Ethoca Consumer Clarity

See Fewer Chargebacks & Build Better Customer Relationships With Consumer Clarity

Did you know that cardholders disputed roughly 3 million Visa card transactions in 2016 simply because they couldn’t recognize the transaction on their statement? It’s not just a Visa problem: the figure for Mastercard is not too far from that number.

Fortunately, this is a problem that the each of the two major card networks operating in the North American market have started to take seriously. Each rolled out their own solutions to this problem in recent years.

We have Order Insight for Visa transactions. For Mastercard, however, you have help from Consumer Clarity.

What is Consumer Clarity?

Consumer Clarity is a technology platform created by Ethoca, a company owned by Mastercard. The tool, formerly known as Eliminator, is a collaboration-enabling platform.

Consumer Clarity operates in a manner similar to Verifi Order Insight, but applied to Mastercard transactions. It lets you share detailed transaction information in real time, including:

• Your name and company logos
• Your contact information
• Customer name and billing address
• Transaction total
• Transaction date
• Item names and descriptions
• Quantity of items
• Shipping confirmation
• Authorization code
• Your terms, conditions, and refund policies
• Cancelation number or refund status

The platform gives you the power to answer inquiries and resolve customer questions in real-time, rather than wait for a chargeback to be issued. In many cases, this information can also help you identify whether a complaint is invalid or illegitimate.

How Does it Work?

Consumer Clarity works best when integrated into your CRM or order management system. This allows cardholders and banks to recall relevant transaction details automatically and instantly, which can resolve disputes and prevent them from escalating into chargebacks:

• Self-Service: When reviewing their online statement, a cardholder can simply click on the transaction in question to see in-depth transaction details. This allows them to identify transactions easier, thereby preventing them from filing chargebacks.
• Real-Time Transaction Lookup: If a customer contacts their bank about a transaction, the issuer can consult Consumer Clarity and receive the relevant transaction details. Again, this will hopefully provide the details necessary to avoid a chargeback.

To illustrate, let’s say a cardholder calls the issuer with a complaint. Under the legacy system, that complaint would usually turn into a chargeback. After that, it was up to you to defend the transaction and pay all mandatory chargeback fees…regardless of the outcome.

With Consumer Clarity in place, though, the process begins with a transaction inquiry. The bank sends a request for more information, hoping to identify the transaction based on the factors outlined above. This request gets routed to the merchant’s system, where the necessary transaction information can be quickly transferred back to the bank.

That additional information may resolve the cardholder’s questions. If not, it can still give you the opportunity to refund a purchase and avoid a chargeback.

What Should I Do After a Consumer Clarity Inquiry?

Remember, though: even once you respond to an inquiry, your job is not done. Your end-goal concerning any inquiries should be to prevent further issues. For example, if you’re submitting a refund in response to the customer inquiry, you should:

• Refund the transaction immediately and make note of the refund in your CRM.
• Cancel order fulfillment (if possible).
• Cancel any future rebills if part of a recurring billing program.
• If you suspect friendly fraud, flag the customer and consider blacklisting the buyer.

If you’re submitting transaction information to try and resolve the buyer’s questions, you should take the following steps:

• Make note of the resolution in your CRM.
• Follow-up on any pending action item to ensure the issue is resolved (if an order was noted as previously canceled or a shipment was sent, make sure the process was completed).
• Prepare a response if transaction information is determined to be insufficient, but you believe that the cardholder claim is illegitimate.

You should keep track of data generated by Consumer Clarity responses. Compiling this data over time allows for in-depth analysis to better understand your general chargeback situation. You can examine how well your inquiry responses perform and apply those insights to see a long-term reduction in disputes.

What are the Benefits of Using Consumer Clarity?

The aim of the tool is to help merchants and financial institutions work together to prevent unnecessary chargebacks. This offers a number of benefits to you as a merchant:

How Do I Get Started?

You need connectivity with Mastercard systems to implement this solution and enjoy the benefits of Ethoca Consumer Clarity. After integration, you can immediately start reaping the benefits of real-time chargeback reduction.

The fastest, easiest, and most effective solution is to partner with an authorized facilitator like Chargebacks911®. We can integrate with the platform on your behalf; all you need to provide is basic merchant account details, while we handle all the complex details for you. Our clients see:

• More revenue recovered
• Reduced costs
• Increased net income
• Better resource allocation
• Long-term chargeback reduction

Want the support and saving offered by a Consumer Clarity facilitator? Or want to see how much you can save with end-to-end chargeback management? Request your free dispute analysis below and start saving today.