The Ultimate Card Payment Processing Guide

Think about the last time you bought something in a shop. You picked up whatever you wanted to buy, walked over to the cashier and let them scan everything through their cash register.
When it was time to pay, you plugged your card into the card terminal (and if you didn’t, let’s just imagine you did) and punched in your PIN. The register whirred for a couple of seconds then printed out a receipt.
Simple, right?
While paying for something using a credit or debit card might seem simple, it’s actually a very complicated process involving five — yes, five! — different players.
You’ve got the customer (you), the merchant (e.g. Tesco), the acquirer (e.g. Worldpay), the issuer (e.g. Santander) and the card network (e.g. Visa). All of these players work together to move funds from one account to another and support the financial systems we all rely on.
In this infographic, I’ll look at what people and organisations are involved in each card payment and explain how payments are actually handled on a technical level.

Infographic presented by: https://www.cardswitcher.co.uk/

Identity Theft: You Should Be Worried [infographic]

I sat down at my computer a few weeks ago to check my online banking account, just like I do every other day. I was hoping I had some extra spending money to go out with that evening, but I was surprised to see my account was in the negative. I saw several charges – some of which were pending – from newegg.com, a site I had never actually used before. I immediately called my bank, who took off the pending charges right away and cancelled my accounts. They told me I was the victim of debit card fraud, and they would work to refund the rest of my money and give me new account information.

I was completely shocked. I went through the whole ‘How could this happen to me?’ moment. Luckily, it could have been worse; I could have had my identity stolen. Whoever got my card information did not actually get ahold of my billing address, which is what saved me from losing more money than I did. But still, I’m being forced to reevaluate where I use my personal information and debit card.

It’s scary to think about how I almost became one of the statistics on this infographic. Unfortunately, the United States is a fraud-friendly country because our cards still use the outdated magnetic strip on the back, as opposed to a microchip inside. And until the day comes that we finally make the switch, my advice for you is to be careful and check your accounts often. Trust me when I say that it can happen to anyone. [via]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


© Aisling Clare for Daily Infographic, 2014. |
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Post tags: banking, credit card, crime, debit card, debit card fraud, fraud, identity theft, money, online fraud, security