Altru 2.94 Feature: Credit Card Rejection

Ah, the fear of rejection. Overcoming it is often easier said than done. For example, my wife had to ask me out on our first date since I was worried she would reject my invitation. I’ll tell you, that was quite a relief!

For those of you who worry about credit card transaction rejections, we’re offering a different kind of relief: Altru release 2.94 will introduce new ways for you to manage them! With the latest release you’ll be able to choose between permanent and temporary credit card rejections.

When you know a credit card is invalid you can permanently remove it from your batch and avoid unnecessary processing fees (and potential blows to your self-esteem). But if the problem with the credit card is something that can easily be fixed with a phone call or letter to the card holder, you’ll also have the power to hold and automatically resubmit the rejected transaction at a later date (3^rd time’s a charm, right?!).

For those of you who aren’t fluent in credit card batches, here’s the basic run down: rather than running every credit card transaction through your processor (e.g., Blackbaud Merchant Services or your bank) to get payment at the time of purchase, accounting professionals may process them in groups. These groups of transactions are known as ‘batches’. Don’t worry about why accounting does this (it’s a standard accounting practice not the fear of rejection).

Revenue batches can be entered into the credit card processing system manually or automatically for patrons with scheduled payments. In previous versions of Altru, accounting would receive a warning message whenever they tried to process a credit card that was suspected of having a problem. Think expired card, overdrawn account, and cards that are suspected of being lost and stolen. Each time a rejection warning occurred, accounting would have to manually remove and resubmit each “exception”. This is almost as heart breaking as the rejection itself! When the 2.94 update is implemented, you’ll have choices for how you want Altru to deal rejections.

Altru can be configured to automatically break rejections down into two groups. The first group is provisional (or temporary) rejections, which means these cards may be successfully authorized at a later date. The second group is permanent rejections, which mean that the card is not going to go through ever (dude, she’s just not that into you). When a permanent rejection happens, Altru will send you a file that details the problem so that you can follow up with the constituent and get it resolved. By contrast, provisional rejections will generate a report that allows you to set up a specific number of automated retries. If the card fails to process after the acceptance threshold you’ve set is exceeded, the transaction will become a permanent rejection. This enhancement will help you manage credit card batches more effectively, save you time, and eliminate unnecessary fees by not reprocessing transactions that will never be authorized.

Fear of credit card rejection? With Altru version 2.94 it’ll be a thing of the past!

Take a look at the what’s new page for this feature for a preview!

More details can be found in the Update Guide!

Rely on your friends if you are feeling down about being rejected by the credit card processor.