Hello Good People:We are considering a move from Transcend to Element for our credit card gateway (only) and have questions as to the experience others may have had using it. Anyone out there able to answer the following:Would we still be able to isolate various credit card types (Visa web, vs Visa card present, for example) in both processing and reporting?Might it be a simpler process to refund cards in a card present payment method (by 'choosing' an existing credit card in the patron's account), when the card isn't present? That was a terribly constructed question, and for that I ask forgiveness. This currently doesn't function unless the card is swiped; though it looks like Tessitura accepts it, Transcend doesn't process the refund.
Any other thoughts and concerns, or even kudos would be deeply appreciated.
Happy New Year!
Kindly,
Mark
Ø Would we still be able to isolate various credit card types (Visa web, vs Visa card present, for example) in both processing and reporting?
We were able to do this. However this takes multiple merchant accounts. The hardest side for us was the fact that we were using a “gateway” account from Element Payment Services. And now we are pulling some reports from our bank not the Transcend Server.
Ø Might it be a simpler process to refund cards in a card present payment method (by 'choosing' an existing credit card in the patron's account), when the card isn't present? That was a terribly constructed question, and for that I ask forgiveness. This currently doesn't function unless the card is swiped; though it looks like Tessitura accepts it, Transcend doesn't process the refund.
I think I understand what you are talking about. And I belive that we are able to do this.
Ø Any other thoughts and concerns, or even kudos would be deeply appreciated.
Glad to have a conversation with you about our experiences. Think that I can provide some insights that may be helpful.
--Tom Brown
tbrown@bam.org
718-724-8135
From: Tessitura Ticketing Forum [mailto:forums-ticketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Mark SackettSent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 2:34 PMTo: Thomas BrownSubject: [Tessitura Ticketing Forum] Element credit card gateway
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Hi Mark -
We've been using Element as a gateway only (moved from Transcend) for a while now, and I *think* you can do everything you are asking.
As Tom mentioned, the native Element reporting leaves something to be desired. We are using a download tool from Tessitura that we originally were beta testers - I have no idea if it is out in the public yet, but it makes a huge difference for us, as we can write our own balancing reports and don't have to rely on the Element web portal as much.
As I recall, Transcend was pretty strict if you defined your merchant as 'card present' and didn't include the swipe data. I don't think Element is quite as militant (which would make that refunding easier), but I'll be frank and say I haven't actually tested against that.
Happy to have further conversations offline about any of this!
- Heather
Unknown said: As Tom mentioned, the native Element reporting leaves something to be desired. We are using a download tool from Tessitura that we originally were beta testers - I have no idea if it is out in the public yet, but it makes a huge difference for us, as we can write our own balancing reports and don't have to rely on the Element web portal as much.
Just wanted to second this re: the Element download tool and local reporting that that makes possible. It is invaluable for us as well.
I am hopeful that this tool will eventually be a standard Tessitura component; I am somewhat comforted by the fact that its local table is T_EPS_TRANSACTION_DATA, rather than "LT_...". :-)
We are doing something similair to the download tool . Basically we have an SSIS package getting the data from Element and populating a local table, which we used for enhanced reporting.
Jon
Hello Good People!
Thank you all so very much for the useful, helpful, wise information. We would love to gain access to the Tessitura tool to which you are referring. As of now we don't have that table in our system tables.
Do you know who at Tessitura we might ask about getting this tool?
Thanks again for your helpful advice!
The Element Payment Services data reporting tool referenced in this Forum thread has been posted in the TASK "Version Upgrades and Patches" workspace Solution #32 (Tessitura Optional Components). The Solution #32 attachment for this Element reporting tool includes the files and instructions required to install the utility. Please note that this tool was developed for testing purposes and is provided as beta software. The Network has not committed to further development or support of this utility but as it has proven useful for a few test licensees we have made it publicly available in TASK.
Bob
From: Tessitura Ticketing Forum [mailto:forums-ticketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Mark Sackett Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 4:27 PM To: Robert Bell Subject: Re: [Tessitura Ticketing Forum] Element credit card gateway
From: Jon Ballinger <bounce-jonballinger5072@tessituranetwork.com> Sent: 1/29/2014 1:01:16 PM
Hi Tom,
We're still crawling through the planning and installation phases of our Tessitura implementation and I'm still a little confused about the Element interaction. We're planning to use the Element solution that is completely hosted so that we don't have to deal with all of the PCI stuff that comes with storing credit cards, but I'm not quite certain what that means for our configuration. Everything that I've read says that we need a payment gateway or credit card gateway server and I'm concerned that that will store data that will need to be protected. Do you know if we still need that server if Element is hosting all of our credit card transactions?
Sorry if that's a ramble, but I've been searching for an answer to this and it's making me a little bit batty.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
Best,
Helynsia
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum - Smithsonian