According to a recent market study, more than half of all purchases are paid for with credit and debit cards while checks are only used 10 percent of the time. Some analysts have gone so far as to estimate that businesses and organizations forfeit up to 80 percent of impulse purchases if credit cards are not accepted. 

Despite the popularity of credit cards and the necessity for businesses and organizations to accept them, the transactions are often mystical and misunderstood by consumers and merchants alike. While the process is complicated, it should not be enigmatic. Credit card transactions require cooperation between several entities and the linking of multiple high-powered computer networks.

When a sale is entered into RevTrak® desktop payments software or through a RevTrak® shopping cart site, the customer’s credit card number, purchase amount, and the merchant identification number are electronically transmitted to RevTrak’s payment gateway. The gateway then interfaces with Visa and MasterCard’s credit card network. The network forwards the transaction data to the card holders (“issuing”) bank to verify that the customer has adequate credit to proceed with the purchase.

Upon successful verification, the bank electronically sends the school or local government an authorization code stating that the transaction was approved, notifying them that the money has been transferred into their bank account. Visa or MasterCard withdraws the money from the cardholder’s account and deposits the purchase amount into the school or government’s account minus standard credit card fees which resulted from the transaction.

It should be noted that in order to accept credit cards, a merchant account must first be signed. Because schools and local governments (due to their specific needs) have found it difficult to work with banks, RevTrak was explicitly formed as an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) in order to meet the unique requirements of these organizations.