Credit Card Authorisation Form Templates

Credit Card Authorisation Form Templates
Discover credit card authorisation forms and their role in curbing chargebacks. Get our free templates & grasp the significance of PCI compliance for your business.
by Square Jun 11, 2021 — 3 min read
Credit Card Authorisation Form Templates

What is a credit card authorisation form?

A credit card authorisation form is a document, signed by a cardholder, that grants a merchant permission to charge their credit card for a period of time as written in that document. The form is often used to give businesses the ongoing authority to charge the cardholder on a recurring basis — whether that’s monthly, quarterly, or more sporadically but it can also be used when accepting large transactions.

Do credit card authorisation forms help prevent chargeback abuse?

Chargebacks protect consumers from unauthorised transactions. They occur when a customer disputes a charge from your business and asks the card issuer to reverse it.

However, chargebacks can cause major issues for businesses, in large part because disputed funds are held from the business until the card issuer decides on an outcome. Chargebacks are also time consuming for businesses and involve a lot of paperwork.

A credit card authorisation form is one way to protect yourself against chargebacks. If you have a signed document from the cardholder that gives you permission to charge their card for services rendered, your chances of winning your case with the card issuer are much more likely and less complicated.

If I’m a Square seller, when should I use an authorisation form?

Credit card authorisation forms are very useful for recurring transactions, whether those are recurring manually entered card-not-present transactions or recurring Card on File transactions.

Let’s say you operate a restaurant that caters lunch for a local office every other week. If you have an authorisation form on file, you know that every time that office calls for a delivery, you can charge it to their card. You don’t have to go back and forth on which form of payment they want to use or have them authorise the charge every time.

Recurring billing isn’t the only situation where the authorisation form comes in handy. You might also use a credit card authorisation form to take a deposit for the future purchase of goods, services, incidentals, or to accept larger card-not-present transactions.

What is included in a credit card authorisation form?

A credit card authorisation form doesn’t have to be a complicated document. Typically it contains:

A credit card authorisation form does not include space for the CVV, read why in the FAQ’s

Download our templates to get started

Square offers two free generic credit card authorisation forms for download. You do not have to process payments with Square to use these templates. You may want to consult a solicitor about the type of language that your business should include on the form.

You can use these forms as-is or edit them to include your business’s name and logo. You may want to include details about the transaction, such as the amount, what the customer is purchasing, a breakdown of future payments, and your refund policy.

FAQ:

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