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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.?

#51

Post by parfitt »

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…

>It's harder to "steal" a chip card since the information is not sitting on an easy-to-read mag-stripe.

Well, yes. But really it's mostly the POS device sending data to the chip which then performs operations and returns a result code or a data block to the POS device.

When you enter a PIN in the POS device it is sent to the chip and it verifies that the PIN is correct. A yes/no result code is returned to the POS device.

In a POS transaction your PIN is not sent to your card issuing bank for it to verify like it is for ATM.

Instead the POS device sends about a dozen data elements about the transaction to the card which runs them through an algorithm and encrypts (maybe not encrypts but that's the best term I can think of right now) it with a key it and the issuing bank knows. The resulting hash is returned to the POS device and is sent to the bank for authorisation. The bank then performs the same algorithm and verfies the hash is valid.

I am not sure if you could literally copy a chip, but it is doing more than just storing data like you have with a mag stripe only card.

"Chip&PIN" would have zero effect for an online transaction as neither the chip or the PIN are in play.

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

#52

Post by joshaidan »

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…

The story behind the CVV is something like this:

CVV is also known as card not present number. Historically it was printed on the back of the card, or on the front using unraised type. This way, if an impression of a credit card was taken (using one of those old fashion swipe back and forth machines), the CVV number would not be included in the impression. This provided some protection for card owners, as it prevented a merchant from using the credit card number obtained from an impression to say place an order using the CC over the phone. This is why you're required (or it's recommended) that you ask for the CVV number for any transaction where the card is not present.

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

#53

Post by aestra »

rmc wrote: post #39
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"

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

Do you only have Visa and Mastercard then?

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

#54

Post by i386 »

wil421 wrote: post #44

Worked in restaurants for years while I was in college. All but 1 restaurant I worked at had systems that asked for the type of card. I dont think this is limited to web forms.

Probably to add the surcharge? Vendors pay AMEX a % of the purchase.

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

#55

Post by msherry »

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?

Yup -- you can authorize a card with a missing, or even incorrect, CVV.

I work at Balanced payments, and this frequently trips up a lot of people. If incorrect CVV information is entered, we note that in our response, but it's up to the user of our API to decide if they want to accept that card or not. (We also use this information as one component of many in our internal fraud systems, of course).

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

#56

Post by wil421 »

i386 wrote: post #54
wil421 wrote: post #44

Worked in restaurants for years while I was in college. All but 1 restaurant I worked at had systems that asked for the type of card. I dont think this is limited to web forms.

Probably to add the surcharge? Vendors pay AMEX a % of the purchase.

Could be a possibility, in the situation where I didnt have to select a card type the system would automatically register the correct type as soon as I swiped the card.

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

#57

Post by excitom »

This has always been a pet peeve of mine, it's totally unnecessary to ask for the card type.

Also, it bothers me that I can't type in my card number exactly as it appears on the card, with embedded spaces for readability. Stupid form! Don't tell me the number is invalid since it has spaces in it! If you don't like my spaces, take them out!

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

#58

Post by sleepyhead »

frankus wrote: post #25

For a good example of how to do this right, see skeuocard: http://kenkeiter.com/skeuocard/

Good example? It is an interesting concept but while it resembles the physical object it does not fit in with the normal way of filling out a form on a webpage. And has anyone used this in production? I really like to see some stats on how this performs.

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

#59

Post by sleepyhead »

aestra wrote: post #53
rmc wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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"

>Heads up: If you're in (say) Europe or UK, then American Express and Discover aren't a "big card issuer" Do you only have Visa and Mastercard then?

Yes. And local bank debit cards usually combined on the VISA card, in Norway there is BankAxept, Dankort in Denmark and something else Germany can't remember. The fees for these transactions are next to nothing compared to Visa/MC here in Norway. But very rarely accepted online (unfortunately).

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

#60

Post by jonnathanson »

danudey wrote: post #45
jonnathanson wrote: post #42

It's certainly not necessary, but my guess is that it follows from the "Don't Make Me Think" school of UX design. If a majority of consumers have been conditioned to expect a credit-card-selection menu (or series of clickable icons), then the absence of such might confuse them and cause measurable drop-offs in the purchase completion funnel. It seems a little farfetched, but I'm sure at least someone has done the tes…

I worked for a company which sold goods online and ran their own shopping cart. We took out the 'card type' drop down and just auto detected it. We had a bunch of greyed-out logos and once you entered a valid credit card number it would light up whichever card type it was (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex). What we found was a huge increase in people typing 'Visa' or 'Mastercard' into the 'Name on the card' field (wh…

Fascinating. And it makes sense. Sometimes long-time purchasing habits are hard to break, and forcing a change hurts results.
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