Prentice operate BMW and MINI dealerships in Portadown, Northern Ireland. They sell new and used cars, offer servicing, and sell parts.
A significant proportion of these sales involve taking payments over the phone, and this introduces the risk of card fraud and insecure customer data handling. They wanted a solution to capture secure payments, protect customer data, get paid faster and offer a better-branded customer experience.
Prentice take a lot of deposits for vehicles over the phone. While the customer may view the car in person, the confirmation of order is often done over the phone. They were processing these payments using a virtual terminal to secure a deal for the customer until they arrive to view the car. This meant they were processing customer card data less securely, and the payments were subject to chargebacks.
Prentice have a large parts-ordering business and as is common in this industry, customers typically enquire and order over the phone rather than online. The resaleable nature of such parts meant that taking unsecured payments over the phone was too risky and they were turning away business.
Prentice now use Prommt to take all payments for car deposits. They still confirm the deal over the phone and are able to continue talking to the customer while waiting for them to complete the payment via Prommt. The salesperson receives an email notification as soon as the payment is made, enabling them to assure the customer that the car is reserved.
Prentice also use Prommt to manage their car servicing. They will use Prommt to collect payment from the customer, and using Prommt’s internal alerts feature, the servicing department will be notified as soon as payment is received, and will deliver the vehicle back to the customer. This ensures timely payment, reduces the risk of non-payment, eliminates data-handling risk and is less time-consuming.
Mini Sales Executive Mark McKelvey commented that “I think this is a great system, I use it all the time and it’s much handier than taking card numbers over the phone.”
Prommt also enables them to sell parts and accessories over the phone without concern. Once a 3D Secure (Verified by Visa) payment is received, they can dispatch without fear of fraudulent card use.
