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What happens behind the scenes when you swipe your credit card?

The life cycle of a credit card transaction - explained

Published: February 25, 2020 20:20 Huda Tabrez, Digital Content Specialist

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cc transaction 1 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 2 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 3 — What happens behind the scenes when you swipe your credit card? Find out. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 4 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 5 — When you swipe your credit card, it sets of a process of connections and authentications to ensure your account is accurately charged for the purchase. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 6 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 7 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 8 — In the few seconds that your card is attached to the terminal, credit card network companies, banks and payment service providers help route your transaction. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 9 — Then comes the matter of settlement. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 10 — Merchants provide a complete account of their day's transactions at the end of the day. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 11 — Card network companies ensure that banks across the world are able to settle their net accounts. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 12 — This entire process is supported by a fractional interchange fee. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 13 — What is interchange? Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 14 — Once the entire process is taken care of, you get the transaction on your statement, along with many, many rewards. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 15 — Why merchants opt for credit card payments. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 16 — The popularity of online transactions has led to many more players within this system. Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 17 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 18 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 20 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 21 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 22 — Image Credit: Gulf News

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cc transaction 23 — When you finally pay for the purchase. Image Credit: Gulf News

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