Reposted from infographicsshowcase.com
Ever wondered about the nuts and bolts of the credit card charging process? This graphic describes exactly what happens when you hand a cashier a credit card and he or she swipes it.
The machine immedately checks to ensure the customer has enough money in their account. The computer looks up information about the customer to verify that everything is copacetic. No money is being transferred for the first few seconds of the transaction, just info about the patron. After the check is complete, the money begins its slow crawl toward the merchant’s bank account. It’s so slow in fact that the money transfer is actually spread over a few days. The total gateway fees aren’t even collected until the end of the month.
According to the stats, a typical transaction of $100 will net the merchant about $96 after all the fees have been tallied up.
