CREDIT CARD PROCESSING

When a merchant takes a credit card from a customer ( i.e., at the store front the customer swipes the credit card thru the terminal, over the internet either the customer or merchant types in the credit card information, or over the telephone the merchant types in the information, etc. ) to complete a sale a customer's credit card information; the card number, the amount and the merchant ID travel over the processor/bank’s computer network. The processor/bank checks the corresponding card network (example: If the customer’s card is a Visa, then the processor/bank checks the Visa network.) in order to confirm the validity of the card and the availability of the funds needed for the sale.

The issuing bank (the customer’s bank) then sends the merchant an authorization over the network. Now the sale is complete, but no money will be settled to the merchant’s bank account until the batch (all the sales the merchant has completed for the day) has been sent to the merchant’s processor/bank.

At the end of the business day, the merchant sends the batch to the credit card network for processing. The transactions get to the credit card network via the merchant's credit card processor. Each transaction is then stripped out and sent back to each customer’s bank for debiting. The customers’ banks then debit their accounts and send the correct funds to the merchant's processor/bank via the Federal Reserve Bank's Automated Clearing House. The merchant’s processor/bank receives the funds and settles the funds to the merchant’s bank account in accordance with the merchant’s contract.

Merchant account application	High Risk merchant account	Internet merchant account	Offshore merchant account	Retail merchant account	Gateway Services