How Credit Cards Are Billed
You have never used a credit card due to the horror stories you’ve heard on credit card fraud, over-billing and snowballing debt. Lately however, you have come to realize that convenience from credit cards actually outweigh the drawbacks. Still skeptical, you are keen to determine how credit cards are billed before you decide on your next step.
A credit card is a small plastic card fitted with a magnetic stripe at the back that stores the electronic form of your personal information. Thus, when you make a charge to your card, your credit card is swiped onto the credit card terminal which will read the information on your card. Next, the sales assistant or cashier processing your transaction will enter the charge amount into the credit card terminal.
As this machine is connected online through a credit card network (such as MasterCard or Visa), the charge amount and your credit card information is sent through the network to the credit card company. A debit is then made into your account and a credit made to the merchant account. Then, an approval code is sent back through the network to the credit card terminal and a transaction slip is printed. In order to curb bogus transactions, you will be asked to sign onto the transaction slip to verify the transaction.
Credit card companies bill their customers based on a monthly billing cycle. Charges are usually interest free on the first month, with interest charges applicable only if you have not paid off your outstanding balances. A credit card statement will be sent to your mailing address, detailing all the transactions that you have made over the last billing cycle. Apart from that, a due date for payment is also listed in your bill, after which a penalty charge for late payment will be incurred.
Most credit card companies require you to pay off a minimum of 2% of your outstanding balance (in addition to a minimum dollar amount in cases where the 2% value is too small). The rest of the outstanding charges which have not been paid will remain as your total credit card debt, plus interest charges.
As online shopping is gaining popularity, much of the purchases made over the Internet have been transacted with credit cards. The charge process is pretty much the same, with the only difference being that you don’t get a transaction slip given to you for your signature. Instead, you may be asked additional verification information such as your billing address as well as the security code printed at the back of your card. Also, for additional digital security, technology such as Secure Electronic Transactions and Digital Certificates are utilized for additional protection.
Alan Bernstein recommends Find Credit Cards to apply for a Citibank credit card today. http://www.findcreditcards.org Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Bernstein |
About the Author
Rating: Not yet rated