Unlocking the Secrets of Force Post Transactions

There is a phrase that has special meaning in the world of financial transactions: force post transactions (sometimes also refer as force sale transactions). This article will explain Force Post, explain how it operates, the different types and how to recover from the issuer’s point of view. To make this complicated idea easier to understand, let’s make it simpler.

What’s A Force Post Transaction?

A Force Post, often called a “forced authorization“, allows businesses to bypass the usual authorization and tokenization procedures associated with credit and debit card transactions. Instead, it empowers business owners to manually input an authorization number directly into their credit card readers. This is best exemplified by the toll pass scenario. Here, time restrictions frequently prevent merchants from completing the entire authorization procedure, giving rise to the well-known Force Post user case.

Are all force post transactions legit?

That’s regrettably not always the case (reports). Some retailers abuse the ability to use Force Post, which is intended to help them complete transactions when faced with technical difficulties like offline terminals or time restraints. As a result, card networks permit issuers to start chargebacks in particular Force Post circumstances.

What Are Different Types Of Force Post?

Force Post transactions are categorized as below

	Legit FP	No Auth Abused FP	Settle Amt >= Auth Amt Abused FP
Definition	Merchants use FP to complete transactions when faced with technical difficulties like offline terminals or time restraints	Merchant abuses FP where issuers will see settlement without any authorizations	Merchant abuses FP where issuers will see settlement amount is difference from authorization amount
Example	toll pass	car rental charges customer fees without customer’s knowledge	restaurant charges 100% tip without customer’s knowledge
Issuer’s Chargeback Right	No CB right	Yes	Yes (Card network has a threshold about the differences between settlement amount and authorization amount based on difference MCC codes)

How Does Issuers Get Money Back Through Chargebacks?

Instances of force post transactions, issuers have the right to start chargebacks to recover money for their clients. For instance, issuers might use chargeback explanation code 11.3, standing for Visa No Authorization chargebacks, to recover. It’s crucial to remember that issuers must carry out exhaustive research and analysis to weed out false positives, like those resulting from bundle settlements.

Merchants can process payments in a special way using Force Post transactions that do not rely on the customary authorization and tokenization procedures. However, merchants maybe abuse it, so it’s also important for issuers to understand their rights and recover the money through chargebacks. This complex but essential procedure guarantees the accuracy of financial transactions for both cardholders and businesses.