Ensure Credit Cards are Up-To-Date Using the Authorize.Net Account Updater

Summary

Petly Plans has integrated with Authorize.Net’s Account Updater, which automatically updates your clients’ card-on-file information once a month. 

This helps keep payment information current so you continue to receive payment and avoid lost sales, payment declines and interruptions.

When

• Once a month starting around the 24^th

Permission Level

Authorize.Net Account Owner

Things to Know

• Authorize.Net charges your account $0.25 per card updated.

IMPORTANT: We strongly recommend you delete unused payment profiles in Petly Plans to avoid being charged for credit card updates. Authorize.Net cannot determine which credit cards are active in Petly Plans.

• Authorize.Net's Account Updater processes ONLY Visa^® and MasterCard^®
• The Authorize.Net^®Account Updater runs once a month to:
  • Update new card numbers and expiration dates for Visa^® or MasterCard^® credit cards.
  • Identify closed accounts and delete the impacted payment profile in Authorize.Net.
  • Flag accounts for which the practice needs to contact the client and remove them from the Authorize.Net database (some reasons: fraud, lost or stolen card, issuer refuses to share card with recurring billing agencies)

• Petly Plans looks for changes made by the Account Updater each night.
• Petly Plans sends an email to designated administrators if a credit card has changed through the Account Updater process.
• The initial update occurs based on when you sign up. 
  • If you sign up BEFORE the 13^th, updates should begin that month
  • If you sign up ON OR AFTER the 13th, updates will start the next month
• Possible responses:
  • NAN - New Account Number
  • NED - New Expiration Date
  • ACL - Account Closed
  • CCH - Contact Card Holder
    • Note: "Contact Card Holder" is a response VISA or MasterCard provides Authorize.Net. This could indicate the account was frozen, the card was reported lost or stolen, accounts were consolidated, or an entirely new card was issued. The exact reason in these cases is not provided to Authorize.Net.
• An Authorize.Net report is available for the previous month's updates at the beginning of each month.
• Here are a few benefits of Account Updater to you and your clients:
  • Increase authorization approvals – automatic, monthly cardholder updates mean more authorization approvals on your payment profiles, helping to avoid declines and unnecessary payment interruptions.
  • Increase sales and retain customers – reduce client friction and the chances of cancellations or non-payment associated with manual updates and payment disruptions.
  • Reduce your administrative costs – reduce the costs associated with individually contacting customers to obtain their updated information. Your time is better spent focusing on building your business rather than manually updating client data.
  • No update, no charge – You only pay per update. On average, 20-35% of cards update in the first month of using Account Updater, with only 7-8% each month after. But in the long run, at only $0.25 per update, your savings will far outweigh the costs.

Steps

Sign up for the Authorize.Net Account Updater

1. Log into your practice’s Authorize.Net Merchant Interface (https://account.authorize.net).
2. Under Tools on the left side of the home page, click the Account Updater link.
3. Click Sign Up Now.
4. Within the Industry Information area, click the Look Up link.
5. In the Search box, type 742.
6. Click the 742 VETERINARY SERVICES option.
7. Click SELECT MCC.
8. Select the agreement checkbox.
9. Click I Agree. When the Account Updater page appears, your registration request is being processed. This takes approximately 2 hours.

View the Authorize.Net Account Updater Report

1. Log into your practice’s Authorize.Net Merchant Interface (https://account.authorize.net).
2. Click Reports from the main toolbar.
3. Click Account Updater Reports from the menu on the left.
4. Select the Month you would like to view.
5. Click Run Report.
6. If results are found, the first 100 records will be displayed on the dashboard.
7. To view more than the first 100 records, you will need to use the Download to File option.
8. Select the record corresponding to the month you wish to review and click Run Report.

Cancel the Authorize.Net Account Updater Service

1. Log into your practice’s Authorize.Net Merchant Interface (https://account.authorize.net).
2. Click Tools from the main toolbar.
3. Click Account Updater in the menu on the left.
4. Click Discontinue Account Updater Service.

Note: Canceling the Account Updater service will apply to future batches only. It will not stop updates for the current month if it has already started.

Other Helpful Resources

• Authorize.Net Account Updater FAQ
• Delete a Payment Profile
• Put a Plan on Hold
• Why does the Account Updater Flag Card Every Month, but the customer states nothing changed?