When you create or update a Secure Payment Profile with new credit card information, it’s a good idea to verify the card. You can verify the card through a card validation feature that automatically processes a $0.00 or $0.50 pre-authorization transaction on the card. By doing this, you’re sending the card data to the card-issuing bank to authorize the details.
Validating a card this way gives you the assurance that the card is valid and helps to prevent any stumbling blocks (e.g. declines or errors) when it comes time to process payments in exchange for your goods/services.
Must know:
- You must have Full Access to Payment Profile in order to create or edit a Secure Payment Profile.
- Card validation by default is on. You can turn off card validation at any time under Portal > Payment Profile Configuration.
- In order to add a new credit card to an existing Payment Profile, you need to ensure you have more than 1 maximum numbers of cards shown under Configuration >Payment Profile Configuration> ”Credit Card Settings”.
How do I validate a credit card on a Secure Payment Profile?
- Within the Portal, go to Processing > Payment Profile.
- Either create a new profile or view a profile you’ve already created.
- On the individual Profile Page:
- If you’re adding a new credit card to a Payment Profile, select ‘Add New Card’ and then submit the details in the pop-up.
- If you’re only editing the expiry date of an existing card on a Payment Profile, select ‘Edit’ next to the listed card and then submit the changes in the pop-up.
- Back on the Profile Page, select ‘Update’.
- Once you save the changes, the $0.00 or $0.50 pre-authorization transaction will process right away.
- Go to Reporting/Analysis > Transaction Report to find the pre-authorization and click on the item to view transaction details. If the transaction response is ‘Approved’, then the card validation is successful.
Good to know:
- Enabling this feature in the Portal only applies to Secure Payment Profile transactions processed through the Portal. If you use our Payment Profile API to create or update a Payment Profile, you must specify it within the API request.
- A pre-authorization isn’t a purchase; it won’t show up on the cardholder’s credit card statement as a charge but may appear as a pending transaction. If a $0.50 pre-authorization was processed, the bank typically releases this hold after seven business days.
- Only changing the expiry date of a credit card on a Payment Profile will still initiate card validation.