PLBS stands for Paiement pour la Location de Biens et Services. This type of transaction is also known as an “Advanced deposit” or a “Guarantee”, and is popular in the Tourism and Rental industries. PLBS (a “guarantee”) is an authorization transaction that sets aside the pre-authorized amount in the cardholder’s account for 30 days. If you do not capture the amount within that time, the authorization is forfeited and your customer cannot be charged.
The PLBS app has been designed to do all this, right on your POS device:
handle the initial authorization transaction with a physical payment card
capture the amount, even partially if you desire, or
cancel the authorization
The card does not need to be present to capture or cancel the authorized amount. You will, however, need your printed ticket, or at least the ID of the PLBS (guarantee) that was performed.
Open a new guarantee
You can open an authorization for a new customer at any time from the PLBS app. To do so:
Tap File Opening:
Tap inside the box and enter the amount of the guarantee:
(Optional) Click the check markwhen the amount is correct.
Tap Validate.
The customer must swipe his card in the magnetic stripe reader on the right side of the POS. Contactless transactions are not supported. After swiping the card, we begin to process the authorization.
During this time, your customer will need to complete the security requirements (entering in the 3-digit security code from the back of his card and most likely, authenticating the 3DS check by his card issuing bank):The authorization is complete. Print the ticket for your customer. We also recommend printing a copy for yourself.
The amount remains authorized for 30 days. The customer will not be charged unless you close the file.
Close (capture) an existing guarantee
You can perform a closure if you want to actually charge your customer for the amount that has been authorized when you opened the file. Otherwise, the transaction will be cancelled after 30 days.
You can also perform a partial capture.
To close a file (and charge your customer):
Tap Closure:
Tap the Scan Receipt QR Code button:
The camera will activate on your POS. Scan the QR Code printed on your copy of the original PLBS (guarantee) transaction:(Alternatively), enter in the file number of the guarantee you wish to close. You will also find this on the ticket:
The pre-authorized amount appears in the “Maximum amount” area.
At this point you must tell us the “Amount to charge”.
To capture the full amount, tap the Max button:
To charge a lower amount, manually enter the partial capture amount in the “Amount to charge” box:Tap Close the File.
We process the capture.
The customer is charged the desired amount. If you have performed a partial capture, you can perform further partial captures on the remaining authorized amount..
Cancel an existing guarantee
If you do not perform a capture on it, a PLBS (guarantee) transaction is automatically cancelled by the cardholder’s bank after 30 days. However, if your customer has already returned their rental, or he or she has cancelled the reservation (for example), it is also possible to cancel the authorization in order to free up the authorized amount in the cardholder’s account. In fact, this amount is otherwise frozen until the authorization expires. Therefore, we can see how it is a good practice to cancel the guarantee once you are done using it.
To cancel a PLBS app authorization:
Tap Cancellation:
Tap the Scan Receipt QR Code button:
The camera will activate on your POS. Scan the QR Code from the original PLBS (guarantee) transaction printed on the customer’s ticket:
(Alternatively), enter in the file number of the guarantee you wish to cancel. You will also find this on the ticket:
The amount of the original (or remaining) authorization appears.
Tap Cancel the File:
We process the cancellation request.
The original authorization (or remaining amount) will be cancelled.