Why won’t some cards swipe?
Q. Increasingly, credit cards presented for payment won’t swipe
properly. How should I train my staff to handle this situation?
A. By some estimates, one out of 10 times a card is swiped, it doesn’t read properly. That means retailers should have a clear procedure for how staff should handle the situation.
Why does it happen? The most common reason is that the card has become demagnetized; less often, the equipment is at fault—the reader may be dirty or scratched. Occasionally, it’s a combination of an equipment problem and human error.
The biggest concern, though, is that the card may be counterfeit (sometimes called “cloned”). A cloned card often has a magnetic stripe that doesn’t swipe.
Although credit card cloning is a big problem, a demagnetized card is still a much more likely reason for a failed swipe.
It’s best to treat every transaction, including keyed-in transactions, with proper caution.
Visa USA provides these suggestions for safer keyed-in transactions:
• Check the terminal to make sure it is working properly. If the terminal is okay, follow your company procedures for key-entered transactions.
• Get a manual imprint of the card.
• Ask the customer to sign the imprinted sales draft. Without this signed, imprinted sales draft you will be liable for the full amount of any chargeback.
• Compare the signature on the card with the signature on the sales draft to be sure they match.
• If you suspect fraud, make a Code 10 call. Call your voice authorization
center and say, “I have a Code 10 Authorization request.”
Follow the operator’s instructions if you can do so safely.
Do you have a retailing question? Ask Michigan Retailers in writing:
by mail: 603 South Washington Avenue,
Lansing, MI 48933;
by fax: 517.372.1303;
by e-mail: tscott2@retailers.com.
