ON-LINE STORE CHARGE SOLUTION for IBM ACE SYSTEM Part of the suite of programs.

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 1- A transaction is tendered to the Store Charge Tender. This tender-type is set as an APS type so the request is sent to the CC controller.

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 2- The APS Host interface sends the request to the On-Line Store Charge Processor via TCP/IP

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 3- The Host Server looks up the account number. If found and limits are met, the account balance is updated and an Approval is sent back to the APS Host Interface.

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 4- The APS Host Interface decodes the approval message and sends this data back to the POS Terminal

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 5- The programmable franking formats are used to print information such as Account Name, Number, Previous and Current Balance on the receipt.

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 6- During the night, after Close Period has been performed, the Transaction Log is transferred to the On-Line Host PC.

OPERATION OVERVIEW Step 7- The day’s Transaction Log is scanned for any transactions tendered to Store Charge. If the transaction was already approved by the On-Line Host, the transaction details are matched up. If a matching transaction is not found, the transaction is added to the transaction list to be posted. If a PaymentSKU is found, a payment entry is made for that account. Any entries created by the Tlog Scan must be “Posted” prior to updating any balances. This ensures that the transactions can be verified before updating balances.

OPERATION OVERVIEW If you use a preferred shopper code for customer account numbers, you can set the STORECHG program to send the account name to the preferred shopper activity file. With this data, when the card is scanned, the display can display that account’s name. This number would then be used as the account number when tendered to Store Charge.

OPERATION OVERVIEW If the store accepts payments at the POS for store charge accounts, a Payment SKU needs to be defined. This SKU will be detected during the nightly transaction log scan and used to update accounts. NOTE: Payments will not be visible to the On-Line Host until the transaction log is scanned AND the POSTING procedure is run.

OPERATION OVERVIEW All account maintenance, transaction posting and reporting are controlled in the Store Charge Module. Some examples of reports are: Monthly Statements - Customer Lists with or without Balances - Daily Invoice/Payment/Gift Certificate Logs - Aging Reports and more

GIFT CERTIFICATE CONTROL In addition to Store Charge Account control, you can use this system to generate, track and control Gift Certificates. These are treated exactly like the store charge but will keep track of the remaining balance and watch for expired certificates!

Required Equipment / Software IBM System: ACE ver 4 or above BOB files for APS ON-LINE Host: Windows® PC Network Card TCP/IP HOST SOFTWARE Store Charge Module of IGManager

ACE Setup Background Tasks ACEAPSSR.286 (This would already be running if credit is already active) ACEAPSHL.286 Parameter file of ACEAPSHL.ICR

ACEAPSHL.ICR PROTOCOL3 LINK_NAME“ICRLINK” SESSION_NAME“ICRSESS” RETRIES3 IDLE_TIMEOUT10 RE-INIT_TIMEOUT600 ACK_TIMEOUT50 INITSELF1 USE_LRC0 USE_ACK0 LOG_ALL_ERRORS1 COMMS_ERROR_MSG403 COMMS_EVENT0

ACEAPSHL.ICR HOST_WRITE_PIPE“ ” HOST_WRITE_SIZE10240 HOST_READ_PIPE“Z” HOST_READ_SIZE10240 HOST_READ_WAIT30000 HOST_ID“ICR” RETRY_HOST_TIME30 MIN_RETRY_HOST_TIME 3 LEASED_LINE1 GIPC_ACK_PIPE“R” TCPIP_HOST_NAME“icr” TCPIP_HOST_PORT6666 MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE512 TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT 60 As defined in HOSTS file As defined in ONLINE HOST PROCESSOR

OPTIONS-TENDERS (For the desired tender type) DESCRIPTION: STORE CHARGE SHORT DESCR: STC ACCOUNT REQUIRED: Y EXP DATE REQUIRED: N FRANKING FORMAT:x VERIFICATION TYPE: 0 LIMITS AS DESIRED

EPS- EPS Tender- Card Plan ID: 62 DESCRIPTION: STORE CHARGE SUREPOS EPS Tender: Y CARD PLAN ID: SC EPS PAY TYPE: 2 HOST NAME: ICR EPS- EPS Tender- ACCT # ENTRY ALLOWABLE INPUT DEV: KEYBOARD, SCANNER REQUIRED INFO: ACCOUNT NUMBER

EPS- EPS Tender- CLIENT Recommend all Client Off-Line values be +++ EPS- EPS Tender- HOST OFFLINE Stand in limits should all be +++ also EPS- EPS Tender- SAFs All SAFs should be deactivated

EPS- HOST ID: x HOST NAME:ICR HOST READ PIPE NAME:Z HOST READ PIPE SIZE:10240 HOST RESPONSE TIMEOUT:10 SETTLEMENT RESP TIMEOUT: 0 StoreID, TerminalID, MerchantID are all not used at this time

ON-LINE HOST SETTINGS Starting Path: Path to the data. Can be local or networked. HOST PORT: This setting must match the setting in the ACE APS setup. Host Reset Interval: As a precaution, the HOST closes and re-opens the TCPIP port at this interval.

STORECHG SETTINGS Settings used by the Offline Transaction Scan and TENDV UPDATE Statement printing options

Transaction Log: Path and name of yesterday’s transaction log. If blank, ScanLogs will determine the correct EAMTRANA, B or C to scan Store Chg Tender: This is the Tender setup as the store charge. Ex. 62 Store Chg Payment SKU: The Itemcode setup as a Misc received on account for payments. Tax Exempt discount type: Used outside of StoreCharge Store Charge Using EM and EM Code Mask: By using frequent shopper codes at the POS for account access allows us to have the account’s name appear on the screen by customizing the LOYALTY section of ACE. This can eliminate the possibility of the cashier entering the wrong account code. This also allows us scan or enter the code at anytime during the transaction. The EM CODE MASK shows store charge how the account number is formatted in the Preferred Customer code. Example: Store #001 uses cat 4 for Preferred Shopper -> would be account 123. The mask would be: 4001#######

Store Logo File:Path and name of the logo to print at the top of monthly statements. Store Info:The address, etc. to print under that logo.