Why businesses should use credit card pre-authorisation
How does credit card pre-authorisation work?
If you just want to confirm a card is valid without holding funds on the card, you can use a status check. This sends a $0.00 pre-auth to the card’s issuing bank to make sure the credit card is valid and that there are no blocks on the card i.e. the card is not stolen. You don’t need the physical card to perform a status check, so this is particularly handy if you use an online booking platform and want to confirm the card straight away.
Why not just take a deposit?
Who should use credit card pre-authorisation?
Any business that offers their goods or services in advance of taking payment will benefit from using credit card pre-authorisations to manage payments. Here are some ideas for using credit card pre-authorisation in your business:
Bar tabs
Offering bar tabs encourages customers to stay at your premises longer and increases average spend. But there is a risk of losing out on revenue if your customers 'do a runner'. Using credit card pre-authorisation reduces your risk of fraud and theft, while also making it easier for your staff to manage tabs and for your customers to order from you. Here's six reasons why bars should be using credit card pre-auths to manage tabs.
Accommodation businesses
As well as reducing the risk of fraud and theft, credit card pre-authorisation can help make check-in and check-out easier for you and your guests since they only have to present their card once. You can even offer an express check-out service! Status checks can validate that a credit card number used to make an online booking is a valid card. Learn more about how accommodation businesses can use credit card pre-authorisation here.
How to get started
If you have a Verifone EFTPOS terminal getting set up to take credit card pre-authorisation is really simple. It's free to use and free to enable with a simple call to our customer services team (0800 EFTPOS, option 4).
We do recommend doing some pre-planning before you start taking credit card pre-auths, however. We cover off the four key things you'll need to do before you get started here.
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