CPS Car Rental and CPS Hotel – Card Not Present Interchange

Downgrades

When a transaction doesn’t meet the requirements for its target interchange category, it will “downgrade” to a more expensive category. In a sense, downgrades are a penalty rate for missing the qualifications of a less expensive category. Downgrades are not completely avoidable, but if you have a lot of them, it’s worth investigating.

General Interchange Qualifications

For all of these interchange categories, there are requirements a transaction must meet. Some requirements are the same across all categories, while others are category-specific. First, let’s take a look at the requirements that are the same across all categories. The transaction must:

• Take place at an eligible business
• Be “card not present”
• Pass 1 valid electronic authorization
• Have a matching Merchant Category Code (MCC) for authorization and settlement

Eligible businesses include car rental agencies  (with MCCs 3351, 3441, 7512), truck / trailer rental agencies (MCC 7513), hotels (with MCCs 3501, 3833, or 7011), airlines (MCC 3000, 3299, 4511), or railways (MCC 4112.) In addition to these general criteria, individual categories have their own requirements. Let’s take a look at those by industry.

CPS Car Rental and Hotel Card Not Present Interchange Qualifications

The additional qualifications for CPS Car Rental and CPS Hotel CNP interchange are the same. They include:

• Settlement date within 2 days of the checkout / car-return date
• Include a rental agreement number (car rental) or folio number (hotel)
• Include the start date (rental) or check-in date (hotel) and the duration of the rental / stay
• Provide an indicator for no shows / extra charges, if applicable

On statements: You must see these categories listed on monthly processing statements as CPS CARNP, CPS HTLNP. The debit categories may be called CAR NP D, CAR CNPDR, HTL NP D, or HTLCNP D R. The “D” indicates “debit” while the “R” specifies regulated debit. Prepaid categories may appear as CARCNP PP or HTLCNP PP. However, your processor may choose to use other names.

CPS Car Rental and Hotel E-Commerce Preferred Interchange Qualifications

The qualifications for the e-commerce preferred category for car rentals and hotels are the same as the CNP interchange above, with one addition. To qualify for E-Commerce Preferred interchange, the transaction must:

• Verify the CVV number
• Include an Ecommerce Indicator of either “5” or “6”

Ecommerce indicators refer to the use (or lack of use) of the Verified by Visa 3D Secure anti-fraud program. A “5” indicates that the business accepting the card successfully authenticated it via 3D Secure. A successful authentication is only possible when both the card and the bank that issued the card participate in the Verified by Visa program and the cardholder authenticated the transaction. A “6” indicates that the business accepting the card attempted authentication as a 3D Secure transaction, but either the cardholder or the bank that issues the card does not participate in the Verified by Visa program. The “6” indicates that the transaction was not successfully authenticated with 3D Secure, but that it wasn’t the business’s fault. On statements: These categories are sometimes shortened to ECOM PFCAR and ECOM PFHTL. The debit categories may be called ECM PF C D and ECMPFCD R for auto rental, or ECM PF H D, ECMPFH DR for hotels. The “D” indicates debit, while the “D R” indicates regulated debit. For prepaid, you may see ECMPFCPP or ECMPFHPP. However, processors can use alternate names or abbreviations if they prefer.

CPS Passenger Transport CNP Interchange Qualification

In addition to the general interchange criteria discussed earlier, a transaction must be the following requirements for CPS Passenger Transport:

• Transaction date and authorization date must match
• Transaction must include a ticket and sequence number, as well as itinerary information
• Have a settlement date within 8 days of the transaction date

On statements: You may see this category listed under different names. For credit, it may be CPSAIR CNP. Debit may appear as CPSAIRDCNP or AIR CNP DR, with the former indicating unregulated debit and the latter regulated debit. For prepaid cards, look for AIR CNP PP. Keep in mind that your processor has final control over how the categories will be listed on your statement.

CPS Passenger Transport E-Commerce Preferred Interchange Qualification

This category has largely the same criteria as the CNP for passenger transport, with the addition of:

• Requiring validation of the CVV number
• Requiring an e-commerce indicator of “5” or “6”

As noted elsewhere, ecommerce indicators refer to attempting to authenticate a transaction through the Verified by Visa program. A “5” indicates a successful Verified by Visa authentication. A “6” indicates that the authentication was not successful, but that the business attempted that authentication. It failed either because the cardholder or the bank doesn’t participate in the Verified by Visa 3D Secure program, thus successful authentication was not possible. On statements: These categories might show up on your monthly processing statements as ECOM PF PT. Debit categories may appear as ECM PF P D or ECMPFPD R, with the category ending in “R” delineating regulated debit. For prepaid, you may see abbreviations such as ECMPFP PP or other names at your processor’s direction.