Car Rental: Handling Your Customers’ Payment
As the saying goes, “knowledge is power” and knowing how to properly handle your customers’ payments can be the most powerful tool your rental business can possess.
For most industries, there aren’t many issues with accepting a debit card. However, the car rental industry more often than not, can’t take on that kind of risk.
If the renter is driving away with high-priced merchandise, the expectation is that they will return it. However if they don’t and you only have a debit card on file – things can get ugly.
As is the case with the major rental companies, to combat this they require a credit card to initiate the rental, regardless if the renter will use a debit card to make the final payment upon returning the car.
It’s not ideal, but these companies do often put holds on debit card as well. Again, this is not ideal because it often takes up to two weeks for the funds to be released. Also, there is still no guarantee that the merchant will be paid.
Payment Processing Options
So how can your car rental business ensure that you are always receiving payment via a credit card? By using a proper payment processing service that allows you to detect when a debit card is being used so that your business can make a decision on how to handle the transaction on its terms. The proper car rental software modules will enable you to simplify this process.
When a customer swipes or key enters a card, the cardholder information is transmitted to the point of sale application and passed along a processing platform. The platform then makes an inquiry to a database and issues a response to the point of sale application indicating the card type.
A reliable payment processor can help protect your business and secure a better return on your investment. Finding a cost-effective solution for your rental business is possible with Bluebird Auto Rental Systems, we offer credit card processing through our partnership with Element Payment Services.
Bluebird’s credit card processing system, CCPRO, is just one of many add-on modules available with the purchase of RentWorks. CCPRO is a leading-edge credit card processing system fully integrated with RentWorks. It further streamlines your counter operations. With EMV (Chip & PIN) technology supported, it allows you to perform the credit card authorization and draft capture functions of your operation quickly and efficiently. CCPRO also offers a choice of payment gateways merchants can pick from.
Contact us today to see how you can start making informed decisions on how your customers are paying for your services!