What happens to CC when internet is down?

[blurdgman]

If the internet service is down does Washgear Cardmate issue unauthorized meter time for the customer and get authorization later or is the system out of business?

Original Cardmate, before internet service, checked that it was a valid card and then checked for authorization in a batch process at night. It provided service time for the customer in any event even if there were one or two unauthorized users.

How often do you experience downtime on DSL service?
Is it a problem?

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I have never had downtime on my DSl. But it is important to see which DSL provider has the best quality, and least downtime. Some of the resellers have to contact the real phone company for repair, and the priority isn't always there.

 

[hojo]

I have been using washgear for several years now... If the internet goes down, the card processing is down. I have only experienced a problem with my dsl one time and that was when a contractor was doing work and cut the line... otherwise its been very good (qwest)

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

If that is the case you may want to consider a back-up internet scenario. I know many communities have wi-fi companies that are often used as backup.

 

[Jeff_L]

I use WashGear and have had my DSL line go down once in the past two years. At least that's all I'm aware of. I have my DSL and phone line through AT&T, so when it went down I contacted them and they gave me the dial in phone number to use with my phone modem. It worked just fine until they fixed the DSL issue.

All you really need is an always on internet connection for WashGear to validate the card across the wire. The computer doesn't care how it's connected, it only cares that it can get to where it needs to to validate the card.

 

[blurdgman]

34% of our sales are via credit card. If the DSL is down then we'd be nearly out of business. Dialup for individual approval would take too long for approval between customers.
I would like to see Washgear develop their software so that if the internet connection is down the Cardmate system would revert to instant approval without authorization until the internet service is restored. It's better to have one or two unauthorized users than to substantially reduce sales.

 

[DavidM]

I could be wrong about this but my understanding is that saving the cc information to process later is not allowed anymore or requires very expensive security/encryption because all of the card data is stored and theoretically at risk. It also adds significant liability to the merchant.

David

 

[bigleo48]

I use a NETGEAR ProSafe VPN Firewall FVS338 DSL Router. It has dialup backup.

So when DSl is down (determined by the router who cannot see a far end ip address like the DNS server), then it dials out to my DSL's dialup service and connects that way. It stays connected until DSL service returns.

So the customer never notices as CC clearing is but a few hundred bytes.

Another solution would be a cellular 3G modem/hub as a backup or even full service if your DSL is not reliable.

 

[dogwasher]

34% of our sales are via credit card. If the DSL is down then we'd be nearly out of business. Dialup for individual approval would take too long for approval between customers.
I would like to see Washgear develop their software so that if the internet connection is down the Cardmate system would revert to instant approval without authorization until the internet service is restored. It's better to have one or two unauthorized users than to substantially reduce sales.

Great Idea! My internet went down on one of the busiest days last winter

 

[dogwasher]

I could be wrong about this but my understanding is that saving the cc information to process later is not allowed anymore or requires very expensive security/encryption because all of the card data is stored and theoretically at risk. It also adds significant liability to the merchant.

David

It saves it and sends the batch in late at night so if you can just get by the authorization then I see no reason why the Wash Gear cant keep loading cards while the Internet is down. Worst case is you could get a customer with a bad card well worth the risk.