Merchant Support Guide
1. Changes in release 2.5
• ISO summary report:
a. Added last 4 of settlement bank account for each merchant.
• Transaction report:
a. Added non-US beneficiary support with:
b. Beneficiary Amount
c. Beneficiary Currency
d. FX Rate Applied
• Account Updater report:
a. List of cards / accountIDs that have changed, as reported by issuers
• Report delivery options:
a. Added email with encrypted zip file
b. Added Amazon AWS s3
2. Overview
This merchant support guide provides the merchant with instructions to help support card disbursements and purchases with TabaPay as well as ACH debits and credits.
Details on the settlement process, reports, and support procedures are detailed.
The reports have a separate Excel workbook that details the various fields.
3. Merchant Setup: Card Acceptance
A Merchant must setup the following items prior to processing card transactions:
| Configuration item | Description |
|---|---|
| Statement description | Name that is displayed on cardholder statement. NOTE: soft descriptor (sent on each transaction, is available to certain merchants with approval) |
| Phone number | Phone number provided to receiving institution. NOTE: soft descriptor (sent on each transaction, is available to certain merchants with approval) |
| Daily PULL limit | Aggregate daily limit for purchases |
| Daily PUSH limit | Aggregate daily limit for disbursements |
| Maximum PULL ticket | Maximum PULL transaction limit |
| Maximum PUSH ticket | Maximum PUSH transaction limit |
| Accepted card types | Debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards, US/non-US |
| MCC | Merchant category code |
| Settlement account | Account to receive proceeds. NOTE: can have separate settlement account for purchases and disbursements |
| Fee account | Account to fund interchange and assessments. Can be same as settlement account or adjustment account. |
| Adjustment account | Account to fund chargebacks, receive representments, and fund other adjustments. Can be same as settlement account or fee account. |
| Settlement options | Gross: 3 settlement ACH instructions per day (CR for purchases, DR for
disbursements, DR for fees) Net: Option to net settle disbursements and purchases. Can also include fees or separate fees |
| Report subscription | Any or all of the following can be subscribed to. “$” indicates an additional fee
may be charged if delivered with the daily reports. • Daily transaction report • Daily settlement summary report • Daily interchange report • Daily exception report • Daily chargeback report • Daily AML summary • Daily AML details • BIN file ($) |
| Report delivery | The following options are provided for report subscription delivery: • Amazon s3 bucket (folders supported) • Dropbox • Citrix sharefile • SFTP • Encrypted email |
| Invoice files | Invoice files The following files are delivered with the monthly invoice: • Monthly invoice • All transactions processed in a month • Monthly deposit/debit summary. Day by day bank movements • An ISO further receives: o Interchange by MID by billing code o Network fee by MID by network code o Processing fees by MID and category |
| Invoice delivery | The following invoice delivery methods are supported: • SFTP • Dropbox • Sharefile • Amazon s3 |
4. Merchant Setup: ACH and RPPS Origination
| Configuration item | Description |
|---|---|
| Company name | Name that is displayed on customer statement |
| Company entry description | Description that is displayed on customer statement |
| Settlement account | Offset account used for all debit, credit and return entries |
| Company ID | Company EIN |
5. Merchant Setup: ACH Setup
The following contacts are required prior to going live on any TabaPay service
| Configuration item | Description |
|---|---|
| Operations contact | Merchant contact for operations |
| Treasury contact | Merchant contact for treasury issues |
| Invoice contact and email | Merchant contact to receive monthly invoices |
6. Merchant Configuration
Settlement Options:
| Configuration Item | Description | Option Chosen |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement | Gross settlement: Purchase deposit separate from Disbursement debit Net settlement: a net amount is settled Purchase-Disbursements. If negative a debit is initiated on the account. |
|
| Exceptions | Gross: Exceptions are debited are credited separately from settlement Net: Exceptions are debited or credited against the Purchase proceeds |
|
| Fee Frequency | Interchange and network fees are debited daily Other options: requires approval |
|
| Fee Settlement | Gross: a separate fee debit is sent daily Net: the fees are debited against the purchase proceeds. If negative net amount then a debit is sent to the account designated for Purchases |
|
| Convenience Fee | XXXXX | XXXX |
Account Options:
| Configuration Item | Description | Option Chosen |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase Account | Account used to receive the Purchase deposit. Deposit is less refunds. | |
| Disbursement Account | Account used to fund disbursements. This account must be at acquiring bank | |
| Adjustment Account | Account used for Chargebacks and Representments | |
| Fee Account | Account used for daily fee debit |
Additional ISO Options:
| Configuration Item | Description | Option Chosen |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement | ISO level settlement: All funds are settled at the ISO level Merchant level settlement: funds are settled for each merchant. Each merchant must provide unique account and settlement options |
|
| Reports | Reports can be delivered to the ISO or Merchant | |
| Fee type | A merchant discount rate or interchange++ can be configured. The daily merchant debit for fees can be the ISO’s fees to the merchant. TabaPay can credit the residual ISO fees daily or monthly | |
| Fees | ISO or merchant: Does the ISO or merchant pay the daily interchange and assessments. |
7. Daily Settlement
Daily settlement is for prior cutoff activity. The daily settlement reports are available by 9am PT.
The merchants may see the following debits/credits daily:
1. Deposit for all purchases. Merchant will receive full value for the purchases less:
a. Chargebacks
b. Refunds
c. Adjustments
2. Withdraw for all disbursements.
3. Withdraw for all chargebacks if Purchases unable to pay for chargebacks (see above, chargebacks are usually deducted from Purchases prior to deposit).
a. If merchant bank account at the acquiring bank then a withdraw will be posted.
b. If merchant bank account not at the acquiring bank then the reserve account will be debited and if non-sufficient funds then deduction from purchase proceeds.
4. Withdraw or deposit for adjustments
5. Withdraw to fund the reserve
6. Deposit for all disbursement returns.
7. Deposit for all chargeback representments.
A summary of the chargeback/representments/return funds movement actions is below. These are possible actions on a transaction in the daily exception report:
• Open – Merchant debited --funds movement: debit to merchant account
• Documentation received
• Closed – 2nd Chargeback – merchant debited --funds movement: debit to merchant account
• Representment - merchant paid. --funds movement: credit to merchant account
• Return – merchant paid -- this is a returned disbursement, --funds movement: credit to merchant account
The merchant will see one or more of the following entries on their bank statement:
- Purchase payout: CompanyID: “TabaPay” Description: “PmtMMDDB”
- Disbursement settlement: CompanyID: “TabaPay” Description: “DisbMMDDA”
- Adjustment settlement: CompanyID: “TabaPay” Description: “AdjMMDDA”
- TabaPay fees: CompanyID: “TabaPay, Inc.” Description: “FeesMMDDB”
The ACH debit and/or credit on the on the bank account can be identified with the following identifiers:
- Company Name: "Tabapay" + Numeric identifier. For example: TabaPay 10004567
- Entry description:
a. Purchase deposit: “Pmt” + MMDD + letter
b. Disbursement debit: “Disb” + MMDD + letter
c. Reserve debit: “Resv” + MMDD + letter
d. Adjustment debit: “Adj” + MMDD + letter
The Numeric identifier is provided by TabaPay prior to the merchant going live.
The MMDD is the month and day of the settlement. For example, Thursday payment activity will have a settlement MMDD for the Friday.
NOTE: Friday payment activity is aggregated with Sat/Sun and will have a single MMDD for a Monday deposit.
The letter is a TabaPay included letter to help identify the payment in the event of a merchant reported problem. The letter can be A-Z.
The day after a weekend or holiday, TabaPay will post the deposits or withdrawals in aggregate, for each day of the weekend or holiday.
For example, if a holiday is on a Monday, the merchant will receive the following settlements in an aggregate credit (or debit) on Tuesday: (i) Friday activity that would typically settle Monday, (ii) Saturday activity that would typically settle Monday, (iii) Sunday activity that would typically settle Monday and (iv) Monday holiday that settles Tuesday.
8. Card Settlement flow
The card settlement flow is shown below:
- The bank debits disbursements from the merchant account
- If there are insufficient funds to cover the disbursement (including net settlement against AFT) then the merchant reserve is debited.
- AFT proceeds are credited to the merchant account less chargebacks
- Daily interchange and network fees are deducted from the merchant account.
- TabaPay pays all network fees to each network.
9. ISO / multi-merchant Settlement
An ISO or a merchant with multiple merchant IDs can specify ISO level settlement (or individual merchant settlement). ISO level settlement uses a single account and single ACH debit or credit for all merchants. The ISO is responsible for sending money to each merchant using the ISO summary report.
10. Cutoff time
Cutoff time varies by network and type of transaction. The merchant will be paid or debited for all transactions posted in the 24 hours prior to cutoff time.
| Network | Transaction type | Cutoff time |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | Purchases, refunds | 03:00 PT |
| Visa | Disbursements | 03:00 PT |
| Mastercard | Purchases, refunds | 21:00 PT |
| Mastercard | Disbursements | 23:00 PT |
| STAR | Purchases, Disbursements | 15:00 PT |
| Accel | Purchases, Disbursements | 13:00 PT |
| PULSE | Purchases, Disbursements | 22:00 PT |
| NYCE | Purchases | 13:30 PT |
| NYCE | Disbursements | 03:00 PT |
| American Express | Purchases | 21:00 PT* |
| Bill Payment (CC) | Disbursement, cc payoff | 15:00 PT |
| ACH Same Day | Disbursement and collection | 07:30am PT |
| ACH Next Day | Disbursement and collection | 05:30pm PT |
| Real Time Payments (RTP) | Disbursements | 21:00 PT** |
The daily transaction report has all transactions that comprise the daily merchant settlement, respecting these cutoff times.
*American Express is settled two business days after cutoff.
*RTP report cutoff is 9pm PT, which matches the daily reconciliation reports and funding true-up (midnight-midnight ET). See separate RTP guide.
11. Report Delivery
Daily reports can be delivered to Merchants using one of the following methods, at merchant option:
A. SFTP push. TabaPay pushes reports via SFTP. Security options can include:
a. Merchant whitelists TabaPay IP
b. SFTP ID and Password
c. TabaPay public key for SFTP security (ID or ID+PW)
d. File encryption using Merchant public PGP key
B. Dropbox. TabaPay assigns a dropbox to one or more Merchant email accounts. The reports are posted daily. Security options include:
a. Dropbox security is standard
b. File encryption using Merchant public PGP key
C. Amazon s3. A directory can be included
a. Amazon security is standard
b. File encryption using Merchant public PGP key:
c. AWS access credentials:
i. AWS Access Key ID
ii. AWS secret key
iii. AWS bucket name
iv. If directory is used, then directory name
D. Email. One or more Merchant emails can daily reports. Files are zip and encrypted with Merchant selected password.
12. Merchant Statement
The Merchant Statement is available within 7 days after the end of the month. The merchant statement lists all the transactions with network fees per transaction, interchange due for merchant, total fees due, as well as Reserve balance and any changes to the Reserve during the month. The Merchant Statement is available within the TabaPay portal, under invoices. The monthly reporting includes:
(i) The monthly statement
(ii) The monthly list of all transactions, which includes the fees billed:
a. the interchange per transaction
b. the network fees billed per transaction
c. the processing fees billed per transaction
(iii) The daily summary for the month of deposits, withdrawals, chargebacks, representments, and fees.
13. Transaction details
The daily transaction report is available by 9am PT.
14. Exceptions Report
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| ISO | ISO number assigned by TabaPay |
| MID | Merchant number assigned by TabaPay |
| Reference ID | Merchant transaction ID passed in API |
| Memo | Merchant Memo (to recognize transaction passed in API) |
| Transaction ID | TabaPay transaction ID returned in the API |
| Exception ID | Unique ID for the exception. |
| Exception type | (SEE CHART BELOW) |
| Exception code | Code from the specific network |
| Exception description | Description corresponding to the code |
| Exception date | Date exception received by TabaPay |
| Action status | Last status of the exception: settlement funds movement shown • Adjustment - merchant debited • Adjustment - merchant paid • Closed – 2nd Chargeback – merchant debited • Open – Merchant debited • Representment - merchant paid. Other status descriptions that do not indicate funds movement include: • Documentation received – TabaPay has received documentation regarding the chargeback and will represent to the network. |
| Action date | Date of action status. |
| Days open | Days the exception has been open (for Exceptions report, will always be 0) |
| Network TransactionID | ID from the network |
| Date Created | Date and time (Pacific) returned in API |
| Date Processed | (If a weekend or holiday, settlement is next business day) |
| Transaction type | Purchase (+), Disbursement (-), Purchase chargeback (-), disbursement chargeback (+), Purchase reversal (-) |
| Source | |
| Destination | |
| Exception Network | Network posting the exception |
| Last 4 | Last 4 of beneficiary card |
| Amount | Purchase (+), Disbursement (-), Purchase chargeback (-), disbursement return (+), Purchase reversal (-) |
| Currency | Currency of amount |
| Error code | TabaPay error code |
| Network RC | Network Response code |
| Name | Cardholder name |
| TabaPay fee | TabaPay fee (per transaction) |
| Network fee | Network fee (per transaction) |
| Interchange fee | Interchange fee (per transaction) |
Exception Type Chart:
| Field | Description | Fund Movement |
|---|---|---|
| Chargeback | A purchase dispute | Merchant debit |
| Return | A returned disbursement | Merchant credit |
| Representment | A Chargeback represented by TabaPay/merchant and paid back to bank (merchant). | Merchant credit |
| Adjustment debit | A debit received from network related to prior transaction. Look at Exception description. | Merchant debit |
| Adjustment credit | A credit received from network related to prior transaction | Merchant credit |
15. Chargeback states: Exception type and statuses
| Exception type | Possible Action statuses | Funds moved |
|---|---|---|
| Chargeback | • Open – Merchant debited • Documentation received • Closed - 2nd Chargeback – Merchant debited |
Y N Y |
| Representment | • Merchant paid • Closed – 2nd Representment |
Y Y |
| Return | Closed – merchant paid | Y |
A typical chargeback flow:
1. Chargeback received. Exception type=Chargeback, Status=Open – merchant debited
2. Documentation received. Exception type=Chargeback, Status=Documentation received
3. Representment. Exception type=Representment, Status=Merchant paid
4. 2nd chargeback. Exception type=Chargeback, Status=Merchant debited
16. Exception Report Interchange True-up
The Exception Report may contain a record for each network with actual interchange difference between the per transaction interchange on the Transaction report and the actual interchange billed by network.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ReferenceID | "TPIC" |
| TransactionID | "TPIC" <YYYYMMDD>-<network>(Where <YYYYMMDD> is the settlement date and <network> is 1 character indication of network (V, M, S, A, P, N)Example TPIC20180718-P |
| ExceptionID | "TPIC" <YYYYMMDD>-<network>(Where <YYYYMMDD> is the settlement date and <network> is 1 character indication of network (V, M, S, A, P, N)Example "TPIC20180718-P" |
| Exception Type | "Interchange" |
| TransactionID | blank |
| Original Transaction | "Purchase" |
| Exception Source | "Settlement" |
| Exception Destination | Network Example "Visa" |
| Exception Network | Network Example "Visa" |
| Original Settled Amount | $0 |
| Exception Settled Amount | $0 |
| Interchange | Interchange difference |
| Original Creation Date, Processed Date are prior day | |
| Exception Date and Status Date are the Settlement Date |
17. Chargebacks Report
The Chargebacks Report contains a history of each chargeback until closed. Only chargebacks are shown on the Chargebacks Report, whereas the Exceptions Report contains other exception types. The Chargebacks Report contains the same data fields as the Exceptions Report. Content differences are shown below. Closed chargebacks are dropped from the Chargebacks report 30 days after close.
| Field | Desciption |
|---|---|
| Action status | • Closed • Closed – 2nd Chargeback – merchant debited • Closed – Merchant debited • Documentation received • Open – Merchant debited • Representment - 2nd - Merchant Paid • Representment - merchant paid. |
| Action date | Date action changed. |
| Days open | Days since exception received (day 0 = date received) |
| Exception type | Always “chargeback” for the Chargeback report |
18. Merchant Summary Report
The Summary report shows the debits and credits to the merchant settlement account. The Transaction detail will reconcile the Summary report.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Purchase | Total of all purchase for the day |
| Disbursements | Total of all disbursements for the day |
| Exceptions | Total of all exceptions for the day |
| Reserve Funding | Any merchant funding of the reserve account |
| Interchange fees | (not part of daily settlement, but shown for completeness) |
| Network fees | (not part of daily settlement, but shown for completeness) |
| Tabapay fees | (not part of daily settlement, but shown for completeness) |
19. Interchange Report
The interchange report shows the actual interchange to be charged by network and card type category. The transaction report shows the indicative rate (estimate), the interchange report shows actual interchange.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| ISO | ISO number |
| ISO Name | ISO name |
| MID | Merchant number |
| Merchant name | Merchant name |
| Brand | Visa, Discover, Mastercard, PULSE, STAR, NYCE, Accel |
| Interchange category | Network category for interchange fees |
| Txn Count | # of transactions in the category |
| Txn $ | Total $s of purchases or disbursements |
| Interchange $ | Total $s of interchange |
Updated 26 days ago