đź’ł Understanding Cardholder Names
with Contactless (Tap) Transactions
When processing payments in NX, it’s important to understand that contactless (tap) credit card transactions behave differently than inserted (chip) transactions when it comes to retrieving the cardholder’s name.
This article explains why this occurs, how NX handles it, and what employees should do when starting a tab using the Preauth CC feature.
⚙️ Why Contactless Transactions Don’t Return a Real Cardholder Name
When a customer pays using contactless (NFC/tap), the card transmits limited information to the payment terminal for security reasons.
Unlike an inserted (EMV chip) transaction, the card does not provide the cardholder’s actual name.
Instead, the transaction data includes a generic placeholder name, such as:
- VALUED CARDHOLDER
- VISA CARDHOLDER
Because these values do not represent a real person, NX ignores these generic names and does not assign them to the customer record or tab.
🧾 Inserted Cards Provide Real Names
When a card is inserted into the reader, the chip includes additional data that identifies the true cardholder name.
For this reason, if your venue uses Preauth CC (Preauthorization Credit Card) to start a tab and you want to capture the guest’s name, the employee should insert the card rather than tapping it.
This ensures NX receives and displays the accurate cardholder name associated with the transaction.
🤝 NX’s Smart Customer Recognition
Even if a customer taps their card, NX takes an extra step to help identify them.
NX will automatically:
- Check its global database to determine if that card has previously been associated with a known customer.
- If a match is found, NX will display that customer’s name — even for contactless transactions.
This helps maintain consistency and provides a smoother guest experience for returning customers.
đź’ˇ Best Practices for Starting Tabs
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Insert Card (Chip) | Captures the actual cardholder name. Ideal for Preauth CC tabs. |
| Tap Card (Contactless) | Returns a generic name (e.g., “Valued Cardholder”). NX ignores this value. |
| NX Recognized Card | NX may still display the customer’s name if the card is tied to an existing customer record. |
✅ Recommendation: Always insert the card when using Preauth CC if you want the customer’s name to appear on the tab.
🧩 Summary
| Transaction Type | Cardholder Name Returned? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Contactless (Tap) | ❌ No — returns generic “VALUED CARDHOLDER” | NX ignores generic names |
| Chip Insert | ✅ Yes — returns real cardholder name | Recommended for Preauth CC tabs |
| Swipe (Magstripe) | ⚠️ Sometimes — depends on card and processor | Not recommended for Preauth tabs |
| Tap (Known Customer) | ✅ Yes — if NX has the card stored in its customer database | NX automatically links to the known customer |
🧠In Short
- Tap = Generic name (“Valued Cardholder”) → Ignored by NX
- Insert = Real name → Captured by NX
- NX may still recognize returning guests via stored card data
For best results when starting a tab, insert the card so NX can identify and display the guest’s true name.