1. Brick and Mortar stores:
   When a merchant makes a sale and swipes a customer's credit card, the card number, the amount and the merchant ID travel over the credit card processor's computer network. The credit card processor can either be a bank or a company that does nothing but provide credit card processing services. From the processor's network the transaction goes to a credit card computer network. If the customer is using Visa, for example, the transaction will go to Visa's network. In turn, the electronic transaction goes to the bank that actually issued the card.
   The bank then checks the account and verifies the customer has adequate credit to cover the purchase. The bank then sends the merchant an authorization over the network.
   Now the sale is complete, but the transaction is not: no money has changed hands yet. At the end of the business day, the merchant sends that day's charges, in a batch, to the credit card network for processing. The transactions travel via the merchant's credit card processor. Individual transactions are then stripped out and sent back to the individual cardholders' banks.
   Banks then debit cardholders' accounts and make appropriate payments to the merchant's credit card processor through the Federal Reserve Bank's Automated Clearing House. The credit card processing then includes credits the merchant's bank account for the transaction amount, minus its fees for the transaction. Those fees also go toward paying transaction fees to the issuing bank and the credit card network. Despite the use of computers, it can take two business days before the merchant's account is credited.
   
   
2. Internet credit card processing solution:
   The customer elects to move to the check out with the items they placed into their shopping cart or selected from the order form on a Merchant's Website.
   The customer then selects "credit card" as their method of payment. Their browser connects to the Website host's secure server, and brings up the secure payment form. The customer enters in his or her credit card information on the secure payment form, and authorizes the transaction by clicking a "Complete Order" type button.
   The transaction information flows to the Website host's secure server using SSL encryption. The secure server connects to the Merchant's processing bank either via a Secure Payment Gateway (a third party who provides the connection to the processing bank via land line), or directly (some processors have their own proprietary Secure Payment Gateway and therefore do not require a third party to provide this service). The processor polls the card network, such as Visa or MasterCard, directly, and the validity of the card and availability of funds is confirmed.
   If the transaction is approved, an authorization code is returned to the processor, or to the Secure Payment Gateway from the processor. The authorization is encrypted by the Payment Gateway or processor and transmitted in encrypted form to the Web server of the Merchant, which triggers fulfillment of the order. The Merchant's Web server then sends the customer's browser a confirmation receipt. The amount due is moved from the card holder's bank to the Merchant's processing bank. The Merchant's processing bank will then move the money to the Merchant's local bank within 2 to 3 business days.

Whether Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diners, Voyager, JCB, it all can be done through our credit card machines or software packages.