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TSYS Issue: 9864 Terminal Authentication Failure

Catherine Harper
  • Updated
  1. Shift4 Payments
  2. Self Help Product Categories
  3. Universal Transaction Gateway (UTG)
  4. Error Library [Internal Only]

What is causing this Error/Issue?

Historically this error condition is caused by one of two things. An incorrect Terminal Authentication Code (TAC) is being sent to the Processor, or this can also result from account changes at the Processor/MSP level and/or backend settings or details being incorrect, i.e. an incorrect ZIP code. It should also be noted that, per TSYS, any alpha-characters (letters) in the TAC should be capitalized.

 

How do I resolve this Error/Issue?

There are three forms of this error, one with "A2", "HV" and one with "03" as below:

mceclip0__6___3_.png

Err 9864 Serial 0000037133 26 ApiError 9864 2018-03-07 04:19:16 SkyTouchTechnology:SkyTouchHOS:8.0 0000665257 Westwinds Waterfront Resort LL TSYSVLLA VS 0006972049 Terminal Authentication Failure, (03) TERM ID ERROR TSYS01A1 0000037133

26 Wed 2018-03-07 04:19:16

ENGINE06A1

 

Sections:

Troubleshooting (End-to-End (E2E)):

Troubleshooting (Gateway):

 

Troubleshooting (End-to-End (E2E)):

A2 Authentication Failure

This section will show you how to fix the “Terminal Authentication Failure (A2) NOT ACTIVATED” error message by re-keying TAC in mReports.

 

First, we’ll need to be sure that the error message is the A2 version and not the HV one. This can be done by going to Citadel, clicking “Log” option, and clicking “Older” button. After confirming that this is A2 error - we’ll need to pull the MID having this issue in mReports and Titan.

 

In mReports - we’ll need to go to Reports > View V numbers

 

mceclip0_-_2022-06-07T115434.615.png

 

In the V numbers menu - we’ll need to select the V# that we’ll be fixing by going to Terminal > Highlight the V# that we want to fix > Terminal Details.

 

mceclip1__62_.png

 

After this - we’ll see this screen:

 

mceclip2__54_.png

 

TITAN STEPS: Now - this is the part, where we open up Titan, pull the MID for the location and open up the “Equipment” tab:

 

mceclip3__39_.png

 

In here - simply click “View” on the right side of the V# line that we’ll be re-keying and you will the following screen open up:

 

mceclip4__30_.png

 

All we need from this screen is to select and copy the Auth Code. After that is done - we’ll be moving back to the mReports > Terminal detail screen.

 

In that screen - click Edit and now you will have access to delete/replace the TAC code in the Authentication Code and Confirm Authentication Code boxes:

mceclip5__18_.png

 

Delete the codes if there are any already (you will receive a pop-up to confirm the step. Just click “OK”). and paste in the codes that we copied from the Titan. After that Hit the “Validate” button and this screen will pop up:

 

mceclip6__10_.png

 

After the status changes to “Ready to Board” - hit the “Board” button and this screen will pop-up:

 

mceclip8__10_.png

 

After this screen is received - the TAC was re-keyed successfully. If needed be - move onto the next V# by highlighting the “Terminal” button at the top, and going to the “Terminal detail” option of the desired V#. From there on - repeat the steps from Titan steps section.

 

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO TRY - IN CASE THIS DOES NOT WORK:

 

If the steps above are done and the error still persists - we should also do these steps:

Get the TAC code from the VConfig (if you don’t have access - ask your next escalation point to check this for you)

That’s done by opening up VConfig app and going to “File” > Open (Or just hitting F3 key on your keyboard).

mceclip9__8_.png

 

In the box that opens up - start typing in the DBA of the location. After you find it - double-check if the SN of the location in the VConfig and SN of the location in Citadel is matching up.

mceclip10__4_.png

 

After that - click the DBA listed under “Registration” > Then click the “Devices” tab and slide to the right side to see a column called “Authentication Code (TSYS) and this will show you the TAC code that Shift4 has on our back-end.

 

  1. Make sure that this TAC is matching up with what we have in Titan. 
    1. If it matches - we can try re-boarding the TAC in mReports again. If it does not work - create a new TAC Authentication code in Titan by opening the device under the equipment tab and clicking the big green “+” sign. This will create a new TAC code.
    2. If it does NOT match - take the TAC from the VConfig - paste it into Titan > Save the settings and then board that TAC from VConfig in mReports as well.
  2. If it still does not work after everything is done - we can generate a new TAC in Titan > Board it in mReports and send an email to Dataentry@shift4.com. Use this template:
  • SN and/or MID:
  • DBA: 
  • V#:
  • Old TAC code:
  • New TAC code:

After this info is gathered - make sure that your email is asking DE to update the TAC on the back-end as a new one was generated. This will have to go through DE and will need to have a re-sync to go through.

 

More information about the Re-sync that needs to be known:

 

mceclip11__4_.png

 

HV Hierarchy Error

This guide will show you how to fix the “Terminal Authentication Failure (A2) NOT ACTIVATED” error message by checking what information is not matching between Citadel, Titan and mReports.

 

First things first - HV means Hierarchy Error, which simply told - means that some information is not matching up. This can be used really widely. 

 

We’ll need to distinguish that the error message is giving HV error and not A2. 

After confirming that this is HV error - you will need to pull up the merchant’s MID in mReports.

 

Now the steps to find what is causing the HV issue. First - we’ll need to find and copy the “POS Merchant ID:” code. We will need to copy it with ALL of the “0”s.

 

mceclip12__2_.png

 

After that - we’ll need to find the “POS Reporting” option in mReports. That can be found by going to Links > Other e-Connections > POS Reporting.

mceclip13__4_.png

This button will open up a window called “POS Reporting”. In the following window you will need to find “Inquiry” tab and click “Authorization” option.

 

mceclip14__3_.png

 

This will open up additional “Authorization Inquiry” tab, which will have BIN# selected. In the same line of the BIN# - you’ll find an empty “Merchant:” box. In this box - you’ll have to paste in the POS MID you’ve copied from the main mReports merchant page (the one with a lot of “0”s).

 

mceclip15__4_.png

 

You will need to paste in the MID by using your mouse, as CTRL + V does not work in this box. Click the refresh button next.

After the refresh button - screen should populate with a lot of entries. We are looking for the entries/lines with Account number being “blank”:

 

mceclip16__3_.png

 

Click the “blank” text and that will get you to “POS Reporting” <> “Authorization information” screen. In here we’d need to be looking for “ISO Rej Cd:”

 

mceclip17__1_.png

 

This code will show us exactly what is giving merchants those HV error codes.

 

Response

Meaning

Fix

Notes

252

Device does not exist

Re-board V#

Only validate and reboard no changing of V number

250

SSL Flag = no

Update SSL flag

Edit within the V#

903

MCC error

Update MCC

Check MCC codes between Titan/mReports/Citadel

765

Auth Code Error

Remove Auth code if not needed

  

251

Devices are inactive

Change devices to active in Titan

Also shows as "profile closed" in V number

771

Device is not authenticated

Reboard TAC to V#

If this does not work, you may need to create a new TAC

295

Decline Transaction

Retry with a Valid Card

  

 

After getting the rejection code and associating it with the box above - find the miss-matches and/or do the following steps that are noted in the “Notes” section of the box to fix the HV errors.

 

 

Troubleshooting (Gateway):

A2 Authentication Failure

- 9 out of 10 times this is a mismatch of the Authentication Code between TSYS Express and VConfig (Gateway).

- If this is not the issue then troubleshoot the items notated below for an HV Error.

HV Hierarchy Error

- Typically one of the following items are mismatched between Tsys Express and VConfigZip Code

  • Acquirer Bin 
  • MCC
  • Merchant Account and Terminal ID are not for the same account
  • Terminal Number (V#)
  • Authentication Code (this is rare, but can still occur on this response for some reason)

As a note, each EMV Terminal and manual entry (NON-EMV directly on LTM for Example) are on their own V#, so it is important to understand if only 1 terminal is affected or all of them.

If it is all of them then this can help point to main boarding information like the zip code, Acquirer BIn or MCC.  If only 1 terminal then it points more likely to the Authentication code, V#, or MID/TID.

If we cannot figure it out on our own then we call TSYS to have them help QA the account as they can run the Auth-Code through a checker on their end, and be able to verify if an account is mismatched.

 

Step 1 - Initial Setup Verification with TSYS

  1. Reach out to TSYS and perform a QA with the available information in Citadel for the affected terminal(s). This would include all of the information listed under the Merchant Information section, EMV Information section and the Processor(s) section. See How To perform a QA (Quality Assurance) on a Merchants Shift4 Account.
  2.  Even though the full address may have been already validated in order to proceed with the call, ensure to validate the address again.
  3. If the QA comes back with discrepancies, notate what the discrepancies are in the case notes. If the processor cannot make the changes on their end the case would need to be sent to Account Setup Priority to have the information updated and put through a resync. Follow the Customer Request Handling doc located in support favorites.
    • Note: A TAC Error 03 indicates that the Terminal Profile is Inactive. If no other discrepancies are present, have the TSYS representative check the Terminal page and ensure the Close Profile field is set to N. If this is set to Y, the Terminal is inactive.

Step 2 - If No Setup Discrepancies Follow the Below

  1. If possible, use the account information visible in Citadel on the Devices tab which will provide the TAC for each device.    
  2. Inquire with the TSYS rep whether they can re-key the TACon their end with the value we have visible on the Device Info page for the relevant terminal.
    • Note: If the account is a staged account meaning TSYS can only see the account info but unable to make changes, then you will need to contact the Merchant Service Provided (MSP) to have them re-enter the TAC we have on file.

Step 3 - If the Above Does Not Identify and/or Resolve the Issue, or if the Account Setup Information is not visible in Citadel, follow the next steps.

  1. If everything matched during Step 1 and there seems to be masked information in Citadel, discuss the issue with an escalation point and notify them of the results of Step 2. 
  2. Step 1 and Step 2 may need to be performed again along with a discussion with Data Entry.
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