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Capture File Best Practices

After Visa successfully transmits the TC 33.A Capture file (TC33-CAP) file to you, you should perform file-level validations before processing the file. You must ensure that the file is not a duplicate and that the file is complete and correct.
Potential ramifications for processing a duplicate file include duplicate funding, held funds, additional costs, customer service issues, and reputational risk.
Follow these steps to ensure that the TC33-CAP file is not a duplicate:
  • Validate that the file name, file ID, and sequence numbers have not already been processed. The Direct Exchange (DEX) Open File Delivery (OFD) platform should allow only one version of the file at any time.
  • If the file is identified as a duplicate, do not process the file.
Follow these steps to ensure that the TC33-CAP file is complete and correct:
  • Examine the file header to confirm complete and accurate file transmission.
  • Calculate the file record count and total hash amount of the records in the file.
  • Compare the file record count and the total hash amount to the values found in the following TC33-CAP file header fields:
    • Total Transaction Count, positions 137–145
    • Total Transaction Amount, positions 146–165
  • If the totals do not match, do not process the file.
After ensuring that the file is not a duplicate and that the file is complete and correct, process the TC33-CAP file. When processing the TC33- CAP file, you must be able to determine whether a clearing record must be created. The Action Code field in the TCR 0, positions 135–146, provides information for this determination:
  • A value of
    01
     indicates an authorized purchase transaction (BASE II TC 05 clearing record).
  • A value of
    02
     indicates an authorized merchandize credit transaction (BASE II, TC 06 clearing record).
The incoming TC33-CAP file includes the following BASE II records:
  • TC 90
    —File Header
  • TC 91
    —Batch File
  • TC 92
    —File Trailer