What is TC40 Data – When it Can and Can’t Help

You may well not have heard of TC40 data – much less seen that which relates to your own business – because it’s not something that is routinely made available to merchants.

But it is something you need to know about if you’re to maximize your protection against fraud and chargebacks.

What is TC40 Data?

Essentially, every time a customer makes a fraud claim against you a TC40 data claim will be generated by their card issuer, and copied to your own acquiring bank as well as the major card networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

How to Use Your TC40 Data File

The primary purpose of TC40 data is to allow the card networks to assess their own risk and help them to manage fraud.

In the case of Visa, for example, this data is used in its compliance program, the Risk Identification Service (RIS), while the Mastercard equivalent is the Fraud and Loss Database (FLD).

That said, knowing where you stand in terms of the overall number of claims against you can be valuable information, which may help you strengthen your chargeback prevention program.

This is because judging your risk solely on the number of chargebacks you generate gives a misleading picture. Some claims will be written off, without generating a chargeback, but will still count against your RIS and FLD scores

Your acquiring bank will also use this information in its overall assessment of your business, and in extreme cases, may even decline to process further payments on your behalf.

The Problem with TC40 Data

So, TC40 data can be useful in some circumstances, but it’s important not to rely on it. For one thing, neither the networks nor your acquirer are under any obligation to release it to you.

Secondly, the data is often contained in very large, and difficult to understand, files, which are difficult to analyze.

Most importantly, depending on your business profile, it’s likely that chargebacks will be filed in the majority of cases notified for TC40 purposes.

Talk to Us

So although a review of your TC40 data can be a useful periodic exercise, your main focus should remain on the reduction of chargebacks.

And if you need more information on exactly how to go about this, then please contact us here. 

Our experts are ready and waiting to help.