The Technology Behind the Payments Process (infographic)
Last updated: March 2023
Average reading time: 5 minutes
Payment processing refers to the multiple behind-the-scenes steps required for the authorization of in-store and online payments – all of which take place in a matter of seconds.
Although it may seem like magic at the time, payment processing involves a series of complex steps that work together to ensure secure and efficient transactions, whether they be in-store or over the internet.
These include the processing by a merchant's POS system or payment gateway, the back and forth checks between card issuer, bank, credit card network, and, for online payments, tokenization.
This is when the cardholder's sensitive details are converted into a unique digital token, which is then reconverted by the bank to process payment; with no sensitive information passed between the payment gateway and e-commerce site, the individual's data remains protected, even in the event of a data breach of the retailer's website.
Though the transaction takes a second and appears simple and seamless for consumers, the process behind the trade actually intricate.
We cover this multi-layered process in the below infographic, which you can download by clicking here.
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