A cardholder presents a credit card for payment, initiating the transaction process. By the end of the transaction: the merchant account is funded for the sale; the cardholder is sent a monthly statement to pay; the merchant bank, card issuing bank and all parties in between get paid.

Involve the use of a credit card issued by a member bank of MasterCard or Visa card associations. Through a standardized function called interchange, Visa and MasterCard member banks around the world can exchange information, transactions, and money. The interchange function is routed through proprietary electronic networks of MasterCard (INET) and Visa (VisaNet). The merchant bank (i.e. Elavon) pays an interchange fee to Visa, MasterCard and the issuing member bank. These fees may be found on the Interchange Tables included in this manual.

Involve the use of a credit card issued directly by American Express or Discover.