Reducing Chargebacks through Better Descriptions

Can I set up Auth.net or Linkpoint to show more than my company name?

[pdivi]

I'm about to close on a merchant account with an Auth.net gateway and I just had a panic attack. I have several services branded under different names and sold through various websites, but I plan to bill them through one merchant account under my main corporate identity.

Under my current billing situation -- 3rd party payment programs -- I have been able to easily and inexpesively set up multiple accounts so that the line item on a customer's statement will include the name of the service brand. If this goes away and I can only use my company name, I'm afraid my customers will not recognize the charge on their statements and my chargebacks will go through the roof!

I have been pouring through Auth.net documentation to find some sort of variable that lets me determine the line item on the customer's statement, but I don't see anything. Am I missing something? Would Linkpoint have been a better choice for me?

[yowza]

I don't think that Linkpoint offers this option. I'm not sure about others. Linkpoint doesn't even let you customize the look for your different stores through the same account; at least that is what they told me. If they don't allow this customization, I doubt they would allow custom changes for the Billing Info.

However, why don't you put a message in your shopping cart saying "billing will appear as...". This is a very common message I see on the internet.

[digitalv]

Authorize.Net and Linkpoint actually have nothing to do with that part - what your users see on their credit card statements comes from your merchant bank since they are the ones who actually capture funds. All Authorize.Net/Linkpoint does is middle-man the information between the Internet and your merchant bank.

So with that said, your bank is who you need to call to answer this question. I don't know of any bank that will let you put more than your legal company name (or DBA) and phone number.

One thing that I've found is a good practice is to send out an automatic e-mail on the first of the month to everyone who purchased something the previous month. This message would remind them what they bought, how much it was, and more importantly what's going to show up on their credit card statement. This way when the statement comes in its fresh on their minds.

[hjil]

Just a warning, we have had similar situations where we sent out emails warning the customers of the change, and we still got a flood of chargebacks. Maybe all of your websites should also have the name that will be on the statement written somewhere prominently so it will be familiar to them when they see it on their statement.

[Morocco]

For Visa you'll get 75's and MC you'll get 4863's in chargebacks. Specefication and education would be one of the only ways to remedy that problem. I can't even imagine how many charegbacks like that occur a year in ecommerce.