Frequently Asked Questions
When switching between portals, you may sometimes encounter a blank page, or be stuck on a "spinning wheel" page. If you are able to access the portal through your browser's private mode, such as Chrome's Incognito or Firefox's Private Browsing, it typically means you need to clear your browser cache.
To resolve the issue, clear your browser's cache with the time range of All Time or Everything:
Caution
You will only be able to refund payments if your account has been added to a security group with that permission.
To refund a payment:
To access the payment you need to refund, go to the View Folders page and find the folder containing the payment. Click on the folder name to access its Folder Maintenance page.
Find the payment on the page. Payments are indicated by a credit card icon in the Type column.
Under the Action column, click the red Refund icon.
Ensure the account that needs to access the credit card number is in the correct security group.
Open the folder containing the transaction for which you need to access the credit card number.
Click the blue credit card icon.
You'll be greeted with a window asking for a PIN number. Check your email for a message containing this number.
Enter the PIN into the verification window. You'll then have 60 seconds with which to view the credit card number.
Chargeback Prevention Tips
With Sertifi eAuthorizations, property staff have a solution that allows them to securely collect, authorize, and tokenize credit card details in a PCI–compliant manner. Nevertheless, while as much information is verified as possible, Sertifi cannot guarantee prevention of card not present chargebacks because cardholders are able to dispute a card not present transaction at any time for any reason, legitimate or not. Sertifi tools are built to aid in identifying potentially risky transactions.
Review the Fraud Tools Score
Beware of same day reservations – Fraudsters like to act quickly (up to 48 hours prior to check-in), to the point that many hotels have adopted policies of not accepting same day reservations. If it's necessary to accept a same day reservation, properties can mitigate the risk of fraud by requiring an advance deposit, or requesting a second form of payment.
Review information on the authorization form – Ensure front desk staff are trained on how to review and research information in the authorization form. Verifiable information could include:
Business Name, Addresses, and Phone Numbers - A quick Google search of a business name can often verify if it's real or not. Fraudsters often use fake addresses, which may be revealed in Google Streetview to be a home, empty lot, bus stop, abandoned building, and so on.
Signature – The signature should match the cardholder or guest’s name. In the past, some hotels have accepted authorizations signed with obviously false signatures such as “AAAAAAA”, which resulted in chargebacks.
Billing Instructions – This section is not required on the authorization form, so fraudsters may skip this in order to suggest billing was not approved.
Require ID with Authorization – Typically, fraudsters will abandon the transaction if prompted to submit photo ID. If they do share an ID, the property can examine the ID and look for doctored images. In some cases, these can be easy to spot if you are prepared to look for it. With 3rd party authorizations, asking for an ID at check-in acts as an effective way to deter fraudsters, especially when an authorization is deemed risky.
Prevent "Friendly Fraud" – If a chargeback does occur, it's often a good practice to directly contact the guest who requested it, as they may unknowingly be committing fraud by asking for a chargeback. Guests may sometimes not realize they purchased something, or didn’t understand what they were agreeing to pay for. The act of speaking with the guest can help prevent a full chargeback. Hotels may also be able to appease a disgruntled guest through other means (partial refund, future discounts, etc.).
Tactics for preventing friendly fraud can include:
Having a clear refund and cancellation policy in place.
Using clear and recognizable billing descriptors on your credit card authorization forms and invoices.
Maintaining internal notes in the guest reservation.
Empowering the Guest Services team to handle guest complaints.
Staying in regular contact with each guest.
If you sent an upload request with a signature document, you can access the file your participant upload by clicking the green upload icon next to the document name.
There are numerous differences between paying with a credit card versus paying by ACH. Key factors include:
The processing costs to the merchant – ACH payments usually have lower processing fees than credit cards.
The processing times for the transaction – Credit cards are much faster to process.
Customer preference or needs – some customers prefer to pay by ACH because they don't want to use a credit card, or don't have one. Others may prefer to use a credit card so they can earn reward points or save cash.
Sertifi Payments accepts both forms of payments so that merchants and customers can pay and get paid in the manner they prefer.