Visa Account Updater (VAU) is a service that enables merchants, operating in a card-not-present environment, to verify that on-file information, including account number and expiration date, is correct. This service is designed for merchants that process recurring transactions and other types of ongoing transactions where payments for products and services can be made over the course of months or years using the same account.

Typically, in a recurring payment plan the merchant collects their customer’s account information at the time the recurring payment plan is set up and processes the first payment as they would process any other card-not-present payment. The customer’s account information is then stored and subsequent payments are processed using the stored data. The problem is that card account information can change due to a variety of factors, including account closure, card number replacement, card expiration date change, and other events. If the merchant processes a payment using the information on file that has become invalid, the transaction will be returned as a chargeback, causing the merchant to incur additional processing fees and, possibly to lose the transaction amount altogether. Visa’s VAU can help merchants keep their customers’ stored Visa account information current and avoid chargebacks. The Visa Account Updater service works as follows:
The card issuer sends information to VAU that includes account number, card expiration date changes, and account closures. The acquiring bank sends inquiries to VAU for cardholder accounts that their enrolled merchants have on file. VAU sends a response to the acquiring bank for each inquiry, including updated information. The merchant updates the billing information for the customer.