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How do you think credit card transactions work? The auth code you get back from a "valid" cc transaction doesn't represent a transfer of money. That might not h
by lotsofcows 14y ago
How do you think credit card transactions work? The auth code you get back from a "valid" cc transaction doesn't represent a transfer of money. That might not happen for another 24 hours.
- Nursie 14y agoSure, but the 'authorisation' portion of a CC transaction reserves the funds and more or less guarantees payment.
- lotsofcows 14y agoDoesn't reserve funds, it's rarely realtime. "Guarantees payment" just means that the cost has been shifted from the retailer to the card provider - for a while anyway, then the card provider starts grabbing money back.
- Nursie 14y agoYeah it does reserve the funds, I've worked in this industry. Settlement happens later, but authorisation does put a reserve on the funds in the credit account if the transaction has gone end-to-end. If you mean the 'chargeback' feature when you say "then the card provider starts grabbing money back", then yes, absolutely, this is a feature of card payments and is essential for people to have any trust in internet commerce at all. Chargeback is good
- lotsofcows 14y agoEnd to end is the key point, loads of places still use off line terminals that batch the job up at eod. I wasn't referring to chargeback; I meant stroppy card providers. The sort of thing these guy are fighting (although that was for a security breach rather than too many authorised charges against empty accounts): http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/march/retail-victim-of-cyber-attack-in-bid-to-recover-penalties-levied-by-visa-over-alleged-pci-dss-rules-breach/ http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/march/retail-victim-...