Whenever a transaction takes place, there is more than 90% chance that it has been conducted through a credit card machine. Credit machines perform a variety of tasks before confirming to the merchant that a transaction has been successful.
The working of a general credit card machine can be summed up in three simple steps. First, when a card is swiped over or its number is keyed in a credit card machine, the latter reads the information that is present in the magnetic stripe of the card. The magnetic stripe has magnets, which store information of the credit card holder like credit card number and date of expiry of the card.
Second, having read the information present on the magnetic stripe, the card machines send details of the card holder to the nearest network node of the credit card. Along with these details, additional information like the merchant identification and the amount of transaction costs payable by the customer are also sent. The sending of information to the local nodes is done through the telephone network.
Third, after sending the details, the card machines wait for an answer from the credit network node. In case the transaction has been successful, an affirmative message is displayed and the machine starts to print a receipt of the transaction. If the transaction is not successful, then a message in the negative is displayed on the screen and the customer is asked to pay in another mode.
Types of credit machines
A merchant or a store owner has a lot of variety of credit machines to choose. All the machines read the credit cards but they also provide the user withseveral other facilities.
Credit machines without printer
The credit card machines, which do not have the facility to provide a printed receipt of the transaction, are the simplest kind of credit machines. A merchant just has to enter the credit card number and the machine does its work. Such credit machines are useful in transactions, which are conducted through phone or mail. People, who are in other occupations like plumbing, locksmiths and so on, also find these credit machines beneficial.
Credit machines with printers
These credit card machines can be spotted in shops or any kind of business, where the customer conducts the transaction in person. The merchant or retailer gives a thermal-printed receipt to the customer as a proof of transaction. The printer with the credit machine is not bulky. It is attached seamlessly with the machine and thus, is very compact for the merchant to use.
Wireless credit machines
The businesses, where transactions take place on the move like delivery services, can benefit from wireless credit card machines. The machine is lightweight and easy to handle.
Your business model will decide the type of credit card machine you need to have. You can check the assorted credit card machines over the web and choose the one that will serve your customers in the best possible way.
