Some credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard are bankable, that is the transaction vouchers are included with your daily banking, or as soon as the card is swiped the amounts are deposited into the agency’s bank account.
Other credit cards such as American Express and Diners cannot be processed through the banking system and are called non-bankable. In these cases the credit card company is established as a Debtor. American Express and Diners are set by default as Debtors when CrossCheck Travel Enterprise is installed.
American Express and Diners Club as Debtors
The accounting functions for American Express and Diners are handled differently to other Debtors.
Whenever non-bankable is selected as the form of payment in a Trip file receipt a NET invoice is automatically created in the debtor (for the net value Gross less merchant fee).
How to Add Merchant Fee Rates
- From the menu bar select Tools and then Tables. Select Credit Card from the sub menu displayed.
- Choose the required credit card from the list (it must show with a Debtor code). The Rate field in the lower part of the screen shows the Merchant Fee. This can be set as applies to the agency.
- If the rate is GST inclusive check the GST Click Save and Exit.
Note: Amex and Diners are both set to Non-bankable by default and should NOT be changed.
Note: Credit Card Company field and Extract, see PPRS Extract & Profile, which is currently not available for general agent use.
Receipting Bankable Credit Card Payments
For bankable credit cards, agents have the option to create Fees, Quotes and Cheque Requisitions when entering a credit card Receipt into the Trip file.
The merchant fee rate must be set in the Credit Card table for the applicable card types.
The fee must be linked as the Default Merchant Fee in the Fee Rules table.
When the user issues a receipt on a Trip file against the bankable credit card (Visa, Mastercard), they can then select the additional transactions to be automatically created once the user clicks OK on the Receipt.
Receipting Non-Bankable Credit Card Payments
Whenever the user issues a receipt on a Trip file against a non-bankable credit card payment, the system automatically:
- Credits the Trip file for the gross amount.
- Debits the credit card Debtor file for a net amount (i.e. gross amount less merchant fee) by creating an invoice.
- Debits the Credit Card Expenses account in the Cashbook (20050 - CCEXPENSE) for the merchant fee.
The debit balance in the Debtor account is then cleared when payment is received from the credit card company. The nett value should appear on a bank statement, usually as a direct deposit.
Receiving Payment from the Credit Card Company
Open the credit card Debtor file and click on the Accounting tab. Press Ctrl+N, for a new transaction, then select Receipt.
Complete the receipt for the payment received from the credit card company and click OK to save the transaction.
In most cases the Form of Payment will be Direct Deposit. (Never select Non-bankable Credit Card as the form of payment as this would create another Invoice in the credit company Debtor).
The Debtor Allocation screen automatically displays to allow receipts to be matched to the appropriate invoice.
The credit card company will normally provide a statement with the payment to indicate which items are being paid
See Debtor Receipt and Debtor Allocation in Module 6: Debtor File
Reversing an Invoice created from Non-bankable Credit card Receipt
If the user reverses this invoice in the debtor a warning will be displayed as shown below.
If the invoice was required to be Reversed, the original Receipt would need to be Reversed which would create a Credit Note for the same value.
Amex Refunds
When refunding onto a client’s Amex card, Amex may charge the full gross amount with no merchant rate. In this case, the user can set up a separate non-bankable credit card for Amex refunds.
- Create a new non-bankable credit card type.
- From the menu bar select Tools and then Tables. Select Credit Card from the sub menu displayed.
- Select New, and ensure Non-Bankable is selected.
- Enter the 2 letter Type code as AR and complete the Description.
- Link this to the AMEX Debtor and complete the merchant Rate as 0.
- Enter the Refund to Passenger in the Trip File - In the Accounting tab of the trip file enter a new Refund to Passenger as a non-bankable credit card, using the card code AR.
- Reconcile the Amex Debtor - The gross amount on the Refund to Passenger should now appear as a Credit Note in AMEX debtor. This can then be reconciled against your next Amex statement.
Using Amex Rewards Points as payment towards a Trip File
Some Travel Agents may allow payment from a client using their Amex Rewards Points.
To process this type of payment, the user first needs to create a new non-bankable credit card type linked to the AMEX debtor:
- Create a new non-bankable credit card type:
- From the menu bar select Tools and then Tables. Select Credit Card from the sub menu displayed Select New, and ensure Non-Bankable is selected.
- Enter the 2 letter Type code as PO and complete the Description.
- Link this to the AMEX Debtor and complete the merchant Rate.
If the user is not being charged a fee, the merchant rate should be set as 0.000. If a rate is being charged this rate should be added to the ‘Rate’ box. This step only needs to be done the first time and does not need to be repeated each time a points receipt is added.
- Receipt the Amex Points in the Trip File. Go to the Trip File and receipt the monetary value of points as a non bankable credit card, the card code being PO.
- Reconcile the Amex Debtor.
- In the Amex debtor file, if the merchant fee was set to 0.000, the gross amount receipted in the Trip should show as an invoice. If the merchant fee was set to an amount in the Credit Card table, the invoice in the Amex debtor will show as the net amount due back to the agent.
- When the money is received and is shown on the Amex statement, the agent can reconcile the debtor as per the normal steps. When receipting monies received in the Amex Debtor, this is usually a Receipt as a Direct Deposit as the amount has been paid direct into the Agency bank account