Firm Masters The Minutiae Of Credit Processing

The Century Business Solutions team (L to R) Glen Suh, Casey O’Hara, Calvin Lim, Matt Rogers and Steven Wolfson, at the 2014 International LCT Show in Las Vegas.

The Century Business Solutions team (L to R) Glen Suh, Casey O’Hara, Calvin Lim, Matt Rogers and Steven Wolfson, at the 2014 International LCT Show in Las Vegas.

Limo operators are constantly looking for new ways to save money on unavoidable and predictable costs of doing business. Century Business Solutions, which has served the chauffeured transportation industry as a credit card processor since 2005, does so by specializing in programs that minimize credit risk and provide more line data during the transaction. The line data consists of details about the purchase passed through to the credit card processor during the transaction. Century Business Solutions can record and pass through so much data about each transaction because it has forged partnerships with most of the main reservation software providers in the limousine industry, and it can integrate credit card transactions with trip details recorded in the software programs.

More Data Means Lower Risk

Transaction data is important because a Standard Interchange Reference Guide put out by Visa and Mastercard details all of the different kinds of credit cards, and the costs of passing through certain types of information, says Matt Rogers, business relations manager for Century. This guide categorizes the amount of information passed into three levels:

• Level One is your basic tier, which requires little information to qualify, typically just the merchant name, transaction amount and date is needed.

• Level Two requires more data such as tax amount, merchant postal code, merchant state code, and more.

• Level Three is your highest level of data, requiring details such as item descriptions, quantities, freight amount, duty amount, etc.

In the limousine industry, this type of data is usually recorded in the reservation software. Facts such as chauffeur name, customer name, trip distance, and other details are logged into the system. If an operator has partnered with Century Business, then this information is included in the credit card transaction, and can qualify the operator as Level Three.

A higher level ranking such as a three is considered a lower risk transaction because of all the data that has been recorded and stored between the customer, vendor and credit processor. This lower risk is rewarded with a smaller fee.

Century Business Solutions can provide Level Three transactions, Rogers says. “It’s a big advantage for us because it lowers the physical cost of the cards themselves. In the corporate world, these businesses are paying with their business corporate rewards cards, and it qualifies these cards to a lower interchange cost by about a ½ to a full percent.”

Century Business offers next day funding. “We educate our customers on this,” he says. “If capital flow is paramount to the operator, then we’ll sign them up for next day funding.”

Extra Attention

Century Business Solutions also focuses on customer service. “We’re big on service for the limo industry, and that’s because they often have charge backs on rides,” says Glen Suh, the company’s marketing director.

To help limo operators succeed and get the most out of their credit transactions, Century Business Solutions has a chargeback management team in place which is notified when a charge back occurs. “We email the client and the credit card, and the management team helps guide our clients to win the chargeback,” Rogers says.

Customer service even extends to the company website, www.centurybizsolutions.net, where a webchat assistant monitors the visitors to the site and can offer free assistance. Operators interested in Century Business Solutions can make inquiries and ask the company questions directly through this real-time chat feature.

No Contracts Required

Another key feature is the company’s adherence to a month-to-month relationship with its customers. There are no long-term contracts, Rogers says. “There is no need. [Our customers] get the peace of mind that their rates won’t go up or that we’re hiding something.”

The company boasts a high retention rate among its clients. Suh contends this has a lot to do with not subjecting them to service contracts. “We just don’t believe in tying people in,” he says. “If it works and you’re happy with us then you’re going to stay, and if not then you’re going to leave and you have every right to.”

As Century evolves with the industry, it stays current on credit processing developments and makes sure clients get the best arrangements that fully comply with rules and standards. To that end, the company is offering to pay new clients up to $200 of their National Limousine Association membership dues if they are not members. Suh says, “We want to make sure that we are always on top of our game. We try to make the credit card transaction process easier for our clients and save them time and money.” 

FASTFACTS
Century Business Solutions
Service: Credit Card Processing
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Founded: 2005
Owner: Calvin Lim
Website: centurybizsolutions.net
Contact: (888) 500-7798 x253