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Credit Card Processing — How It Works And Why It Is The Best Option

In today’s marketplace, you observe everything is becoming digitized. Because of the improvements in digital technologies, new techniques and methods of business get introduced every day. If you do not upgrade to the latest technologies for your business, it would be a challenge to hold your position in the markets. Your competitors would attract all the audience, and it would be hard to maintain the business stability. It happens because the customers always look forward to getting the best in terms of services and convenience. In the present scenario, to make it convenient for the customers, you must focus on embracing credit card processing services. All businesses should use a credit card processing system, irrespective of their size or type. Credit card processing system is becoming popular as it is highly secure and safe for the customers.

What Exactly Is Credit Card Processing?

types of credit cards

A credit card processing system is a simple technique for carrying out a transaction between a customer and a business. In this, the customer provides an authentic and valid credit card to the merchant. This credit card is processed, and a specific sum of money is deducted from the customer’s account. This deducted amount takes at least 2 to 3 business days to be received by the merchant accounts. Sometimes, the transaction through the credit card happens instantly (based on the services you are choosing).

The process seems very simple, but multiple things are going on in the back-end. From the point when the credit card is swiped in the machine till the money reaches the merchant’s account, there are many crucial steps.

These are the key steps in the credit card processing system.

Authorization Phase

As soon as the merchant swipes a credit card, a request gets submitted for a specific amount of transaction. This request is directly sent to the acquiring bank. The acquiring bank will complete the authentication and verification process and send it out to the issuing bank. During the process, the issuing bank will verify whether the particular account has a sufficient amount to make the payment or not. Moreover, security checks would be carried out to ensure that no fraudulent activities are taking place. Security checks are essential to ensure the protection of the cardholder and the issuing bank.

Batching Phase

The batching phase is also called the settlement stage. In this particular stage, a specific amount of money would be provided to the acquirer. It will then initiate a simple process of the money deposition directly to the merchant account. This intermediate stage is called batching because payments or transactions are put through for a large group.

Funding Phase

credit card processing funding phase

In this stage, the business would receive the money in the merchant account from the customer’s credit card account. The timeline usually required for the deposit of the money in the merchant account is approximately two to three business days. But nowadays, depending upon the service providers, money is deposited instantly.

Why Is Credit Card Processing Considered As Best Option?

A few years back, the traditional methods of transactions that were followed were not always secure. But with the help of a credit card processing system, you can ensure that not just your business security is maintained, but customer data is also secure.

Customers now have the flexibility to make payments in different ways. It increases the convenience factor for the customers and also ensures that the transactions are accurate. As machines and systems handle everything, there is minimal chance of transactional errors.

All businesses can increase their sales by attracting new customers and retaining old ones by taking care of their customers’ requirements. It shows that the company values its customers.

Summary:

There are multiple credit card processing service providers, but one must choose a service provider or company that is safe, trustworthy, and highly reliable. One such company that provides credit card processing is Centurion Payment Solutions. It is a renowned company and has a good reputation in the market and among its clients. It is an ideal choice for small businesses.

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