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Chip and PIN

OPERA supports the Chip and PIN method of credit card and membership card authorization for both offline and online transactions. In addition, OPERA Kiosk supports Chip and PIN credit card payments to be made through a hotel kiosk system. Chip and PIN relies on a microchip inserted into the card; the chip stores cardholder authentication information. When the card is inserted into a specially designed reader, the microchip is accessed and the cardholder is prompted to enter a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to authorize the card.

Note: Chip and PIN can be used simultaneously with OPERA's Credit Card Vault functionality. See the Credit Card Vault help for specific details on Chip and PIN and Credit Card Vault.

The following information describes how OPERA supports the Chip and PIN technology.

Configuration

In OPERA, the Chip and PIN technology is active when the IFC>Chip and PIN application parameter is set to Y. To use this technology, a special Chip and PIN card reader must be available to the OPERA workstation and the Chip and PIN check box must be selected on the Workstation screen accessed from Configuration>Setup>Workstations (see Workstations for details).

The payment type CP has been provided as SID data and is reserved to be used for Chip and PIN payments only. The CP payment type will NOT display on the Payment Type configuration screen (see Payment Types for details), and can’t be manually created or modified.) In addition to the CP payment type, any other credit card payment type may be designated as Chip and PIN enabled in Credit Card Functionality Setup (Configuration>Setup>Property Interfaces>Credit Card Interface>Functionality Setup) and will exhibit Chip and PIN functionality when accessed from a Chip and PIN enabled terminal.

The Credit Card Functionality Setup requires Online Settlement to be active with Chip and PIN functionality. Authorizations, Settlements and PayOnly(Auth/Settlement in one) transactions using Chip and PIN payment methods will be indicated as CP transactions in the requests to the EFT Vendor.

For membership cards, the membership type must be configured as Chip & PIN. See Membership Types for details.

Reservations

Note: An authorization request for a Chip and PIN card type will not be completed if no authorization is due.

The Reservations screen accommodates the Chip and PIN technology. When the IFC>Chip and PIN application parameter is active, the CP payment type (and other credit cards that are defined as Chip and PIN enabled) will display in the Payment field LOV on the Reservation screen (see Reservations for details).

At check in, if a Chip and PIN payment method is selected and needs authorization, OPERA requests the authorization amount from the EFT Vendor. The EFT Vendor will initialize the reader device and the guest inserts their card into the reader. At the prompt on the reader device, the guest enters their PIN. The response from the EFT Vendor for the authorization is returned to OPERA with the credit card number, expiration date, card type, approval code and can include a cryptogram. This information is then stored in the OPERA database.

Note: Chip and PIN transactions are identified to OPERA by the Chip and PIN payment method; the existence of cryptogram values is not used to identify Chip and PIN transactions.

If the authorization is declined, the guest must select an alternative method of payment.

If additional authorization is requested during the guest’s stay, either manually or automatically during the end-of-day process, the stored cryptogram is sent to the interface along with the authorization request.

Note: When a Chip and PIN credit card attached to a reservation has received authorization (manually or automatically) prior to the property activating the IFC>Chip and PIN application parameter, such authorization will be removed if the Chip and PIN application parameter is made active and the reservation payment type is switched to CP. New authorization is required.

Note: Internally, OPERA stores a "CP Card" flag which indicates whether the guest's credit card was initially authorized using Chip and PIN; once set to Y, the flag is never reset. This feature ensures that Chip and PIN commands are sent to the interface if additional authorization is required for this card.

Cashiering

Chip and PIN payment procedures are carried out in the same manner as for other credit card transactions. The Payment/Settlement screen has been modified to accommodate Chip and PIN, assuming the application parameter is active and the workstation has been flagged as supporting a Chip and PIN terminal (see Payment for details). Chip and PIN payment may be used for payment by checked in guests or for passerby transactions.

If the guest checked in with the Chip and PIN payment method, no further authorization is needed at settlement, unless expenses exceed the last authorized amount.  Following settlement, the stored authorization and cryptogram information are deleted from the OPERA database.

If a guest wants to change their payment method to Chip and PIN at settlement, the CP commands are activated through the interface to the reader device. After the authorization, verification, and settlement is complete, the user is returned to the normal Billing screen to continue the normal checkout procedure (see Billing for details).

When a payment is made using the Chip and PIN functionality, the EFT clearinghouse returns values which may be required to be printed on the payment receipt and/or folio. These values are represented by merge codes: CP_PRINT_TEXT1 , CP_PRINT_TEXT2, CP_PRINT_TEXT3, CP_PRINT_TEXT4, CP_PRINT_TEXT5, CP_PRINT_TEXT6,  CP_PRINT_TEXT7, CP_PRINT_TEXT8 and CP_PRINT_TEXT9.  The payment receipt and/or folio can be modified to include these fields.

Note: Chip and Pin functionality can complete refunds when the Credit Card IFC type is CCW. A card number will not be required for the refund. If vendor doesn't support a CpPayOnly record than a card number will be required when conducting a refund.

Memberships

For memberships, a Read Card button is displayed on the Membership New or Edit screen and selecting this button activates the Chip & PIN card reader device in order for the guest to insert the membership card to populate the membership details. After the guests places their membership card in the Chip & PIN card reader, the Membership Card Number, Expiry Date, Card Type, and Membership Level are returned to OPERA from a 3rd party vendor, if available. If this is a new membership for that specific membership type, OPERA will create a membership record for the guest based on the details that are received from the 3rd party vendor. If the membership already exists, all of the details within OPERA will be updated with the details received from the 3rd party vendor. If no data is provided from the 3rd party vendor, then this Membership Type can’t be added new and existing Membership details can’t be updated.

The following are sample Request and Response messages that occur in the Chip & PIN Membership transaction.

Request

<CcCourtesy xmlns="x-schema:CcCourtesySchema_O" Date="111205" Time="141850" GuestName="Guest" GuestFirstname="John" SequenceNum="20051" RequestType="128" PathId="1" WSNum="MICROS.COM.12345"/>

Response

<CcCourtesy xmlns="x-schema:CcCourtesySchema_I" AnswerStat="OK" Date="111205" Time="142403" CreditcardNum="6003521235465423" ExpyDate="1408" CardType="ASOM" CrossReference1="03" CrossReference2="" PathId="1" WSNum="MICROS.COM.12345" SequenceNum="20051"/>

See Also