Frequently Asked Questions for Purchase Alerts What is a Purchase Alert? Purchase Alerts are messages sent to you to help you manage and track your signature based Visa-processed transactions. They provide near real-time 1 notification of Visa-processed transaction activity based on your customized alert settings. You can select specific alerts and specify the settings for the alerts you want to receive (for example, the option to be notified when a transaction exceeds a specific value). Information in the alert includes the amount of the transaction, the merchant name and location (if available), and the last 4 digits of the Visa card used. Alerts can be sent to an e-mail address or to a mobile phone through and SMS text message. What are the benefits of Purchase Alerts? The advantages of Purchase Alerts are: Enables you to monitor your card's signature-based purchase transactions in near-real-time. Offers you peace of mind by providing timely information that helps you monitor your Visa card for potential fraud. Provides a tool to help you manage your money. What type of cards can I enroll in Purchase Alerts TM? You can enroll most Visa credit and debit cards. For debit cards, Purchase Alerts are not available for purchases made with PIN numbers. You can also enroll your card if you are sharing an account; the primary account holder will designate the Purchase Alert settings. Purchase Alerts are available for Business cards as well. Note: Purchase Alerts are not available on Business Purchasing Cards or Commercial Cards at this time Can multiple Visa credit cards on one account receive Purchase Alerts TM? Yes, Purchase Alerts can be sent to up to two credit cardholders on the same account. One cardholder would receive an SMS Message and one cardholder would receive the e-mail alert message. The primary account holder designates the mobile number to receive the SMS Message Alert and the e-mail account to receive the e-mail alert. Can two debit cards on the same checking account receive Purchase Alerts TM? Yes, two Visa debit cardholders who share the same account can each receive Purchase Alerts. Each cardholder would log into their online banking account to enroll in Purchase Alerts, customize their Purchase Alert choices, and designate if they would like to receive SMS alert messages or e-mail messages. Can I enroll my Visa business card to receive Purchase Alerts? Yes, Purchase Alerts can be sent to business cardholders (with the exception of Purchase Cards and Commercial Cards). Only the CSA (Company System Administrators) can setup or manage Purchase Alerts. The CSA can set up and manage Purchase Alerts by logging into Online Banking. Will the CSA be the recipient of the Purchase Alerts for all cards enrolled? The CSA has the option to set up Purchase Alerts to either be sent to a centralized e-mail account/mobile phone, or to the cardholder s e-mail address/mobile phone.. Can I have different Purchase Alerts TM settings for different cards or should all my cards be enrolled with the same alert selection setting? Yes, each card may be set up with unique alert settings. Is there a charge to enroll in Purchase Alerts TM? You may enroll in Purchase Alerts at no charge from your bank. Standard mobile text and data charges apply for SMS message alerts. How quickly after I enroll in Purchase Alerts TM will I be able to receive my alerts? After you enroll, you will immediately be able to receive alerts messages. Can I enroll in my Purchase Alerts using my Mobile device? The Visa enrollment page is currently not developed to work with Mobile devices. An error will occur as follows An error has occurred while performing some function What types of Purchase Alerts are available? 1 Actual time to receive an alert is dependent on wireless service and coverage within area. The alerts service may not be available in all areas. Account activity qualifying for the alerts service may vary by bank. Additional restrictions apply. May 20, 2013 1
The following alerts are available: Threshold transaction: An alert is sent if a purchase amount is greater than a preset dollar amount. Card-not-present transaction: An alert is sent if a purchase is made without having to physically present the card at the point of sale, such as when a purchase is made online or by telephone. International transaction: An alert is sent if a purchase is made outside the country that issued the Visa card. Declined transaction: An alert is sent when the bank or Visa on behalf of a bank declines a transaction for any reason. Gasoline transaction: An alert is sent if a purchase is made at a gas station (e.g., fuel, car wash) Spend Aggregation: An alert is sent if a purchase causes the customer to exceed his/her pre-set weekly and/or monthly spending threshold. How do I enroll in Purchase Alerts? Step-by-step instructions for enrolling in Purchase Alert are as follows: Log in to your online banking account Navigate to the Services tab (for consumer accounts) Select Purchase Alerts Select the card(s) for which you want to set up alerts Review enrollment information and Accept Terms & Conditions Enter the mobile number and/or email address at which you would like to receive alerts Select the alert options which you would like to receive Press SAVE UPDATES to save your settings What information is required for enrollment? You must provide your: Email address (to receive email alert messages) and/or Mobile phone number (to receive SMS alert messages) For your protection, we will never ask you to provide your Visa card account information for the alerts service. Can I customize the Threshold transaction amounts based on my personal preference? If so, how do I change the settings? Yes, you can change the threshold transaction amount at any time by following these simple steps: Log in to your online banking account Select the Services Tab Select Purchase Alerts Select the card(s) for which you want to customize the threshold transaction amount Customize the threshold transaction amount in the transaction amount window. Press SAVE UPDATES to save your settings Where are Purchase Alerts sent? Alerts can be sent to two locations, depending on your preferences: Your email inbox. Your mobile phone's default SMS inbox. When your mobile phone receives an SMS alert message in your default SMS inbox, your mobile phone's notification mechanism is invoked. What will happen when I receive a Purchase Alert? In the case of email alert messages, you will receive an email in your email inbox. SMS alert messages are handled by your mobile phone in the same way as any other message that is received while you are on a call: it will trigger the handset setting that you have set up (i.e., tone, vibration, or other related features). Your call should not be disrupted. Can I receive Purchase Alerts on my mobile phone? In the United States, you can receive Purchase Alerts on your mobile phone as long as your mobile carrier supports the service, you have a wireless service plan that allows for the receipt of text messages, and you have adequate wireless data service coverage in your area at the time the alert is being delivered to your mobile phone. Mobile carriers supporting the service include, without limitation, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile USA. If you have a different mobile carrier, or you are unsure of the details of your wireless service ask your mobile carrier for more information. Will my mobile carrier charge me for Purchase Alerts? Depending on your wireless service plan, standard text messaging rates from your mobile carrier may apply to SMS alert messages. You should consult your plan and if you have any questions about whether you are charged for standard text messages, text message limits, and over-limit fees, please contact your mobile carrier's customer service. Do Purchase Alerts reference my Visa card number? May 20, 2013 2
No. For your protection, only the last 4 digits of your Visa card number are displayed in an alert. What happens to my enrollment if my mobile phone is lost or stolen? If you lose your mobile phone and would like to register a new mobile number, you will need to go to the mobile/email preference page of the alerts page and register the new number. You will be sent a validation code via SMS message. You will need to enter this validation code on the alerts page. After successfully validating your new mobile phone number, all existing triggers will apply and you will continue to receive alerts as before. What happens if I change my mobile phone number? If you change your mobile phone number, you will need to go to the mobile/email preference page of the alerts page and register the new number. You will be sent a validation code via SMS message. You will need to enter this validation code on the alerts page. After successfully validating your new mobile phone number, all existing triggers will apply and you will continue to receive alerts as before. What happens if I change mobile carriers but keep my mobile phone number? If you change mobile carriers but keep your mobile phone number, you will still have to confirm that you would like to continue receive alerts via SMS. You will be prompted via SMS message if you would like to continue receiving alerts on that phone number under the new carrier. If you respond in the affirmative to the text message, alerts will continue to be sent to your mobile phone. Otherwise, you will need to visit the mobile/email preferences page to update your mobile phone number. You must complete the process of receiving a validation code via SMS message and entering it on the alerts page to confirm the new carrier and continue to receive alerts. Can I enroll an authorized user on my Visa card for Purchase Alerts? Yes, simply add your authorized user s mobile number and email address when you register as the primary cardholder. Note: If you remove the authorized user from your account after you have registered them for alerts, deleting their information from the registration page will stop the alerts. Do I receive Purchase Alerts if I share the enrolled Visa card with another person? Yes, you will both receive alerts if you both have the same Visa card number. If my transaction meets the criteria for more than one Purchase Alert trigger, do I receive multiple alerts? No, you receive only one alert per transaction based on the alert type priority. The alert type with the top priority is a declined transaction. Do I receive a Purchase Alert when I return an item I have purchased? No, you receive alerts for purchase transactions only, not for returns or adjustments. Can I have email Purchase Alerts delivered to my mobile phone? Yes, you can have email alert messages delivered to your mobile phone, but only if: you choose to receive email alert messages and provide a valid email address during the enrollment process And you own a mobile phone that has the capability to receive emails What are the differences between the email formats for Purchase Alerts? If you have enrolled for the alerts service via email, the alerts service gives you the flexibility to customize email alert messages: To receive emails with formatted text and graphics, choose HTML. To receive emails with formatted text but no graphics, choose rich text. To receive emails with plain text only, (no formatting or graphics), choose plain text. You can format your email preferences on the mobile/email preferences page of the alerts page. If you have only enrolled for the alerts service via SMS messages, you do not need to worry about email formats, as your bank will not send you alerts via email. How do I opt-out of Purchase Alerts? To opt-out of receiving alerts at any time, you may take one of the following actions: Uncheck all the boxes on the MANAGE ALERTS page of the alerts page. You will still be enrolled in the service, but you will not receive alerts. If you want to start receiving alerts again, you will not have to re-enroll. Simply return to the alerts page and select your options. Opt out of the service using the OPT OUT page of the alerts page. You will stop receiving alerts and will be officially un-enrolled from the service. If you want to start receiving alerts again, you will need to re-enroll. Reply STOP from your mobile phone to any alert you receive. This will un-enroll you from receiving SMS message alerts. However, if you are signed up for email alerts, you will still be enrolled in the email alerts service. To restore SMS message alerts, you will need to add your mobile phone number through the alerts page again and Accept Terms and Conditions having verified your enrollment information. May 20, 2013 3
What if I receive a Purchase Alert for a transaction I do not recognize? Check to see if the unfamiliar transaction is one of the following: An automatic bill payment you set up for a recurring service (like cable or telephone). A large purchase that was divided into smaller transactions. An aggregated charge (several small purchases combined into one, such as buying $0.99 songs online). A purchase initiated by an authorized cardholder who has the same Visa card number. An authorization charge from a restaurant or hotel. If you still cannot identify the transaction, please call the number on the back of your Visa card. Why did I receive several Purchase Alerts for a single transaction? This rarely occurs, but it can happen if a merchant: Is a portal, meaning the merchant sells merchandise from other merchants (e.g., Amazon.com). If you purchased multiple items, each merchant may charge separately for its portion. Bills taxes separately from the total sale, as airlines often do. Has to re-send the transaction information to Visa because the initial authorization expired. Requests an initial authorization amount of $1 or some other small amount to verify that your account is valid. If you experience this problem repeatedly, please call the number on the back of your Visa card. Why did I receive one Purchase Alert for several transactions? Certain transactions, such as buying $0.99 songs online, are aggregated into one large transaction. The sum of these small transactions may be recorded as one larger transaction. Why did I receive a Purchase Alert hours (or days) after the transaction occurred? Occasionally an alert is delayed if a merchant does not immediately submit your transaction information to Visa for processing. The merchant may be waiting until your order ships to do so or may not have immediate access to a power source for transmitting data. Why did I receive a Purchase Alert for an online purchase before I even submitted the transaction? Certain transactions may trigger an initial authorization amount of $1 or some other small amount to verify that your Visa card is valid. You will probably receive a second alert for the actual purchase amount when you submit your online purchase. Note that you will only be charged for the actual amount of your purchase. Why did I receive a Purchase Alert for a $1 transaction or some other small amount - when I made an online purchase? Some online merchants may request an initial authorization amount of $1 or some other small amount to verify that your account is valid. Alerts are triggered based on the initial authorization amount, so in this case you will probably receive a second alert for the actual purchase amount when you submit your online purchase. Note that you will only be charged for the actual amount of your purchase. Why did I not receive a Purchase Alert when I expected one? Alerts are not sent if the: Dollar amount of your transaction is lower than the amount you specified for your alerts. Merchant processes transactions through the bank's system instead of Visa's. Merchant has not yet submitted the transaction information to Visa. An SMS message alert may not be received by your mobile phone for any number of reasons: Your mobile carrier drops the message. Your mobile phone remains out of the coverage area at the time Visa pushes out the alert and the phone remains out of coverage for a period of time thereafter. Your mobile carrier blocks the SMS messages, or your phone plan does not include SMS messages. Why is the amount in the Purchase Alert different from the amount on my restaurant bill? Alerts are triggered based on the initial authorization amount that the restaurant sends to Visa, which may or may not include the estimated tip, and is not necessarily the final amount for which you signed. Why is the amount in the Purchase Alert different from the amount on my hotel bill? Alerts are triggered based on the initial authorization amount the hotel sends to Visa, which doesn't include discretionary charges such as room service, parking, dry cleaning, and wireless service. Why is the amount not in the Purchase Alert? Some businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and rental car companies, send an estimated transaction amount to Visa for an initial authorization. If the estimated amount meets the transaction amount threshold that you have set up, Visa sends you an alert to let you know that your card has been used, without specifying the amount. May 20, 2013 4
Why is the merchant's name not in the Purchase Alert? The merchant's name is provided in the alert if it is available. Please check the transaction in online banking for more details. How can I find out where a specific purchase was made? Your bank may be able to help you determine the merchant's actual location. The alert includes the merchant name and location only if they are made available to Visa. With questions about a specific transaction, or to initiate the dispute of a fraudulent transaction, please call Bankcard Customer Service: 888-758-5349. Can I consider a Purchase Alert a replacement for a receipt? No, an alert cannot be considered a replacement for a receipt. If I delete a Purchase Alert from my email inbox or my mobile phone s default SMS inbox, will it be stored anywhere else? Alerts are stored for 90 days in the VIEW HISTORY page of the alerts page, even if you delete them from your email inbox or your mobile phone s SMS default inbox. How many alerts are stored on the alerts page? The VIEW HISTORY page of the alerts page will contain records of your alerts history over the last 90 days. Can I sort the Purchase Alerts on the alerts page? Yes, you can sort alerts in the alerts page. May 20, 2013 5
Last Updated: 05/20/2013 May 20, 2013 6