One of the strongest retention tactics we recommend is to use Account Updater in your payment processing so that you can automatically update expired credit cards.

However, one of the most frequent complaints we hear from readers is that a vendor known to carry the Account Updater enhancement completely denies having it — or even sometimes knowing what it is.

Subscription Site Insider decided to get to the bottom of this.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Account Updater, it’s a software service through your acquirer that updates declined credit card transactions with the right info. These transactions may have been declined because the consumer was issued a new card (due to expired dates, loss or theft), or because other information changed (such as when a bank switches from partnering with Visa to MasterCard). The service originated through Chase Paymentech, and has been adopted by a number of other acquirers.

However, when subscription sites contact the main sales line for a number of vendors, including Chase Paymentech and First Data, they are told the vendors don’t offer such service enhancements.

This is not true. The problem seems to be a disconnect in the companies. In the example of Chase Paymentech, the website number links to the company’s North American Platform, which does not have Account Updater. However, sites using Chase’s Global Platform can easily get Account Updater.

We spoke to someone at Chase, and they recommended that subscription sites interested in getting Account Updater call the Global Platform sales office at 800-708-3739.

For a brief list of payment processors independently confirmed to offer Account Updater (and how to avoid the runaround), check out this week’s How-To article on Subscription Site Insider.