Sertifi's Ultimate Hotel Fraud and Chargeback Prevention Toolkit

Manually entering card details into the PMS leads to interchange downgrades and increased declines due to fraud concerns from card issuers. This is particularly prevalent for events with high-value transactions, as it can result in higher fees, lost sales, and significant collection efforts that impact your business.

3DS ensures a seamless payment experience by only requiring additional verification for high-risk transactions, showing your commitment to protecting customers from fraudulent transactions. It also shifts fraud liability from the merchant to the cardholder and issuing bank.

AVS helps prevent fraud and chargebacks by verifying the postal code and billing street address against the card issuer's records. For U.S. merchants, providing the AVS postal code is crucial to avoid Interchange (IC) downgrades on card-not-present transactions.

Fraudsters may obtain card numbers but often lack the correct CVV. Since businesses cannot store CVV data, it's unlikely for fraudsters to acquire it through data breaches. Set a rule or manually review or decline payments that fail the CVC verification check.

Adopt an Advance Deposit Policy and charge a minimum or full anticipated amount immediately. By linking the terms and conditions to the contract and payment, it becomes easier to defend against chargebacks. Additionally, if the card is stolen, this action may prompt the true cardholder to limit their losses quickly.

Do not clone cards or ACH without a contract or authorization form that has clear Terms and Conditions. These Merchant Initiated Transactions (MIT) are declined frequently and are harder to defend against chargebacks.

Present clearly stated Terms and Conditions to customers. It's crucial to communicate policies regarding cancellation, refunds, no-show fees, and additional costs during the booking process. Routinely review your existing policies and make sure updates are made anywhere your customers have access to existing policies.

Allow customers to request refunds easily at checkout and post-stay. Respond promptly and reasonably to their feedback, as salvaging a portion of the payment is often better than losing the entire amount. By addressing issues promptly, you might appease them with a partial refund or future discounts.