Have you ever stood at a checkout line, swiped your card of choice and then were told that it had failed? When that happens, what is your next move? Many of us will swipe the card again thinking that the result was a fluke the first time but the next time it will be fine. Then when that attempt inevitably fails, we pull out our second favorite points program card and try it. If that fails, you can always try your bank-card or a check or perhaps even cash. Rarely, do we just walk away without the item which we had intended to purchase.
In the online world, it is much easier to simply “walk” away. When the consumer’s preferred method of payment fails, the merchant has an opportunity not to lose that sale but instead present the natural flow of alternatives that they would like to give to the consumer. This is where alternative payments, like direct debit, prudently increase the merchant’s bottom line.
The merchant has the consumer at their site and the merchant wants them to pay. Often the consumer will enter in their credit card details but they have already given the merchant some of their relevant details such as their name, and some address information such as their postal/zip code. When their initial payment attempt fails, this is an opportunity to direct the consumer to try again with another payment instrument. How the merchant presents this next option is the difference between the consumer trying again at this site or at someone else’s website.
When presenting the consumer with options and prepopulating data the merchant wants to be sure that they are adhering to any data storage rules, etc that are in use by the various card associations and consumer protection agencies but of equal importance is the convenience for the actual consumer as they are the decision maker as to whether they will try again or not.
Creating a flow that encourages the consumer to try again would be a combination of appropriate messaging about the failure of their last attempt and the ease of and confidence in their next attempt. Encouraging a consumer to “correct” information on their current entry is a great option if the failure is related to some bad information such as an AVS failure but is completely useless for a more permanent error such as a Lost or Stolen Card.
If the failure was of a more permanent nature, then a reasonable option is to ask for a new payment instrument. This is where an alternative payment instrument such as ACH can be leveraged. By offering ACH as an option the merchant can save the sale as well as gain a long-standing customer.
I would also encourage merchants to offer alternative payments, like ACH, as a payment method up front and allow the consumer to choose between the various payment methods for their first choice and then provide them options when, and if, their first choice fails. After all, consumers like to feel that they have choices.
