature?

Hi everyone,

Our gateway does support Amex and I'd be happy to help you. I think your going about this in a very smart way. Amex chargeback policy is almost 99% in favor of the cardholder so the more protection you can have up front against chargebacks the better. They have an awful reputation for being pro customer and non pro merchant.

If you want me to help, simply drop me a line and we can take care of your issue. julie@monstercommerce.com

Hope that helps,
Julie