Many of our resorts are reporting a significantly higher number of chargebacks from online purchases than have been seen previously. To help reduce this impact for our customers, the Aspenware team has been meeting with our payment gateway partners, talking with thought leaders, and looking at the research on how we can work together to minimize fraudulent chargebacks and successfully challenge chargeback disputes when they do happen.
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In this article, we will share what we have learned and what actions we are taking to help reduce the impact of these chargebacks on our customers.
Fraudulent use of stolen credit cards
The first scenario, and the one having the most impact on our resort customers, involves the fraudulent use of credit cards. What most resorts are experiencing is a scenario where in which an instigator has obtained a list of fraudulent credit cards. Most often they have the Cardholder Name, Card Number, CVV number, and Zip/postal code. The instigator then posts tickets for sale on social media or Craigslist and unsuspecting skiers or sightseers decide to purchase them, likely because they are priced lower than the resort website price. The instigator takes money and information from the unsuspecting guest and purchases the required tickets on the resort’s website using the stolen credit card as payment. The order is placed under the name of the guest visiting, however, the credit card is in a different name. The skier will be sent the order confirmation so they can collect their tickets at the PUB, Skiosk, or ticket window at the resort. After the tickets are collected and used, the real cardholder notices the charge on their credit card and contacts their bank to dispute the charge. The bank sends a chargeback to the resort. Unfortunately, the resort likely can’t refute this chargeback because the card has typically been reported as compromised and the real cardholder did not make the purchase.
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These instigators identify opportunities to exploit companies based on the products and services they provide and evaluate how easy it will be to get away with it. Because we have improved the guest experience and removed barriers such as standing in line at a ticket window to collect a ticket, lift tickets and sightseeing tickets have become an opportunity. Adding messaging to your shopping experience may deter these instigators from targeting your resort. Examples of messaging include:
Please make sure to bring the credit card used to make this purchase to the resort with you. To avoid fraudulent use of credit cards, we check that the card used to purchase products is in the possession of the guest using the products.
You may be asked to present the credit card used to purchase these products, prior to tickets being issued.
This messaging could be added to checkout either as a PDP product prompt or through a widget zone on the confirm step and should be clearly stated in your confirmation emails. Strong messaging could help to deter instigators from targeting your resort.
Charge disputes to avoid compliance with a cancellation policy
The second scenario is becoming more common as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scenario, a guest purchases a product and then decides that they are not going to partake in the activity anymore. Although cancellation policies, in general, are more forgiving, there are still situations in which a guest will purchase a product and be unable to cancel it because of the policy. Because they disagree with this policy, they call their bank to stop the payment. After talking to multiple payment companies' dispute experts, we offer some ways that you can be more successful in fighting these types of disputes.
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7. Make sure your business name is recognizable on credit card statements.
Conclusion
Fraud prevention is a constantly evolving topic that Aspenware will continue to research and study. We will share our findings with our customers and implement the appropriate and reasonable fraud prevention functionality as it becomes available. In addition to the work we have already done with our payment gateways to reduce fraud and chargebacks, we will be providing Kount Integration that will be available in mid-December for all payment gateways. Kount is a proven solution that can significantly help you reduce fraudulent transactions at your resort. We will continue to work with our payment partners to add functionality that limits risk, including assessing the new 3DS secure protocols that are already utilized in Europe.
If you have any questions, comments, or want to learn more about Kount, please reach out to Yolanda at y.foose@aspenware.com.
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