Anyone heard of credit card authorisation code

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Anyone heard of credit card authorisation code

andar

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#157237 24-Nov-2014 20:59

I purchased some goods online yesterday at a NZ shop using my credit card. Today I get an email with this (identifying bit removed):

Before we dispatch the goods we will need to finalise the credit card authorisation.
This only needs to be done the first time you order with us. And is not stored

Please call your bank (credit card department) and ask for the "Authorisation Code" for the transaction.

This will usually be a 6 digit number.
Please "Reply All" with this number and we can release your goods.

Note: If we do not hear back from you in 2 working days, a reminder email will be sent. If after 3 days we still have not had a reply
We will need to cancel the order and refund the credit card.

So I was wondering if anyone else has had this type of response?

I buy online regularly and have done for a number of years, both within NZ and overseas and I have never seen anything like this before.

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Mercury

#1182391 24-Nov-2014 21:02

I had this when I used a Gem Card with ComputerLounge, rang Gem and they provided me with the code

Some credit card companies will text you the code or send an automated call with the authorisation code and need to enter it at the time of the purchase. I would assume it is just added security for the seller against credit card fraud

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wellygary

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#1182393 24-Nov-2014 21:09

An authorisation code is usually requested by a merchant direct to the credit card company, it verifies that the card is valid and has good credit.....

The fact the merchant is getting you to request this is worrying, it implies that the merchant is unable/ unwilling to contact the credit card company ... This smells fishy,

Call you card company and tell them what is being asked of you... They will let you know if it's legit...

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#1182395 24-Nov-2014 21:09

It is no different from adding a card to a PayPal account: you get charged a small fee, and then check the card statement for a code. Enter the code and PayPal refund the fee. It's a way to confirm you have access to the card statement/online services.

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Gordy7

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#1182412 24-Nov-2014 21:24

How about this one.
I was buying a mobile phone.
I didn't want to send all the info required by email and have it lying around some office.
I opted not to complete this credit card authorisation and paid by direct credit.

Gordy

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Kyanar

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#1182443 24-Nov-2014 22:05

wellygary: An authorisation code is usually requested by a merchant direct to the credit card company, it verifies that the card is valid and has good credit.....

The fact the merchant is getting you to request this is worrying, it implies that the merchant is unable/ unwilling to contact the credit card company ... This smells fishy,

Call you card company and tell them what is being asked of you... They will let you know if it's legit...

Completely wrong.

OP, there is no such thing as an "authorisation code". What they are asking for is the authorisation reference number. The authorisation is simply a "hold" on the funds for a transaction, to validate that the card has sufficient funds at the time of authorisation. When the merchant gets this authorisation, it is assigned a six digit reference number. Normally, this number is not displayed on your credit card statements - you'd need to contact your bank and both verify your identity to the bank's satisfaction, and provide enough details of the transaction to be able to confirm that you both made the transaction and are the cardholder. Nothing fishy about it at all, although it is an unorthodox way of doing it. Presumably, they will release the authorisation and charge the card once the confirmation has been received.

ckc

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#1182444 24-Nov-2014 22:06

Yeah, it's the reason I don't buy from Computer Lounge. They insist it's for their protection, which is fine, because they might get stung for chargebacks. But for my protection, I'm not sending personal information, auth codes and the rest by plain text across unsecured connections to potentially be printed off and lie around the place.*

*Not exclusive to retailers. Unnamed but influential bozo from government department wanted us to send departmental credit card numbers, names and CVV numbers via plaintext, unsecured connection, to him, so he could forward it by plaintext, unsecured connection, to a hotel in China.

Computer says no.

ckc

321 posts

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#1182445 24-Nov-2014 22:11

Kyanar:
wellygary: An authorisation code is usually requested by a merchant direct to the credit card company, it verifies that the card is valid and has good credit.....

The fact the merchant is getting you to request this is worrying, it implies that the merchant is unable/ unwilling to contact the credit card company ... This smells fishy,

Call you card company and tell them what is being asked of you... They will let you know if it's legit...

Completely wrong.

OP, there is no such thing as an "authorisation code". What they are asking for is the authorisation reference number. The authorisation is simply a "hold" on the funds for a transaction, to validate that the card has sufficient funds at the time of authorisation. When the merchant gets this authorisation, it is assigned a six digit reference number. Normally, this number is not displayed on your credit card statements - you'd need to contact your bank and both verify your identity to the bank's satisfaction, and provide enough details of the transaction to be able to confirm that you both made the transaction and are the cardholder. Nothing fishy about it at all, although it is an unorthodox way of doing it. Presumably, they will release the authorisation and charge the card once the confirmation has been received.

Actually, what happens is that when you buy something by credit card, the credit card authorisation number is a unique number sent back from the bank and printed on the credit card receipt. It has nothing to do with sufficient funds, as a credit card that didn't have sufficient funds would not return an auth code in the first place.

The retailer knows this number, but the person with the card can only get the number by calling the bank. By asking for this number, the retailer can verify that the person is the legitimate owner of the card because only the legitimate owner of the card would be able to pass the bank's security checks to get the auth code.

Geektastic

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#1182471 24-Nov-2014 22:52

I ordered from a big Mac supplier called OWC.

They insisted I actually scan the Visa card and send it to them by fax or email...! They only do it once.

xpd

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#1182550 25-Nov-2014 08:55

Booked a hotel for my wife and I using my mothers credit card (was a gift from her to us), hotel asked my to scan/photocopy the card and send it to them - did so with no issues.

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ckc

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#1182553 25-Nov-2014 09:01

xpd: Booked a hotel for my wife and I using my mothers credit card (was a gift from her to us), hotel asked my to scan/photocopy the card and send it to them - did so with no issues.

I don't see how that proves anything except you have the card. Doesn't demonstrate it's not stolen.

xpd

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#1182565 25-Nov-2014 09:14

Pretty much what I though also but its what they wanted... think it was just a case of knowing that I at least physically had access to the card.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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freitasm

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#1182572 25-Nov-2014 09:25

ckc:
xpd: Booked a hotel for my wife and I using my mothers credit card (was a gift from her to us), hotel asked my to scan/photocopy the card and send it to them - did so with no issues.

I don't see how that proves anything except you have the card. Doesn't demonstrate it's not stolen.

Exactly. Most stolen credit card numbers are embossed on a legitimate looking blank card, the magnetic data written and these cards are used to buy goods that are later offloaded on eBay, changing into hard cash.

Scanning a card proves nothing - just another stupid idea.

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Geektastic

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#1182573 25-Nov-2014 09:26

freitasm:
ckc:
xpd: Booked a hotel for my wife and I using my mothers credit card (was a gift from her to us), hotel asked my to scan/photocopy the card and send it to them - did so with no issues.

I don't see how that proves anything except you have the card. Doesn't demonstrate it's not stolen.

Exactly. Most stolen credit card numbers are embossed on a legitimate looking blank card, the magnetic data written and these cards are used to buy goods that are later offloaded on eBay, changing into hard cash.

Scanning a card proves nothing - just another stupid idea.

There's no shortage of those...! ;-)

andar

67 posts

Master Geek

#1182685 25-Nov-2014 11:25

Actually, what happens is that when you buy something by credit card, the credit card authorisation number is a unique number sent back from the bank and printed on the credit card receipt. It has nothing to do with sufficient funds, as a credit card that didn't have sufficient funds would not return an auth code in the first place.

The retailer knows this number, but the person with the card can only get the number by calling the bank. By asking for this number, the retailer can verify that the person is the legitimate owner of the card because only the legitimate owner of the card would be able to pass the bank's security checks to get the auth code.

Thanks, that makes sense.

However, I am a bit annoyed that they are making me jump through extra hoops that other merchants don't. Even more so when I queried them by email over 24hrs ago and they are not responding, I also phoned them yesterday and got cut off while I was being transferred to the right person.

richms

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#1182703 25-Nov-2014 11:53

I wont bother with retailers that do that sort of crap.

And as for asking for a scan of the card, GTFO. Not even supposed to keep a written copy of the CSC numbers when people do phone orders, let alone a scanned copy on a PC that anyone has access to.

I have tried reporting retailers that are clearly not PCI complient in the past and got a bit of a meh response from the bank. They don't care because its not them that loses out when some rouge employee goes on a spending spree with the card details, its the cardholder that has to go around updating all sorts of places with the replacement card details.

Richard rich.ms

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