Cover:
Making Business Work Better Through Teamwork
Visa Account Updater For Visa Acquirers

Inside:
Visa Account Updater: Stronger Relationships with Account-on-File Merchants, New Market Opportunities, and Lower Costs
Visa Account Updater (VAU) enables the exchange of updated account information among participating Issuers, Acquirers, and merchants.

VAU benefits Acquirers by strengthening their relationships with their merchants, while reducing merchants' back-office costs as well as their own. It also helps increase sales for merchants that maintain customer account information on file, including recurring service providers, subscription services, Internet "one-click" merchants, and preferred customer programs such as T&E "Gold Clubs."

Serving as an automated, dedicated, and secure clearinghouse, VAU makes changes to cardholder account information available to merchants in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner, enabling them to electronically update Visa account information in their files before requesting authorizations.

The Value of VAU
VAU streamlines the payment process by preventing disruption to customer relationships resulting from changes to Visa account information.

On average, more than 50 percent of accounts change account number or expiration date every year, or are closed. Account-on-file merchants must maintain costly, and in many cases, manual processes to obtain updated account information directly from customers. In addition, some account information changes are unpredictable, such as when a cardholder is upgraded to another product or a card is lost or stolen and replaced.

Because of the complexity involved in keeping account information up-to-date, account-on-file merchants experience higher rates of authorization declines. Valuable customers are inconvenienced, and may opt to use another payment card or a check, or even cancel the merchant relationship, resulting in lost sales.

VAU solves these problems in a way that creates value for all parties involved in the payment process.

How VAU Works
Both Issuers and Acquirers must meet participation requirements and enroll in the service. Acquirers enroll qualified merchants of their choice.

Issuers submit batch files with current account information electronically and send electronic updates to Visa when a cardholder's account information changes because of a product upgrade, a portfolio conversion, card expiration, loss or theft, account closure, or other changes, such as combining accounts after marriage.

Enrolled merchants submit account numbers, through their Acquirers, for customers with whom they have an ongoing payment relationship. VAU processes inquiries against its database and provides responses to the Acquirer. Responses include account number updates, expiration date updates, closed account advices, and contact customer advices. The Acquirer forwards the responses to the requesting merchants. Merchants can then update on-file accounts before requesting an authorization. In addition, VAU allows Issuers to block updates to selected participating merchants.

VAU provides daily and monthly management reports to both Issuers and Acquirers.

VAU Benefits
For Visa Acquirers:

• Strengthens relationships with existing account-on-file merchants by providing a turnkey solution to declines caused by changes to account number data, and provides a competitive advantage by offering a new merchant service
• Provides the opportunity to pursue new merchant segments
• Creates a potential new revenue stream
• Reduces costs associated with processing authorization-related chargebacks
• Provides incremental sales volume by facilitating seamless acceptance for account-on-file transactions

• Increases sales and retains customers
• Minimizes declined card transactions and authorization declines resulting from outdated card account data on file
• Reduces costs associated with manual account updating, such as mailing and calling customers to obtain current account information
• Reduces customer service expense by preventing interruption of the payment relationship

• Helps retain customers by reducing the opportunity for cardholders to change their method of payment when account information changes
• Helps ensure that cardholders don't use an alternative payment card or payment method
• Facilitates deeper penetration into the $873 billion recurring payments segment and the even larger account-on-file market
• Reduces chargebacks related to outdated account-on-file information
• Improves customer service by minimizing declined transactions

• Provides uninterrupted service
• Improves customer satisfaction by reducing negative experiences caused by declines

• Atlanta, GA: (404) 531-5800
• Charlotte, NC: (704) 444-3800
• Chicago, IL: (773) 864-7100
• McLean, Chicago, VA: (703) 287-8400
• New York, NY: (212) 521-3900
• San Francisco, CA: (650) 432-2120
• Wilmington, DE: (302) 622-3200

Enrollment

• Meet participation requirements for Acquirers.
• Ensure that participating merchants meet the qualification requirements listed in Visa Account Updater Terms of Use.
• Enroll qualified merchants.
• Maintain current and accurate enrollment information for each merchant participating in VAU.
• Monitor participating merchants on a regular basis to ensure that they continue to meet VAU qualifications.

• Develop systems and process capabilities to transmit the files that you, as an Acquirer, transmit to VAU, and the files and reports that you receive from VAU.
• Ensure that appropriate performance reports are kept within your financial institution and passed on to the appropriate merchant.
• Establish and use appropriate communications technology to send and receive files.
• Ensure that participating merchants make changes to information contained in their customer databases as required by Visa Account Updater Terms of Use.
• Implement appropriate security measures according to the Visa Account Updater User's Guide.
• Send test files for certification.
• Ensure the confidentiality of all cardholder data used by your financial institution and your participating merchants. (Note: This requirement is probably already being met by your institution's standard confidentiality procedures.)

• Provide merchants with responses to their inquiries within two business days of receipt from VAU.
• Promptly investigate claims of inaccurate data provided to or by VAU and notify VAU of any inaccuracies immediately.
• Advise merchants of data errors within two business days of error notice received from VAU or discovered by your financial institution.

• Train merchant service and sales representatives.

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