Time to pay.
Brunch for four comes to $100. You reach for your card.
Follow
the money.
Authorization
You tap to pay $100.
$100 approval request
The terminal reads your card and asks your bank one question: can this person pay?
Authorization
The request races to your bank.
Café → card network → your bank
Each hop adds routing details. The whole round trip takes about two seconds.
Authorization
Your bank checks four things.
In a few milliseconds
If any answer is no, the terminal says declined and nothing else happens.
Authorization
Your payment is approved.
Approved · $100 on hold
No money has moved yet. Your bank sets aside $100 of your balance or credit.
Clearing
The café submits the bill.
Final amount · $100.00
Later that day the café sends the final purchase record. A tip or a correction would change it here.
Clearing
The network does the matching.
Purchase record → your bank
The card network routes the record to your bank and works out what each bank owes.
Settlement
The banks settle up.
Your bank → card network
Your bank pays $98.00 and keeps $2.00. That $2.00 is called interchange.
Settlement
The network nets it out.
One transfer for millions of taps
It totals every purchase between two banks and moves one sum. Its $0.15 fee is billed to the café’s bank.
Settlement
The café’s bank gets paid.
Card network → café’s bank
It receives $98.00, keeps $0.35 for processing and covers the network’s $0.15.
Payout
The café receives $97.50.
Café’s bank → café
The payout lands a day or two later, depending on the café’s plan.
