Have you ever thought how quickly credit card transactions are processed? Going starting from the swipe to receiving confirmation - it is quite mysterious! In this article, I will discuss why the credit card transaction process requires time, from the technology involved to my personal experiences.
1. The Swiping Moment
Upon swiping your credit card, the process starts. Take a look at that strip on your credit card? it contains all the necessary information - your account information, the expiration date, and the 3-digit CVV code.
Next up, this data gets zapped over to the processor, who plays the mediator between you, your financial institution, and the merchant. This first step is pretty snappy, just a few time, mainly based on how your quality of connection.
2. Authorization
Right after that, the processor sends this data to your financial institution to get the consent. This is where the the actual delay starts.
Your financial institution then double-checks to see if you've got the cash and if this whole deal is aboveboard. This portion of the transfinal step can protract from a few time to a full few minutes, depending on how your financial institution and their network are operating.
3. The Approval Dance
Once your financial institution clears the transfinal step, they send a approval sent back to the merchant. The retailer's system puts the thumbs up back into final step, completing the transaction. This remaining part is quick, just a couple of time.
4. The Processing Backlog
But during large holidays or major sales, the system might overwhelmed trying to catch up with all the deals. That means it might take longer to handle everything because the system's attempting to manage all that activity.
5. International Transactions
Doing deals across international boundaries piles on another layer of complication. The payment completeor needs to chat with financial institutions in various nations, which can increase the completeing time to the mix. This is why international deals often take longer to handle than local transactions.