Configure Credit Card Verification Settings

Overview of Credit Card Verification

The Credit Card Verification feature allows you to put in place a security process to check ownership of credit cards used for orders on your site. When turned on, the system will flag credit card orders over a set monetary threshold completed through guest checkout and when a new credit card is used by registered Users or Customers. Two verification methods are available - Short Change (the new and recommended one) and Split Charge (the older method). Affected orders are placed on hold ('pending') until credit card ownership has been verified.

For registered users and customers, successful verification of a credit card means it can be used for subsequent orders without triggering further security checks. Also, if a registered user has multiple orders 'pending' against the same credit card, the system will release all orders upon its successful verification. For extra security, guest checkouts over the threshold amount will always trigger the verification process even when the credit card has been used before. 

Prerequisites to using Credit Card Verification

Step-by-step guide to configuring Credit Card Verification 

Credit Card Verification settings can only be configured by your site's CMS administrators. 

1. In CMS, navigate to Settings → Feature Management → Payment & Checkout.
   
   
2. Toggle on Credit Card Verification and click Configure.   
   
   
   
   
3. In the Credit Card Verification page, toggle on Enable Credit Card Verification.
   
   
   
4. Accept the default values or change them to match your business requirements. 

Option	Default Value	Description	Override Available?
Enable Immediate Order Integration	OFF	OFF:  the verification process begins upon submission of the order. The order has the status 'pending' on your website.  ON: the system will integrate the order to the ERP before the verification process is initiated. This option (used with the ShortChange method) provides increased efficiencies for your business during the verification process period: stock status - ordered items are committed to that order and are marked unavailable in your ERP so they cannot be ordered by other customers, online and offline, multiple orders - when a credit card is verified, all remaining pending orders on that credit card are also updated and available for further online processing by your team members, cash receipt issue - cash receipts are written at the time of integration and can be reconciled more easily with your customer's credit card payment since they occur on the same day	Role level
Attempts Allowed	3	The number of times the user or customer can attempt to verify ownership by entering one of the verification amounts charged to their credit card before the order is cancelled.	Role level
Percentage Split (of the order amount)	85	Applies to the Split Charge method only. The system will split the total amount payable into two charge amounts (the first split equalling this value +/- the Credit Card Verification Percentage Variant). A correct split charge must be entered to verify credit card ownership.	Role level
Threshold Order Amount	250.00	The system will hold orders over this amount until the user/customer can verify credit card ownership.	Role level
Days to Hold Order	45	The the number of days an order remains open for the user to validate the credit card.	Role level
Usage Type	Customer	Credit Card Verification can be set against the user's login or the customer. Note - Guest user orders will always trigger a verification request when over the Threshold Order Amount.	Role level
Verification Method	ShortChange	Select ShortChange (recommended) or SplitCharge Short Change - the system will charge the credit card once and the charge appears in a single cash receipt. A random amount between the 'Payment Amount' and 'Payment Amount - Max Short Charge Amount' is deducted before charging. The  customer/user must be able to confirm the 'short change' amount charged. The Short Change method is recommended because it involves a single charge and only one cash receipt, which streamlines the reconciliation of credit card charges with cash receipts for your business and customers, and minimises the number of reversals needed.   Split Charge (old method) - the system will charge the credit card twice in accordance with the 'Percentage Split' previously entered. They appear as two separate charges with two cash receipts. The customer/user must be able to confirm one of the split charges to pass the verification check.	Role level
Days Before Initial Reminder Email	2	The number of days after order placement to send an initial reminder email if the customer has not verified the credit card.
Days Before Subsequent Reminder Email	7	The number of days after the initial reminder email to send a follow-up reminder email if the customer has still not verified the credit card.
Notification Email	Blank	Enter the email address to which the system will send email notifications of orders pending, awaiting verification.
Online Team Email	Blank	Enter a team email address to which the system will send email notifications of orders pending, awaiting verification.	Role level
Order Integration Order Status	17	This value represents the order status 'pending'. If the 'enable immediate integration' is on, this value represents the order status of 'pending' but unintegrated in the ERP.
Short Change Settings Max Short Change Amount	$1.00	Applies to 'ShortChange' option only. When ShortChange is selected, the system will charge the payment amount minus a random amount. The Max Short Change Amount represents the maximum amount that can be deducted off the total.

Add Overrides (optional)

An override allows you to specify an exception to a global setting for a certain feature. For Credit Card Verification settings, overrides are set at the role level. If an override is available for a feature, the Overrides button appears.

For instance, you may want to restrict Business2Business customers to two verification attempts and allow everyone else the default value of three. 

To add an override,

1. Click the  button.
2. In the Role dropdown list, select the role.
3. In Override Value, add the override value.
4. Click Confirm to save your changes. You will see that the number of overrides for the feature has increased by one.
   
   
   
5. To save your changes, click Save or Save and Exit.
   
   

Edit Order Confirmation Message widget

When Credit Card Verification is turned on, after an order is submitted, in the Order Confirmation page, the customer will see a message about the verification process and how to complete it. The message also appears in an 'Order Pending' email to the customer.

This message is customised in the Order Confirmation Message widget. To do this,

1. Navigate to Content → Pages & Templates → Order Confirmation Page. 
   
   
2. Click Edit.
   
   
3. Find the Order Confirmation Message widget and click Edit. 
   
   
4. Find the tab: 'Credit Card Validation'. Note - If the tab is not there, check that 'Credit Card Verification' is enabled in 'Settings'.
   
   
   

5. Configure the heading and message your customer will see. In the message, '{0}' will display the value set in 'Days to Hold Order'. The message must also contain a link to the 'Credit Card Validation Amount' page.  
   
   

6. Save your changes. 
   
   

View and manage orders during the credit card verification process

When Credit Card Verification is turned on, the menu item Orders → Credit Card Verification appears in the CMS. Clicking on it will take you to the list of orders flagged for verification and their current statuses.  

An order awaiting credit card verification will have the status 'Pending'.

To view an order's details including the Split Charge or Short Change amounts, click on More Info.

Resend credit card verification email to Customer

If the customer enquires after their order and requires the email asking them to verify the amounts, you can resend the email to them by clicking Resend Email.

Verify credit card ownership offline and release order

If the customer was unable to validate the credit card via the link but was able to confirm card ownership another wat, an authorised CMS user can release the 'pending' order for processing by clicking the Release button.


Enter the reason for the release and click Confirm. The order is released for further processing  and the customer will receive an order confirmation email. Any other orders pending on verification of the same credit card will also be released.

The Credit Card Verification process - from the customers/user's perspective 

1. A new user or customer registers on your site and makes a purchase. At the 'Checkout' page, they must check the box to acknowledge that their credit card payment may be selected for additional security verification.
   
   
   

2. As this is the first time the customer has purchased something on your site, their credit card is unverified. In the order confirmation page, the system will advise them that the order is 'pending'.
   
   
   
3. The message provides a link to verify the credit card.
   - If your site is not using the 'immediate integration' option, the customer can click on the link to verify ownership of the card straightaway. The system will also send them an 'order pending' email, which also has the link to validate the order.  
   - If your site is using the 'immediate integration' option, the customer has to wait until the order has been integrated. At that point, the system will send them the 'order pending' email and they can verify their credit card.

1. The charged amount(s) the customer needs for verification will appear in their credit card's transactions. If your site uses Split Charge, there will be two separate charges. If your site uses Short Change, there is only one charge. 
   
   
   
2. Once the customer knows the charge amount(s), they can proceed to enter the amounts by clicking the link on your site or through the email.
   
   
   
   
3.  If the amount entered is correct, the system will release the order and send the customer an order confirmation email.
   
   - If Split Charge is used, the email will contain the two charges totalling the payment amount. The Cash Receipt below displays a successful Split Charge verified payment.  

- If Short Change is used, 

What if user fails credit card verification?

1. Each time the user enters an amount that does not match the splits charged or the short changes for the nominated order, the system will display a failed message. The number of times a user can attempt verification depends on the 'Attempts Allowed' setting. 

2 (i) On the final failed attempt, the system will advise them the number of verification attempts have been exceeded. The user will not be able to make any more attempts.

(ii) The system will also email the address entered in 'Notification Email' (in Credit Card Verification Feature Settings) of the failed verification.

(iii) For security purposes, a CMS administrator cannot release an order that failed verification.

The credit card is charged at the time of purchase. Therefore, if verification fails, then the customer or user must engage with the credit card merchant to organise a refund to the nominated credit card if they abandon an order.

Additional Information

This verification process is compatible only with the eWay Payment Provider.

Related help

• Page:
  CC Order Confirmation emails
• Page:
  User Impersonation
• Page:
  Report Subscriptions (Scheduled Reporting)
• Page:
  Configure Scheduled Reporting
• Page:
  Create CMS Users