Since DaC introduced the new terminals where credit cards could be accepted as payment instead of cash, hail and ride trips as well as trips through the ‘credit card line’ have increased. With this has come an increase in the number of Chargebacks. Chargebacks are where the cardholder (mainly) and sometimes the card issuer think that the transaction may not be correct and will take the money back from us. Unfortunately, there is no time limit on Chargebacks, so you must keep your receipts for at least 1 year. 

DIAL-A-CAB WELCOMES JOHN LEE TO LONDON

John Lee Kah Wah - ComCabs new CEO Dial-a-Cab, through Call Sign, would like to welcome to London the new Chief Executive Officer of ComCab, John Lee Kah Wah, who has been appointed by the London head of ComCab and Comfort DelGro’s transportation businesses in the UK. Jaspal Singh.    John is a former CEO at Comfort and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Singapore.    Brian Rice told Call Sign: “I know John very well and look forward to seeing and indeed working with him. We wish him the best of luck in his new appointment.”

CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS: GOOD OR EVIL?

Warren Smith

   Some of you will have received a call from Pravin at DaC asking you to bring in a particular receipt so that we can defend the Chargeback. You may also have received a call to say that we are going to take the cost of the trip away from you. Since 1 January 2005, the shift in liability from the bank to the vendor means that you, the driver, must take more
responsibility in ensuring that the payment will be successful. One overriding statistic in the credit card saga is that less than .001%* of all credit card transactions processed actually result in a Chargeback, however over 50%* of all Chargebacks relate to FRAUD. So how are you going to combat the fraud problem?

• Always make sure that the credit card SWIPES through the terminal.
• Ensure you have a valid Authorisation Code.
• Where the terminal fails to read the card, you must fill in a manual credit card slip correctly. Just writing the numbers is not good enough; you have to make a brass rubbing of the card. You will then have to ring up the drivers line for an authorisation code.

• When the customer signs either slip, verify the name by checking the back of the card.

   Following these four steps proves to the bank that the person who owns the card is in front of you and has taken the trip and that they have sufficient funds to make payment. Our remit with the bank is that all our transactions are “customer present.”
   Never KEY a card if it fails to swipe. Never KEY a card if it fails to swipe. I have written this twice so that those drivers who continue to KEY card numbers may get the message. From the bank’s perspective, a keyed card is not proof that the person is present. If the card fails to swipe then ask them for good old-fashioned cash. If they have no cash, then my advice to you is forego the trip because in three weeks or even
three months, you may have to forego the money! We will always take the money back from the driver when he has keyed a number. If a card swipes but you do not get a Valid Authorisation, do not accept the fare, as there may be insufficient funds in the account to cover the trip. As before, ask to be paid in cash. We know at the time of submission - i.e. the next day - that we will not get paid for those trips without a valid authorisation and we will take back the money immediately.
   If you stick to these few simple rules, then you won’t be out of pocket.
   * Statistics supplied by HSBC

Warren Smith
DaC Financial Accountant