This article describes the credit card transaction process.

Understanding the Credit Card Transaction Process

• Authorize.net: Acts as a bridge between your company and the financial entities handling credit card transactions.
• Merchant Bank Account: Receives settlement funds for processed credit card transactions.
• Acquiring Bank: Holds your merchant bank account, often provided through a reseller or sales organization.
• Processor: Processes credit card transactions (e.g., TSYS, FDMS Nashville).
• Credit Card Issuer: The financial institution or bank that issued the credit card to your customer.
• Credit Card Interchange System: Facilitates the submission of credit card transactions to the issuing bank for settlement.

1. A credit card transaction is submitted to Authorize.net.

2. Authorize.net securely passes the transaction to the Processor.
3. The Processor forwards the transaction to the Credit Card Interchange System.
4. The Interchange System routes the transaction to the appropriate Credit Card Issuer.
5. The Issuer approves or declines the transaction based on available funds and sends the results and funds (if approved) back through the Interchange System.
6. The Interchange System relays the results to the Processor.
7. The Processor sends the results to Authorize.net.
8. Authorize.net stores the results and sends them to you, the merchant.

• Certain information required by Merchant Service Providers is not seen by Authorize.net (e.g., whether a card is personal or business, or if the issuing bank is foreign or domestic).
• Authorize.net provides a secure gateway for credit card and authorization information to pass from your website to the payment processor.

1. Transactions are sent from Authorize.net servers to the Acquiring Bank's processor.
2. The processor sends the batch to the Credit Card Interchange System.
3. The Interchange System verifies transactions and releases funds via the Credit Card Issuer.
4. Funds and results return through the Interchange System to the Acquiring Bank.
5. Funds are transferred to the merchant's bank.
6. Process results are sent back to the processor and then to Authorize.net servers for storage in your account.