Description: A Voice Referral is a response from the property processor or the cardholder's issuing bank to an authorization attempt indicating that the card could not be approved online and they are requesting that you call for manual approval over the phone. This article covers what a voice referral or voice authorization is and how to process them.

Voice Referral / Authorization Situations

Voice Referrals and Voice Authorizations can occur to a single card, all cards of a particular brand, or any attempted card depending on the issue being experienced. Below are the most common requests based on the following situations: 

• Cardholder's security settings at the issuing bank typically only occur on a single card
• Card issuing bank wanting to validate the transaction over the phone for security purposes typically occurs on a single card
• Improper setup of your processing account typically occurs on all attempted transactions of a certain brand or issuer
• Property lost internet connection to Shift4 Payment Data Center typically occurs on all attempted transactions

Processing a Voice Authorization 

When a voice referral is received, you can choose to ask the cardholder for another form of payment or call for the voice authorization center details that are prompted on the processing interface or on the Lighthouse Transaction Manager (LTM) screen. Upon receiving the prompt for voice referral you will be provided a number to call, Merchant ID, and a field in which to enter an authorization code. You should then: 

1. Call the provided phone number.
2. Enter your merchant number.
3. Input the cardholder's card information as requested by the phone prompts.

You should receive a response that indicates if the card was declined or approved: 

• If approved: you should be provided with an authorization code that can be entered into the field to complete the transaction
• If declined: seek another form of payment from the cardholder