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Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

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Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#31

Post by archivator »

notdonspaulding wrote: post #21

If you only accept the 4 biggest card issuers, you can get away with some dead-simple code to indicate to the user what card type their number indicates they are. Personally, I bind an onkeyup event handler to fade in the appropriate icon based on the first digit of the number. This is not safe if you accept more than these 4 card types, (we don't). function detect_cc_type(number){ return { '3': 'american_express', '…

Except that Maestro cards start with 6 as well.

Also, many ATM cards (a foreign concept to this European until very recently) overlap with Visa ranges. In fact, my ATM card parses exactly as a Visa number. It even has the Visa trademark mentioned on the back. No, you can't use it for online transactions. Apparently, Visa Debit is not a thing in Canada ...

My point is, showing wrong UI is often worse than clunkier UI.

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#32

Post by kevinconroy »

Domenic_S wrote: post #8

I'd like to see an A/B test between the 2 options. It sounds plausible that a less-sophisticated buyer might see the Visa logo light up after they've typed the first digit of their card and get confused ("WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS").

I don't have published version of data, but I can confirm from running a checkout flow that's processed $100M that fewer fields = more conversions. If you light up the logo people understand it when done properly.

It helps that more savvy ecommerce sites are moving to this model so more and more users are familiar with the experience.

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#33

Post by kevinconroy »

marcusr wrote: post #4

Why do credit card forms ask you to enter the credit card number without spaces between the clusters of digits, when it's simple for the machine to parse with or without them?

If you are handling the card number on your own servers (e.g. not using an iframe which you can't modify), then it's just lazy programming. There's no spec that says you cannot modify poor user input to strip characters.

Source: I run an e-commerece site and have written checkout flow.

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#34

Post by aestra »

pbreit wrote: post #7
wcfields wrote: post #2

Could someone who deals with PCI compliance please explain some other nuances of credit cards that I've been curious about: * Fault/Decline Codes returned from processors like CyberSource. How are these factored? How do processors do Regex on names/addresses? [1][2] * CVV numbers and what they mean/how they are treated in the system? If CVV number is included does this increase chargeback protection? * How CHIP cards…

Checks are typically very simple, no regex-ing involved. First, names are not really checked. For addresses, usually only the number (and sometimes just first three digits) are checked as well as the zip. Generally the processor tries to decline as few txns as possible and instead deliver the information to the merchant to make a decision. The merchant can usually pre-configure error codes that it would like the proc…

>The reason we still sign receipts and yes, you still see a carbon copy here and there, is mainly because it protects the merchant if the cardholder does a "chargeback". Merchants typically store the receipts and only turn them over if a chargeback is received. Showing the signed receipt to your processor will usually absolve you from any loss.

I wonder what would happen in this case if you turned in one of these?

(taken from the internet archive site apparently went down)

https://web.archive.org/web/20050317031541/http://www.zug.co...

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#36

Post by thomaslangston »

henrikschroder wrote: post #22
pbreit wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Checks are typically very simple, no regex-ing involved. First, names are not really checked. For addresses, usually only the number (and sometimes just first three digits) are checked as well as the zip. Generally the processor tries to decline as few txns as possible and instead deliver the information to the merchant to make a decision. The merchant can usually pre-configure error codes that it would like the proc…

> charge more for missing or incorrect CVVs. Wait, what? Can transactions still go through without the CVV, except the merchant's transaction fee is a bit higher? They're just not declined outright?

Yes, the CVV is not required. If you think about it, it is obvious CCV isn't since many self-serve card swipe machines (gas stations, grocery stores, fast food restaurants) don't ask you for it.

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#37

Post by thomaslangston »

Domenic_S wrote: post #8

I'd like to see an A/B test between the 2 options. It sounds plausible that a less-sophisticated buyer might see the Visa logo light up after they've typed the first digit of their card and get confused ("WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS").

My limited experience is that less-sophisticated users are either unaware or impressed by the light up logos option.

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#38

Post by ii »

ahallock wrote: post #15

I think it's one of those things where convenience for those looking at the underlying data has bled over into the UI. While you can deduce the type from the number, it's not easy for humans to do that at glance while looking over SQL query results. I could be wrong, but often, we ask users for more input than we need to because elegant UIs take lots of work.

Is it really hard for anyone in 2014 to get the type of a card from the first 2 digits of a card number and add a field to an INSERT query?

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#39

Post by rmc »

notdonspaulding wrote: post #21

If you only accept the 4 biggest card issuers, you can get away with some dead-simple code to indicate to the user what card type their number indicates they are. Personally, I bind an onkeyup event handler to fade in the appropriate icon based on the first digit of the number. This is not safe if you accept more than these 4 card types, (we don't). function detect_cc_type(number){ return { '3': 'american_express', '…

If you only accept the 4 biggest card issuers

Heads up: If you're in (say) Europe or UK, then American Express and Discover aren't a "big card issuer"

Re: Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, Mastercard, etc.?

#40

Post by notdonspaulding »

archivator wrote: post #31
notdonspaulding wrote: post #21

If you only accept the 4 biggest card issuers, you can get away with some dead-simple code to indicate to the user what card type their number indicates they are. Personally, I bind an onkeyup event handler to fade in the appropriate icon based on the first digit of the number. This is not safe if you accept more than these 4 card types, (we don't). function detect_cc_type(number){ return { '3': 'american_express', '…

Except that Maestro cards start with 6 as well. Also, many ATM cards (a foreign concept to this European until very recently) overlap with Visa ranges. In fact, my ATM card parses exactly as a Visa number. It even has the Visa trademark mentioned on the back. No, you can't use it for online transactions. Apparently, Visa Debit is not a thing in Canada ... My point is, showing wrong UI is often worse than clunkier UI.

> My point is, showing wrong UI is often worse than clunkier UI.

Point taken. As I thought I pointed out however, it's not wrong UI for my app. Since our company only accepts those 4 options, any other code that does more work than my example is a pointless waste of time (for both the programmer and computer).

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