I. INTRODUCTION


This chapter applies to CREDIT CARD authorizations only.

This chapter does not apply to DEBIT CARDS. Authorizations on Debit Cards expire within days of being issued. As a result, Debit Cards should never be used to secure a rental on the Main Window of RA Open. (They can be used for deposits at the time of open).

At the time of RA Open, a rental can be secured by getting a pre-authorization on a credit card for the estimated charges. This pre-authorization places a hold on that amount, "reserving it" until the rental is closed. But an authorization is not good forever; it has a "life". The life span of an authorization is defined in days in the Edit Card Definitions file. Once this period of time has been expended, the unused authorization expires and can NOT be used when the rental returns.

VISA writes in their "Visa Acceptance Guide for the Car Rental Industry", the following:

If a car rental extends beyond 2 weeks, you should settle the transaction and obtain authorization for a new transaction.

Addressing this, one credit card processor writes:

An approval response to an estimated authorization and any subsequent incremental authorizations for cruise lines, lodging merchants and car/vehicle rental merchants, will expire 14 days after the initial estimated authorization. If the stay or rental exceeds this period merchants will be subject to chargebacks for no authorization unless they complete the first transaction and then initiate a second transaction on or before day 14. The merchant will be protected from fraud chargebacks (Reason Codes 81 and 83) for the duration of the stay/rental, even if subsequent transactions are initiated with an account on file if the card was read electronically at the beginning of the stay/rental.
In CARS+ terms, "completing the first transaction" means converting the authorization into a deposit or payment before the 14 days are up.

Therefore, tracking the "life" of pre-authorizations is critical.

II. SET-UP


The feature of tracking the life of an authorization is turned on in the program Edit Card Definitions. (By default this feature is NOT active).
In the record for each type of credit card, use Field 37 "Auth Expire Days" to enter the maximum number of days that an authorization remains valid.

The following data was supplied to Thermeon by First Data Corporation in June 2017 (Thermeon does NOT guarantee its accuracy). These lengths may vary with your credit card acquirer. If in doubt, consult your merchant representative with your credit card acquirer for authorization rules. NOTE: If you talk to your acquirer, be sure to identify your business as "car rental"; the authorization rules for car rental are different from those of "normal retail" establishments.


CARD BRAND

 AUTHORIZATION LIFE

VISA

 14 days

MASTERCARD

 14 days
AMERICAN EXPRESS
 7 days
DISCOVER
 10 days


III. OPERATIONAL FEATURES


A. RA OPEN

In RA open, users are prevented from opening a rental for a period of time that is longer than the maximum days of the authorization of the card used to secure the rental in the Main Window. If a client wants to rent longer than the authorization life, they must either use a different FOP or they must secure the rental with a deposit (because deposits are settled the next day, they are unaffected by authorization life).

Example: CARS+ will not allow the user to open a 21 day rental secured by a credit card whose authorizations are only valid for 14 days. Either the renter must secure the rental with another form of payment or agree to use the credit card as a deposit for the estimated charges.

B. RA CLOSE

Any pre-authorization that has expired by the time the vehicle is returned is ignored. The system will treat the card as if it never had any prior authorization.

A 12 day rental can be secured by a card whose authorizations are only good for 14 days. CARS+ will allow the rental because it believes the authorization will still be valid at the time of return. But if the renter keeps the vehicle for three additional days, when the vehicle finally returns, the original 12 day authorization will have expired and there is no guarantee of being able to obtain a new authorization for the full 15 days at the time of close.

C. REPORTS

CARS+ provides the following two reports to aid in watching for authorizations that are about to expire or which have expired:

  • AUTH EXPIRATION REPORT - This report lists all open RAs whose expiration is DUE to expire within the next few days. (User can enter number of days.)
  • VEHICLES DUE IN REPORT - This report can be run to see all open rentals whose authorization has ALREADY expired and thus is "under secured".

USER TIP: Pre-authorizations that are about to expire should be converted into a deposit before they are lost. Then a new authorization can be obtained for the additional charges beyond the original authorization if required. Use the Auth Expiration Report as a worksheet of authorizations that must be converted into deposits.

D. CONVERTING AUTHORIZATIONS INTO DEPOSITS

CARS+ provides a program, Convert RA Auths to Deposits, that can be used to convert authorizations into deposits on open RAs. This program can be run without the necessity of unmasking the credit card number.

E. EXTENDING A RA

If the extension will exceed the number of days for the authorization's valid life time, convert the authorization to a deposit and obtain a new authorization. Use one of the following methods:

1. In RA Open when extending a RA beyond the current authorization's expire days, and a new estimate is obtained, the following message will display:

AUTH DUE TO EXPIRE, CONVERT TO DEPOSIT?
Entering "Y" will automatically call the program, Convert RA Auths to Deposits with the RA data already loaded on the screen. There is no need to unmask the credit card. Press F1 to convert the auth to a deposit.
Upon exiting this program, you will be returned to the RA Open program where you can continue with any changes to the RA, obtain a new authorization for the additional days, and save it.
2. Select Convert RA Auths to Deposits from the Daily Procedures menu to convert the auth to a deposit.

3. Manually enter the deposit in RA Open:

Bring up the RA
Unmask the credit card
In the Deposit Subwindow, enter the amount that was pre-authorized, the credit card data, and the auth number.
The following message will display:
YOU ARE USING THE PRE-AUTHORIZATION ON THIS DEPOSIT.
Back in the Main window, obtain an Estimate and new pre-auth for the balance due on the estimated charges.