I. INTRODUCTION

For rental operations in the United States, an optional interface with the Equifax Credit Bureau is available for credit checking. Credit checking can be configured to be done when:

1. A debit card is presented as security to pre-authorize the rental when opening a RA.
2. Booking a reservation and the pick-up date and time is less than the necessary lead time (as defined in a control file.)

DEBIT CARDS

The use of debit cards is common at the time of closing a RA or when processing a deposit. However, using them to pre-authorize a rental at Open is a very different matter due to the temporary nature of the authorization "hold" that is placed on the account.

CARS+ can be configured in the following ways concerning debit cards for pre-authorization:

A. Debit cards are accepted as any credit card may be, including pre-authorization.

No additional setup is needed for this configuration.

B. Debit cards are NOT accepted at all for pre-authorizations.

To block the use of debit cards for pre-authorization on RA Open, contact the Thermeon Customer Support Dept. who will set up an automatic process which will update CARS+ with the current number ranges for debit cards on a daily basis. Cards falling within these ranges will be blocked from use as a pre-authorization on both the Reservation and RA Open screens. If a debit card number is entered into the FOP # field on the Main Window of either the Reservations (field 6) or RA Open (field 7) programs, CARS+ will display the message:

DEBIT CARDS MAY ONLY BE USED AS DEPOSITS OR PAYMENT AT CLOSE

After pressing (RET), CARS+ will display the message:

INVALID CARD#

After pressing (RET), the card number will be cleared from the screen.

Debit cards will be accepted in the Deposit Subwindow of the Reservations and RA Open programs and in the Payments Subwindow of the RA Close program.

C. Debit cards are accepted for pre-authorization when a successful credit check is done through Equifax.

Refer to the following section of this chapter for details.

PREPAID GIFT CARDS

The use of prepaid gift cards can be prohibited in RA Open (see Set Up steps below). If prohibited and the card number entered is identified as a gift card, the following message will display:

PREPAID GIFT CARDS ARE NOT ACCEPTED

followed by:

INVALID CARD#

After pressing (RET), the card number will be cleared from the screen. Gift cards with a balance can always be used as a form of payment at RA Close.

RESERVATIONS WITH SHORT LEAD TIME

Some rental operations have a procedure to qualify a potential renter prior to the pick-up date. But when the pickup date and time is just hours away, there is no time to do a formal check. In situations such as these, CARS+ can be configured to do an on-line credit check with Equifax to pre-qualify the renter. This applies to all reservations regardless of the Form of Payment being used.

EQUIFAX

Equifax has developed a scoring range that they use to predict rental payment risk for the general car renting public. (Note this is not the same as an individual's FICO credit score which has a maximum of 800. The rental risk assessment car rental score has a range of zero to 999.)

To lower the risk involved in accepting debit cards for pre-authorizations or reservations with a short lead time, CARS+ can be configured to accept the transaction only when the renter's Equifax Rental Score is higher than a minimum score the manager selects and enters into a CARS+ control file. (Set up instructions are in the next section of this chapter.)

When an inquiry is made, Equifax will return a rental credit score. Due to privacy concerns, CARS+ will interpret it as a simple pass/fail based on the minimum score selected. As a result, there is no way for the rental operations personnel to know the score or answer questions concerning it. When a customer has been rejected, CARS+ prints a simple letter that explains the renter's consumer credit rights.

Note: The use of Equifax for doing a credit check should not replace obtaining an authorization on a Debit Card. Both should be done:

• The authorization check will indicate if the client's checking account currently has a balance large enough to cover the anticipated charges (even though this does not guarantee the balance will be sufficient at the time of RA Close).
• Equifax will indicate if in general the client is credit worthy.

Equifax Change: Starting in May 2012, an Equifax rental credit check will be classified as a "Soft Inquiry" and, as such, will NOT be reported to any other institution doing a subsequent credit check on a renter.

II. REQUIRED SET-UP STEPS

A. CONTACT CUSTOMER SUPPORT

To have the Equifax feature turned on, you must:

1. Sign a contract with Equifax for this service.

2. Contact Thermeon's Customer Support Dept. with the activation data provided by Equifax. The following things will be set up by Thermeon:

a. The Debit Card BIN ranges will be loaded.

b. The Equifax logic will be turned on. Keep in mind that each inquiry to Equifax will incur a charge, both from Equifax and Thermeon. Therefore, CARS+ can be configured to run the Equifax logic in the following ways:

Configuration 1: Make a credit check for ALL debit cards, even when the customer has rented before and has previously used the debit card with no problems.

or

Configuration 2: Make the credit check for only the following:

• new customers
• existing customers who have rented before but who do not have the debit card stored in their customer file as a FOP. NOTE: Repeat customers who have rented previously with the debit card that is currently being presented and it's now stored in their customer record and who have NOT been flagged to prevent future rentals will NOT have their credit checked.

CAUTION: Note that with Configuration 2:

• It is the user's responsibility to mark problem customers with a customer type that does not allow rentals. Failure to do so will allow the debit card in the customer record to be used to secure future rentals without doing a credit check.
• A previous customer who has rented successfully in the past with the debit card will not be checked again. Therefore, if their financial situation has changed for the worse, it could be that with these future rentals the debit card would now be rejected if the credit check had been done.

B. DETERMINING THE REQUIREMENT FOR A CREDIT SCORE

The statistical data in the chart below is from a larger chart that is available from Equifax (this chart is based on actual data that was furnished by Equifax in 2009). It is used for illustrative purposes to help the user read the Equifax Rental Score Report and determine how to set the minimum acceptable score for debit card users.

The columns on the chart are:

Column A: Equifax Rental Score range [this corresponds to the first column on the Equifax Rental Score Report].

Column B: The percent of the entire rental population who have a score in this range [this corresponds to the second column on the Equifax Rental Score Report].

Column C: The percent of the entire rental population who have a score less than this range [this corresponds to the third column on the Equifax Rental Score Report with amounts adjusted "up" one level].

Column D: The percent of all people who have a score this high or higher who present a possible collection problem on a rental agreement that is not secured with a credit card authorization [this corresponds to the final column on the Equifax Rental Score Report].

To read the chart, start first with the last row at the bottom. Equifax has determined that on rentals which are NOT secured with a Credit Card authorization large enough to cover the total amount of the anticipated charges, there is a 15.14% chance that the rental will have some type of collections problem. These problem rentals include those which were secured by a Debit Card. Now, go back to the top of the chart and read down.

---A---	---B---	---C---	---D---
Index Range (Score)	Interval % of Records	Percent below this Score	Overall Unsatisfactory Rate	--- COMMENTS---
980-999	4.75%	95.25%	3.06%	Only 4.75% (Column B) of the public will have a score this high. Therefore 95.25% (Column C) will have a score less than this. Yet even with this highest score, there is still a 3.06% (Column D) chance of a collection problem if the rental is not secured with a sufficient Credit Card authorization.
960-979	20.91%	74.34%	3.31%
940-959	17.96%	56.38%	3.87%
920-939	11.50%	44.89%	4.56%
900-919	7.34%	37.55%	5.26%	Adding percentages in Column B down to this point equals 62.46%. Therefore, using a minimum credit score of 900 means that 62.46% of the population will have a car rental score of 900 or above, and 37.55% (column C) will have a score below this. Setting the minimum score in CARS+ to this level will: Reduce the collections problems from a possible 15.14% to 5.26%, a reduction of about 2/3rds (Column D). But it will mean that 37.55% of the Debit card customers will have to be turned away (Column C).
880-899	5.16%	32.38%	5.95%
860-879	3.99%	28.40%	6.61%
840-859	3.32%	25.08%	7.24%
820-839	2.84%	22.24%	7.86%
800-819	2.43%	19.81%	8.42%	Adding percentages in Column B to this point equals 80.2%. Therefore, using a minimum credit score of 800 means that 80.2% of the population will have a car rental score of 800 or above, and 19.81% (column C) will have a score below that and thus will be rejected. Of the population at or above this score, 8.42% of the debit cards are likely to prove unsatisfactory (Column D). Therefore setting the score at this level results in cutting the risk in half while only turning away about 20% of all Debit card customers.
780-799	2.20%	17.61%	8.95%
760-779	1.91%	15.70%	9.46%
740-759	1.67%	14.03%	9.95%
720-739	1.46%	12.56%	10.40%
700-719	1.28%	11.29%	10.82%	Adding percentages in Column B to this point equals 88.72%. Therefore, using a minimum credit score of 700 means that 88.72% of the population will have a car rental score of 700 or above, and 11.29% (column C) will have a score below and be rejected. Of the population at or above this score, 10.82% of the debit cards are likely to prove unsatisfactory (Column D).
680-699	1.14%	10.15%	11.22%
660-679	1.03%	9.12%	11.60%
640-659	0.95%	8.18%	11.96%
620-639	0.88%	7.30%	12.31%
600-619	0.99%	6.32%	12.65%
580-599	0.96%	5.35%	12.99%
560-579	0.81%	4.54%	13.32%
540-559	0.70%	3.84%	13.61%
520-539	0.56%	3.28%	13.86%
500-519	0.47%	2.81%	14.09%
480-499	0.43%	2.38%	14.30%
460-479	0.36%	2.01%	14.49%
440-459	0.29%	1.73%	14.63%
420-439	0.22%	1.50%	14.75%
400-419	0.18%	1.32%	14.85%
001-399	0.41%	0.00%	15.08%
Not scored	0.91%	0.91%	15.14%
ALL			15.14%	If no restriction is placed on debit card acceptance for the population, 15.14% of the debit card rentals are likely to result in a collections problem (Column D).

Note that the second line from the bottom of the chart, is a category "Not scored" of about 1%. These are customers that do not have a rental credit score with Equifax. These may be very credit worthy customers, but as Equifax cannot provide a score to make that determination, CARS+ is designed to reject all Debit Cards from renters without a credit score.

So, what score should be chosen? In making that decision, weigh what is the acceptable level of risk against the number of clients that may have to be turned away to obtain that risk level. But remember:

• The minimum acceptable score in CARS+ can always be changed if the initial setting is not working as desired.
• A client whose Debit Card was rejected due to their credit score can always use a credit card if sufficient authorization is available or you may chose to use the Debit card for a deposit at the time of open.
• If someone is turned away, it may have just prevented a future headache. Let the other car rental company deal with that potential problem.

Contact Equifax for more information and for an up-to-date Car Rental Score Report.

C. EDIT MISC. CONTROL FIELDS

PAGE 4:

26. CREDIT SCORE

Enter the lowest acceptable Equifax credit score for a customer using a debit card to pre-authorize a RA or accepting a reservation with a short lead time. Scores below this number will cause the debit card to be rejected for pre-authorization on Open. If the reservation logic is turned on, the reservation will be denied regardless of the FOP used. EXAMPLE: Type 800 (RET). User tip: A similar field in the Location record (Page 5) can be used to configure a location differently from the entire operation. The field in the Location file takes precedence over this one. For example, you may choose to have a lower threshold for a neighborhood rental location than an airport location which has a higher percent of unknown clients from other cities.

PAGE 7:

31. RES CREDIT CHECK HOURS

This turns on a credit check on new reservations whose pick-up date and time have a short lead time. For example, if '24' is entered in this field, a credit check will be made on every reservation booked less than 24 hours in advance. Enter: blank = Equifax credit checks are done only when opening a RA secured by a Debit card and do not apply to reservations. up to three numeric characters = In addition to RA Open, a credit check is run on all reservations if they are booked less than this number of hours in advance (regardless of the FOP involved). Reservations that fail this credit check will be rejected. If you edit an existing reservation within the hours of the pickup date and time (within the period defined in this field) you will be asked if a credit check should be made on the changed reservation. EXAMPLE: Type 24 (RET)

D. EDIT LOCATIONS

PAGE 5:

28. CREDIT SCORE

For this location only, enter the lowest acceptable Equifax credit score for a customer using a debit card to pre-authorize a RA or a reservation with a short lead time. Scores below this number will cause the debit card to be rejected for pre-authorization on Open. If the reservation logic is turned on, the reservation will be denied. EXAMPLE: Type 800 (RET). User tip: This field overrides the "Credit Score" field in Edit Misc. Control Fields.

E. EDIT PRINT LIBRARY

29. EQUIFAX PRINTER	The Equifax logic provides the ability to obtain a credit score from Equifax. If the score falls below the minimum acceptable score, CARS+ prints a simple letter that explains the renter's consumer credit rights. Use this field to designate which printer should be used to print this letter.

III. COUNTER AGENT INSTRUCTIONS: DEBIT CARD CHECKING IN RA OPEN

To begin a new RA, swipe the card. If the card cannot be read by the swipe reader, enter the card number in the FOP field of the Main window. If the card is recognized as a debit card, the following occurs depending on how the system is configured:

A. All Debit Cards Are Checked

If the system is configured to check all debit cards, the following message appears:

THIS IS A DEBIT CARD. TO BE USED, A CREDIT CHECK MUST BE MADE. PROCEED? Y/N

Entering "N" causes the card data to be removed so that another form of payment can be entered.
Entering "Y" causes a pop-up window to appear. (Shown below)

B. Repeat Renters Are Not Checked:

1. If the customer has rented before using the debit card*, the debit card is accepted and the question for doing a credit check will not appear.

*CARS+ checks to see:

• That the individual has a customer record where the FOP in the customer record matches the FOP entered,
• That they have rented at least once before
• That the customer type allows rentals.

2. If the renter has a customer record and the FOP in the record does NOT match the FOP entered, or if the renter is a new client, the following message appears:

THIS IS A DEBIT CARD. TO BE USED, A CREDIT CHECK MUST BE MADE. PROCEED? Y/N

Entering "N" causes the card data to be removed so that another form of payment can be entered.
Entering "Y" causes a pop-up window to appear. (Shown below)

C. Debit Card Pop-up Window

OPTION: 7_____________ RA OPEN 1 Name(L┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ 2 Addres│OPTION: __ DEBIT CARD CREDIT CHECK │ 3 C/S/Z │ │ 4 Ph/DOB│ 1 First Name │ 5 Locl C│ 2 Last Name │ 6 Li/St/│ 3 Birth Date │ MM/1 7 FOP/#/│ Address │ 8 Ath#/A│ 4 House # │ 9 Sr/Ty/│ 5 Direction (Example: N = North) │ 10 Notes│ 6 Street Name │ indows │ 7 Street Type (Example: ST, BL, AV)│ │ 8 Unit Type (Example: APT, BLDG) │ │ 9 Unit/Apt # │ │10 City │ │11 State │ │12 Zip Code │ │13 Country │ │14 Telephone # │ │ │ │F1=REQUEST F3=CLEAR │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

D. Enter data

Because of the millions of individuals that must be researched, Equifax requires that name and address data be entered in a particular matter. Therefore, take care to enter data as outlined below. Failure to enter data correctly may cause Equifax to not return a credit score and the Debit card will be rejected in error.

1. FIRST NAME	Enter the customer's FIRST name. This field will accept up to 12 alphanumeric characters. To include a middle initial, leave one space and type the middle initial. EXAMPLE: Type NANCY (RET) EXAMPLE: Type NANCY S (RET)
2. LAST NAME	Enter the customer's LAST name using up to 18 alphanumeric characters. EXAMPLE: Type MILLER (RET)
3. BIRTH DATE	Enter the customer's date-of-birth using the format MMDDYY. EXAMPLE: Type 102173 (RET)
ADDRESS FIELDS	The following fields are for individual pieces of the address. Each piece must be entered separately.
4. HOUSE #	Enter the address number. EXAMPLE: Type 403 (RET)
5. DIRECTION	If the street address has a direction such as N for North or NE for Northeast, enter it in this field. EXAMPLE: Type N (RET)
6. STREET NAME	Enter street name. EXAMPLE: Type BAYVIEW (RET)
7. STREET TYPE	Enter up to 2 alpha characters for the street type such as "ST' for Street, "BL" for Boulevard, or "AV" for Avenue. EXAMPLE: Type ST (RET)
8. UNIT TYPE	If applicable, enter the unit type such as "APT" for apartment or "BLDG" for building. EXAMPLE: Press (RET)
9. UNIT/APT#	Enter the unit number. EXAMPLE: Press (RET)
10. CITY	Enter up to 16 alphanumeric characters to indicate the customer's city. EXAMPLE: Type NEWPORT BEACH (RET)
11. STATE	Enter 2 alpha characters to indicate the customer's state. EXAMPLE: Type CA (RET)
12. ZIP CODE	Enter up to 10 alphanumeric characters to indicate the customer's zip code. This field must be 5 numeric characters or 5 characters dash "-" 4 numeric characters. EXAMPLE: Type 92664(RET) OR: Type 92664-2002 (RET)
13. COUNTRY	Users may skip this field.
14. TELEPHONE #	Enter up to 12 alphanumeric characters to indicate the customer's home phone number. The phone number must be 10 digits. It is not necessary to enter dashes - they will be furnished once the data is passed to the RA Open screen. EXAMPLE: Type 6415551212 (RET)

NOTE: On new customers, CARS+ will take the data entered on the pop-up screen and store it in the proper address fields on the Main Window of RA Open so the counter agent will not have to enter the data twice.

The screen will then display:

OPTION: 7_____________ RA OPEN 1 Name(L┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ 2 Addres│OPTION: __ DEBIT CARD CREDIT CHECK │ 3 C/S/Z │ │ 4 Ph/DOB│ 1 First Name NANCY R │ 5 Locl C│ 2 Last Name MILLER │ 6 Li/St/│ 3 Birth Date 10-21-73 │ MM/1 7 FOP/#/│ Address │ 8 Ath#/A│ 4 House # 403 │ 9 Sr/Ty/│ 5 Direction N (Example: N = North) │ 10 Notes│ 6 Street Name BAYVIEW │ indows │ 7 Street Type ST (Example: ST, BL, AV)│ │ 8 Unit Type (Example: APT, BLDG) │ │ 9 Unit/Apt # │ │10 City SAN DIEGO │ │11 State CA │ │12 Zip Code 92101 │ │13 Country │ │14 Telephone # 6415551212 │ │ │ │F1=REQUEST F3=CLEAR │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Press "F1" to request a credit check.

E. Results of the credit check.

One of the following will occur:

1. Credit check passes

If the credit score returned is high enough, the data from the pop-up window will be transferred to the Open screen as shown below and the rental can continue.

OPTION: ______________ RA OPEN 1 Name(L/F/T) MILLER/NANCY R/* 11 Ret Dt/Tm */* 2 Address 403 BAYVIEW ST 12 Ret Loc/Drop TUS/* 3 C/S/Z SAN DIEGO/CA/92101 13 Veh/Cl/Odo/F */*/*/* 4 Ph/DOB/Gen 641-555-1212/10-21-73/* 14 Rate/Cl/Ppd */*/N 5 Locl Cnt * 15 Cell Phone * 6 Li/St/Ex/Ver */*/*/* 16 Empl/Drw AMM/1 7 FOP/#/Ex/LOA VI/4005555000111/*/*/* 8 Ath#/Amt/Cur/RoE */*/*/* 9 Sr/Ty/ID */*/*/* 10 Notes * O-Sub Windows F1=SAVE F2=SWIPE F3=ERASE F6=SEARCH F8=ESTIMATE

2. No credit score is returned by Equifax

If Equifax does not have a score for this person, or we were unable to reach Equifax, the following message will display:

THIS CARD CANNOT BE USED, TRY ANOTHER FOP

The card number will be removed from the RA so that another card can be entered.

If it is necessary to proceed with the rental using this card (for example, due to contractual obligations), refer to the "Bypassing the Equifax Logic section below.

3. The credit score failed

If the credit score was below the minimum set in the control files, the following message will display:

THE CREDIT SCORE IS SUCH THAT THIS FOP CANNOT BE USED TO SECURE THIS RENTAL.

The card number will be removed from the RA. Additionally, a letter similar to the following will print for the customer. (The printer used for the letter is designated in the Edit Print Library record.)

When opening a rental that is to be secured by a Debit Card, we make use of a service offered by Equifax to obtain a credit score. If the credit score falls below the level that is deemed acceptable, the rental must be secured by some other form of payment. As a consumer, you have a right to know why your account was deemed unacceptable. You may call the following phone number to inquire about the credit score that was given to us. Contact: Equifax Inc. 999-123-4567

User tip: When the Equifax feature is set up by Thermeon's Customer Support Dept., part of the set up includes keying in the name of the Equifax department to contact and a phone number both of which will print on this letter.

It is possible that a consumer can add a narrative to their credit history to explain to those checking their credit history as to the reason why their credit history was reported as negative. These reports would return with a header reading:

CONSUMER NARRATIVE STATEMENT ABOUT CREDIT HISTORY

If it is necessary to proceed with the rental using this card (for example, due to contractual obligations), refer to the "Bypassing the Equifax Logic section below.

4. Vermont residents

Due to state laws, renters with a Vermont address cannot have an Equifax debit card check. CARS+ prevents credit check requests for renters with "VT" in their state address field.

F. Bypassing the Equifax Logic

In certain situations, it may be necessary to proceed with a rental using a debit card which has failed the Equifax check. There are several methods by which this can be done. It is recommended that the various methods be tried in the order listed below.

1. Use the debit card for a deposit. As noted above, debit cards are only blocked from being used to "secure" a rental by means of a pre-authorization. The reason for this is that the pre-authorized funds typically are released prior to the end of the rental. Debit cards may always be used to take a deposit or payment because the pre-authorization will be in effect long enough to do the settlement, which typically occurs at the end of the same day the authorization was secured. As such, the debit card may be used in the C Subwindow of RA Open to take a deposit for the estimated rental charges. NOTE: There is a feature in Edit Card Type Records that can restrict a user from making deposits for the different card types of payment cards (credit, debit, gift, prepaid cards).
2. Lower the minimum credit score in either Edit Misc Control Fields or Edit Locations just long enough to open this rental.
   NOTES:
1. This method only works if the credit score failed the test for the minimum passing score. If the card was rejected due to "no score available", this method will not work.
2. A manager's access may be (and probably should be) required in order to access the programs used to temporarily change the required minimum credit score.
3. Enter the debit card information into the FOP fields of the customer record before opening the rental AND make sure that the Times Rented field is 1 or greater. If no customer record exists for this client, one will need to be created.
   NOTES:
1. This method only works when Equifax is configured to not check repeat customers. This is the "Configuration 2" referred to in the setup section above. This "fools" the system into thinking that the individual has successfully rented before using their debit card.
2. A manager's access may be (and probably should be) required in order to edit/create the customer record.
3. If this is to be a "one time only" bypass of the Equifax logic, the debit card information should be removed from the customer record as soon as the RA has been opened.

IV. CREDIT CHECKING ON RESERVATIONS WITH A SHORT LEAD TIME

Credit Checking on reservations only occurs when a lead time (in hours) is entered the field "Res Credit Check Hours" in Edit Misc Control Fields. If the pickup date and time of the reservation is less than the minimum hours specified in that field, the credit check will be done when F1 is pressed. This is not dependent on a debit card. It is done for every reservation that does not meet the minimum lead time.

Upon pressing F1, the renter address screen required by Equifax and illustrated above will pop up. Like the check for Debit cards in RA Open, the address fields need to be filled in. Then press F1 again to start the check.

NOTE: Unlike the Debit Card check, if a score is not returned or the score is too low, the save of the reservation will be terminated and the reservation will NOT BE ALLOWED.

V. MORE ABOUT WHAT EQUIFAX DOES

When doing a car rental credit check, Equifax initially only uses the renter's name and date of birth to find a credit report. If there is only one credit report on file for the name/dob combination, that is the report that will be returned. If on the other hand, there are more than one John Smith born on June 3rd, 1984 with a credit report, Equifax will then use the address data CARS+ supplies to pick the correct credit report to use.