Credit Card Industry
Credit Card Processing A 10 Year History
Meat Slicer or Knuckle Buster, Paper Records, Card Present Terminal Device, Paper Records, Card Present Software Only, Electronic Records, Non-Card Present Distributed Software, Encrypted Records, Non-Card Present
The World Of Credit Cards
PAYMENT NETWORK MERCHANT ACQUIRERS
CREDIT CARD ASSOCIATIONS
MEMBER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
ACQUIRING PROCESSOR
MERCHANT BANK
CREDIT CARD PROCESSORS
CARD ISSUING BANK INDEPENDENT SALES ORGANIZATION
Credit Card Terminology
Association - VISA or MasterCard; organizations which govern credit card transactions including establishment of fee structure for various type of transactions Cardholder - party using credit card Issuing Bank - issues credit card, sets credit limit, maintains account and provides monthly statement Merchant - company processing credit cards Merchant Bank - where merchant has a deposit account and has contract for credit card services; usually the entity which sells credit card services to merchants; although usually does not perform any processing services Acquiring Financial Institution processing and transfer of settlement funds between the Issuing Bank and the Merchant (ex US Bank)
Credit Card Terminology
ISO Independent Sales Organization Sells and signs-up merchants on behalf of Merchant Banks and processors. Transaction - sale, purchase or transfer of money made using a plastic card. Two types: Offline (paper imprint of card) and Online (passed by electronic communication from Merchant to Processor) Authorization - request by merchant to verify cardholder credit and reserve amount of transaction (also pre-authorization) Settlement - merchant request for payment made to acquirer once goods or services are delivered Interchange Fee - Fee assessed to a Merchant for a transaction; determined by rules established by Association Surcharge - A series of fees charged to merchants for transactions based on Merchants compliance with certain procedures. Especially impacts Card Not Present Merchants. (Example is Surcharge when Address Verification not performed). Surcharges are paid by Merchant to VISA or MasterCard
Credit Card Terminology
Host Mode - (host capture) acquirer maintains transaction detail, usually for retail sales, settles the same day automatically Terminal Mode - (terminal capture) merchant maintains transaction detail, usually for mail/phone orders, settles only after shipment, amount may change Card Present - transactions where credit card is present such as with retail, and restaurant industries Card Not Present - transactions where credit card is not present such as with Mail Order, Internet, Government, Education, Order forms, Reservation and Travel industries Collectively referred to as Processor in this presentation (ex Paymentech): -Authorization Network provides dial or dedicated communications network, processes authorizations with issuing banks and settlements with acquirer -Acquiring Processor process settlements, collect funds from issuing banks, deposits into merchant account, billing services, reporting services, customer service. Settlement services done on behalf of Acquiring Financial Institution (Processors also sometimes referred to as Clearinghouses or Service Providers or Processing Networks)
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Transaction Process
MERCHANTS
Get Consumer Funds Authorize
Mail Order Telephone Order MOTO (Non-card Present)
CARD ISSUING BANK
Settle
Retail Applications Card Swipe (Card Present)
Authorized or Denied
MERCHANT BANK CREDIT CARD PROCESSOR
P&L Funds To Merchants
Web Based Applications B2C & B2B (Non-card Present)
Credit Card 101
Interchange Fee
The Interchange function enable banks around the world to exchange information, transactions, money and other items on a standard and consistent basis.
Cardholder Purchase
Merchant Deposit
Merchant Bank Processor
National Asscoiation
Cardholder Bank
Cardholder Statement
The Interchange fee is assessed to all merchants and is intended to compensate the cardholders bank for the free period between the settlement to the merchants bank for cardholders purchases and the collection of those amounts from the billings to the cardholder
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Interchange Fee Calculation Example
Credit Card 101
If the purchase amount is $100.00 and the interchange fee is 1.5% plus 7 cents per transaction, the amount of interchange is calculated as follows: $100.00 x 1.5% = $1.50 + $.07 = $1.57 (Interchange Fee) The amount of these fees depend on many factors including whether credit cards are electronically authorized (swiped). In recent years, the interchange systems have been enhanced to consider advanced technologies which lower the risk of accepting fraudulent transactions.
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Background of Payment Service 2000 (Visa) Payment Service 2000 (PS2000) is a comprehensive strategy designed to ensure continued card program profitability by reducing risk, improving fraud control and reducing the cost of back office processing. General Rules:
The card is present A signature is obtained A single electronic authorization is obtained A single clearing transaction (settlement) is obtained The transaction is cleared within two days
Credit Card 101
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Credit Card 101
Visa Interchange Fees
Standard Interchange Reimbursement Fee (SIRF)
Available to all Custom Payment Service categories Any transaction that is NOT eligible for incentive
Electronic Interchange Reimbursement Fee (EIRF)
Available to all Custom Payment Service categories except secure payments and non-secure electronic transactions Transactions must satisfy specific timeliness and data requirements
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Visa Custom Payment Service (CPS) Categories
Credit Card 101
Retail (Card Present)
CPS/Retail CPS/Retail - Key Entry CPS/Retail 2 (Emerging Markets)
Direct Marketing (Card Not Present)
CPS/Card Not Present
E-Commerce (Card Not Present)
CPS/Electronic Commerce - Basic
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CPS Category Qualifications
Credit Card 101
CPS/Retail
Deposit & clear within two days Single authorization for each transaction Enriched message format (auth & settle) Transmission of full unaltered magnetic stripe (auth) Use of retain and return fields (auth & settle) Merchant must be located in US Purchase within one calendar day of authorization
CPS/Retail 2
Emerging markets to include Government, Schools, Utility, Insurance & Cable/TV
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CPS Category Qualifications Continued
Credit Card 101
CPS/Retail Key Entry
One authorization per clearing record allowed Cardholder must be present and signature obtained Card must be present with key entry due to malfunction of magnetic strip Must not be a mail/telephone, electronic commerce transaction or cardholder activated terminal Address Verification Service is requested (zip code) Transaction must clear in two days
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CPS Category Qualifications Continued CPS/Card Not Present
Card not present Single authorization request (one reversal allowed) Address Verification Service Deposit & clear within two days Single clearing transaction Transaction date (shipping) must be within 7 calendar days of the authorization date Clearing amount must match authorized amount Market specific data present (auth & settle) Mail order indicator of 1, 2 or 3 Customer service telephone number required (settle) Use of retain and return fields (auth & settle)
Credit Card 101
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CPS Category Qualifications Continued CPS/Electronic Commerce - Basic
Card not present, key entered Single authorization request (one reversal allowed) Address Verification Service Deposit & clear within two days Single clearing transaction Transaction date (shipping) must be within 7 calendar days of the authorization date Clearing amount must match authorized amount Market specific data present (auth & settle) Mail order indicator of 1, 2 or 3 Customer service telephone number, merchant URL or e-mail address required (settle) Secure E-commerce transaction (ECI 7)
Credit Card 101
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