Account Updater Service

Credit and debit card numbers change for a variety of reasons including card expirations, card product type upgrades, portfolio conversions, and compromised account numbers among others. For merchants who offer services that are billed on a recurring or installment basis (for example, web hosting, gym memberships, specialized social networking, career services, monthly donation plans, etc.) out-of-date payment information can result in lost revenue, involuntary churn and decreased customer satisfaction.

Prior to the development of the Account Updater service, the standard method for merchants to obtain updated account information was to submit a Batch containing existing card information, requesting that Worldpay check for updates. Typically, merchants request updates for customer accounts scheduled to be billed in the next billing cycle. This legacy method is a relatively slow process, requiring several days for Worldpay to accumulate responses from the card networks/issuers and then to make the response file available to the merchant. Merchants must then update their billing systems with the new information, requiring IT processing cost. Failure to update their files can result in multiple requests (and charges) for

the update information, as well as delays in or lost revenue, higher Authorization expenses, and possibly chargebacks when old account information is used.

The Account Updater service shifts the workload of obtaining and maintaining updated account information to Worldpay. Utilizing configurable scheduling algorithms, we initiate account update requests on your behalf and then store the updated card information for use in future transactions. You simply submit billing transactions normally and, if necessary, Worldpay updates the transaction with the stored card information before submitting it to the networks for authorization. This fully managed service requires no code update on your systems.

FIGURE 1-3 Account Updater Overview