Visa, Mastercard and Discover classify card-not-present transactions, and the merchants who process those transactions, as high-risk. This classification extends to any instance where the card is not physically swiped, inserted or tapped, including manual card entry and tokenized transactions. Previously, accredited merchants, like pharmacies, were exempted from the card brands' high-risk registration policies.
RMS has been informed that Visa, Mastercard and Discover have all rescinded their exemption policies and pharmacies processing a higher volume of card-not-present transactions will need to complete the high-risk registration process. If this change applies to your pharmacy, you should be hearing from your credit card processing provider to help with the registration process. They will provide you with the proper forms and instructions for registering your pharmacy. It is important to complete the registration process, if required, to avoid citation by Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. Keep in mind not all pharmacies will be impacted by this change, especially if the volume of card-not-present transactions is little to none.
If you have questions or think you may be impacted but have not received communication, please contact your credit card processor. If you do not know who your credit card processor is, please contact RMS and we will do our best to assist.
