Card Account Updater

Card Account Updater is a service offered by major card networks to automatically update card-on-file details. Card Account Updater ensures that merchants always have the latest card information (like updated card numbers and expiration dates) for their customers. This service helps maintain seamless recurring billing and card-on-file transactions without needing the customer to manually update their card details. For merchants, this can result in higher authorization rates and improved customer satisfaction.

Unlike traditional methods of handling card updates, where merchants rely on customers to provide new card details, Card Account Updater automatically updates the card information directly from the card issuer. This proactive approach introduces an additional layer of convenience and security for both merchants and customers. Should a card be updated due to expiration, replacement, or re-issuance, Card Account Updater ensures that the merchant receives the updated details promptly, minimizing the risk of transaction declines.

How Card Account Updater works

The Card Account Updater process begins when a customer's card is updated by the card issuer due to reasons like expiration, replacement, or re-issuance. The card issuer sends the updated card details to the card network. The card network then forwards these updates to the merchant through the Card Account Updater service. The merchant's payment system receives these updates and automatically replaces the old card details with the new ones, ensuring continuous service for the customer without interruption.

The benefits of Card Account Updater

Using Card Account Updater to manage card details offers several advantages over relying on customers to update their information:

• Improved authorization rate

  Since Card Account Updater ensures that merchants always have the most current card details, transactions are less likely to be declined due to outdated information. This leads to a higher authorization rate and a smoother customer experience, as legitimate transactions are processed without interruptions.

• Seamless customer experience

  Customers no longer need to manually update their card details for recurring payments or card-on-file transactions. Card Account Updater automates this process, reducing friction and enhancing the overall customer experience. This is particularly beneficial for subscription-based services, where continuous service is crucial.

• Reduced operational overhead

  By automating the card update process, Card Account Updater eliminates the need for merchants to manually contact customers for updated card information. This reduces the administrative burden on the merchant's staff and allows them to focus on more critical business operations.

• Improved customer retention

  Card Account Updater helps reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions by ensuring that the merchant always has the most up-to-date card information. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of accepting fraudulent cards and reduces the likelihood of chargebacks.

Getting started

Evervault provides a set of easy-to-use APIs designed to let you integrate Card Account Updater in minutes without having to interact directly with the card networks.

Register a card

In order to receive automatic updates for a card, you first need to register the card with the card network. This can be done by creating a card via the Card Account Updater API. Card registration is idempotent on card number and expiry date. Requests containing the same request body will return the same Card object. This means that you can effectively use the ID of the Card object as a unique identifier.

1curl 'https://api.evervault.com/payments/cards' \
2-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3-u '<app_id>:<api_key>' \
4-d '{
5  "number": "4242424242424242",
6  "expiry": {
7    "month": "09",
8    "year": "26"
9  }
10}'

Handling card updates

In order to receive updates for a card, you need to setup a webhook to subscribe to the payments.card.updated event. Endpoints can be registered from the app settings in the Evervault dashboard or programmatically using the Webhook Endpoints API.

Upon any update dispatched by the card network, a notification message will be sent to your Webhook Endpoint, which is specifically subscribed to the payments.card.updated event. This ensures that your system is immediately notified of any changes, allowing for uninterrupted payment processing.

1{
2  "id": "webhook_event_sdjaskfsadas",
3  "type": "payments.card.updated",
4  "data": {
5    "id": "card_123456789098",
6    "number": "ev:Tk9D:Rgz6lOzw9JaRmUML:AuLdYR+a2dZCWv2ZZt0u9lxf6I6EMzPEF3MZytNmtpky:/Nl5NmpyczVK8TdBBP4skI/DWNtwtVNl6hJj0OPlqUo=:$",
7    "bin": "424242",
8    "lastFour": "4242",
9    "expiry": {
10      "month": "10",
11      "year": "27"
12    },
13    "brand": "visa",
14    "funding": "debit",
15    "segment": "consumer",
16    "country": "gb",
17    "currency": "gbp",
18    "issuer": "Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Trust Company",
19    "status": "replaced",
20    "replacement": "card_123456789099",
21    "createdAt": 1709293284000,
22    "updatedAt": 1711633194688
23  },
24  "createdAt": 1711633194688
25}

For new expiry dates and new account numbers, the original card's status will be updated to replaced and the card's replacement field will be set to the UUID of the replacement card. You can use the Card Account Updater API to retrieve the most up to date card details for the replacement card before attempting to transact.

For an account closure, the card status will be updated to closed. In this scenario there may or may not be a replacement card. If not, you may wish to contact the cardholder to request their latest payment details.

In some cases, an account update request may indicate that the card on file is invalid. This could be due to a PAN or expiry mismatch or other inconsistency that we otherwise would not be able to validate at the time the card is registered for updates. In this scenario, the existing card's status will be updated to invalid. You might want to check your system of record or contact the cardholder to obtain the correct payment details.

Testing

You can leverage Evervault's Sandbox apps to test the full process of receiving and handling card updates without affecting live data. Once you're ready to transition to Live Mode for processing real card updates, please contact our support team at support@evervault.com.

When using a Sandbox app, you can use the Cards Simulation API to simulate a card update event.

Simulating a new expiry date

You can simulate a new expiry number update by triggering a simulation request with the new-expiry-date update type. You can either provide a specific expiry date for the update, or you can exclude the expiry field and we will generate a random expiry date for the update.

1curl 'https://api.evervault.com/payments/cards/:id/simulate' \
2-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3-u '<app_id>:<api_key>' \
4-d '{
5  "updateType": "new-expiry-date",
6  "expiry": {
7    "month": "09",
8    "year": "32"
9  }
10}'

Simulating a new account number

You can simulate a new account number update by triggering a simulation request with the new-account-number update type. You can either provide a specific account number and expiry date for the update, or you can exclude them and we will generate a random account number and expiry date for the update.

1curl 'https://api.evervault.com/payments/cards/:id/simulate' \
2-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3-u '<app_id>:<api_key>' \
4-d '{
5  "updateType": "new-account-number",
6  "number": "4242424242424242",
7  "expiry": {
8    "month": "09",
9    "year": "32"
10  }
11}'

Simulating an account closure

You can simulate an account closure by triggering a simulation request with the account-closed update type.

1curl 'https://api.evervault.com/payments/cards/:id/simulate' \
2-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
3-u '<app_id>:<api_key>' \
4-d '{
5  "updateType": "account-closure"
6}'

Supported card networks

Evervault supports Card Account Updates for Visa, Mastercard, and American Express cards.