What happens in the 2 seconds after you tap your card
Acquirer, card network, issuer: the companies behind every card payment
Between a shop's card terminal and your bank, two more companies pass every card payment along. You know the name of one of them. The other one works for the shop, and most people never hear of it.
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1
Your bank said yes to your $8 at Rono's noodle stall. But Rono's terminal knows only one bank: his own. When Rono got the terminal, a bank agreed to take card payments for his stall. That bank is called the acquirer. Every question from the terminal goes to it first.
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2
Rono's bank does not know your bank either. It passes the question to the network named on your card, such as Visa or Mastercard. A card network links thousands of banks, so no bank needs a line to every other one.
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3
To find your bank, the network reads the start of your card number. The first digit names the network: a 4 is Visa. The first six or eight digits name the bank that gave you the card.
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4
So the question reaches your bank. It issued your card, so it is called the issuer, and it is the one that says yes or no. Rono's bank and the network only pass the question on and carry the answer back.
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5
The yes takes the same road back, and the screen says Approved: three companies, there and back, in about two seconds. Rono hands you your bowl, and not one cent has left your account.
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Quick check
A friend's card.
Show the answer
To Rono's bank, as always: the terminal knows no other. Rono's bank passes it to the network of a 5, Mastercard, and the network finds your friend's bank from the first digits.
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Go further
Three names around the road.