18 - eCOMM Terminal User Guide
Fraud & Chargeback Prevention Guide
For most merchants, the instance of fraud and chargebacks is mercifully rare.
However, it pays to be vigilant, and here is our guide to help you avoid any issues.
Authorisation does not guarantee payment
• An authorisation is guaranteed by the cardholder’s issuing bank for 7 calendar days,
or 30 calendar days for pre-authorisations. If your terminal has not been batched daily,
and the settlement window has passed, you may be liable for chargebacks for ‘Late
Presentment’.
• Cards that are authorised but expire before a batch is settled on your terminal are
not guaranteed by the issuing bank.
Only process what you are approved to process
You may only use your terminal for transactions that you are underwritten and approved
for. For example, you cannot:
• Use your terminal to sell your family car
• Sell products/services that you are not approved to sell
• Lend the terminal to another business
• Sell off the contents of your business (e.g. a car hire company selling off their used cars).
These types of transactions are prohibited, they may attract fraudsters and could expose
your business to chargebacks. Transactions of this nature when discovered will be
destroyed and your settlement may be withheld.
Mail Order/Telephone order (MOTO)
If you are approved to accept telephone transactions, please be advised, these
transactions are very high risk to you and your business. Fraudsters will go from
business to business with all kinds of scams and stories trying to get a merchant to
accept a phone transaction.
You should be extremely vigilant when accepting a phone transaction, as doing so
means you are 100% liable for the amount(s) should they result in a chargeback(s).
NB: Whenever possible, insist on your customer using the chip and PIN facility, that
way you are covered in the event of fraud.
Chargebacks
A chargeback is where a consumer or their issuing bank disputes a transaction made with
their card. If the dispute is resolved in the cardholder’s favour, the cardholder would be
i
By default eCOMM will auto settle every terminal between 23:00
(11pm) and 0:00 (midnight) daily. Your terminal must be powered on
and have an active connection. Otherwise you must ensure you batch
off your terminal at the end of a business day.
