I. INTRODUCTION

This feature automatically loads the credit card information displayed in "FOP' Field of the RA Open screen into the Deposit Subwindow when opening a contract. It is used when, as a standard operating procedure, at the start of the rental the customer’s credit card is charged for the entire estimated amount rather than taking an authorization only (and charging the credit card at Close).

II. REQUIRED SET-UP STEPS

A. EDIT MAIN CONTROL RECORD

28. AUTO LOAD FOP AS DEPOSIT

This field controls how credit cards are viewed system-wide at the time of RA Open. N = At RA open, credit cards which were entered previously in to the reservation or which are in the customer record are loaded into the pre-signed FOP fields (Data Group 7) in the Main Window of the RA Open screen. Y = At RA open, credit cards from either the reservation or customer record are loaded into the Deposit Subwindow in anticipation of taking a prepayment (deposit) at open. This setting also alters the function of the F8 estimate key by causing the estimated charges to be written into the deposit amount field in anticipation of taking a prepayment. A = The Estimate total, including the Auth Pad, is loaded automatically as the Auth Amount on Field 8b in the Main Window of RA Open. (Auth Pad is designated on page 2 of the Edit Miscellaneous Fields screen.) B = When a credit card is swiped at RA Open, the credit card information will be loaded into both the Main Window (Data Group 7) AND the Deposit Subwindow. (See 'Exception' below.) Additionally, when saving the RA without having requested an estimate and there is a shortfall, any authorized amount in the Main Window is ignored in the shortfall calculation and message. For example, assume the RA charges will amount to $450 and there is a $200 authorization in the Main Window. When saving the RA without having requested an Estimate, the shortfall message would state a shortfall of $450. Under all the other methods, the shortfall message would state a shortfall of $250 because the other methods recognize the authorization from the Main Window in the shortfall calculation. Exception: The field "Prevent CC Deposits" in Edit Misc Control Fields can be used to prevent a credit card deposit from being placed on a RA. When that feature is being used, the credit card is not loaded in the C subwindow. Furthermore, the authorized amount in the Main Window is taken into account in reference to the shortfall calculation message. C = Same as "Y" response above except that the Auth Pad is included in the deposit amount. The total of the estimated charges plus the auth pad amount is used for the deposit amount. (Auth Pad is designated on page 2 of the Edit Miscellaneous Fields screen.) User tip: A field by the same name in the location record (See Edit Locations) can be used to configure a location differently from the entire operation. The field in the Location file takes precedence over this one. User tip: For operations that are configured to charge a credit card processing fee to the renter and are using an auth. pad, this field must be set to "A".

III. COUNTER AGENT INSTRUCTIONS

A. RESERVATIONS

When creating a reservation, CARS+ loads existing credit card data from the customer record if it exists. If the customer chooses to use a different card, the new data should be entered on the reservation.

B. OPENING RENTAL AGREEMENTS

The following conditions must be met in order to “auto load” the FOP into the Deposits Subwindow:

1. Valid credit card data must be entered in Field 7 on the main screen.

2. There is no bill-to customer attached to the contract.

3. The Estimate feature (using F8) is invoked .

4. The total of any deposits and vouchers (Deposit/Payment records) is less than the estimate.

If all these conditions are met, upon exiting the Estimate display, the following message will display:

DEPOSIT LESS THAN ESTIMATE – SWITCHING TO PAYMENT WINDOW.

The Deposit Subwindow is then displayed. The credit card data from the main window is loaded automatically into the subwindow along with the amount of the difference between the total Deposit/Payment record and the Estimate. The only field remaining blank is the authorization field. Once data is entered in the authorization field, the subwindow is complete.

C. UNIQUE SITUATIONS:

For existing customers, the credit card data from their customer record is loaded in Field 7 of the main window. If a different credit card was entered on the reservation, then the credit card from the reservation takes precedence and is loaded into Field 7 of the RA Open screen. If a credit card was swiped or manually entered on the Open screen prior to doing an estimate, the newly entered card takes precedence over all others.

Therefore, credit card data follows this order of precedence:

1. A new credit card number entered before or after loading either a customer or reservation record always takes priority over any other data – at any stage of the OPEN process prior to doing an Estimate. (Credit card data can be entered through either a swipe reader or by manually entering data in Field 7.)

2. Credit card data entered on the Reservation, if different from that on the Customer Record.

3. Existing credit card data from the Customer Record.

D. CHANGING THE CREDIT CARD AFTER DOING AN ESTIMATE

After the Estimate has been invoked and a deposit entered in the Deposit Subwindow, if the customer wishes to use a different credit card from the one already on the contract, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Deposit Subwindow, and erase the data from the various fields.
2. Swipe the new card or go to Field 7 on the Main window and enter the information for the new credit card.
3. Do an estimate (F8). This will then place the deposit in the Deposits Subwindow using the new credit card. Enter the authorization number.

CAUTION: For most auto-load methods, swiping a card does NOT place data in the Deposit-subwindow. Only the Estimate feature does, and this is subject to all the conditions above. The exception is auto-load method "B" (See Section II.A above) which loads the Form of Payment into Field 7 of the Main Window AND into the Deposit subwindow.