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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (184)	9/6/2006 7:43:16 PM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 10087

When I use my debit card, I sign for it just like when I use my charge card. (I don't have a credit card.) It never occurred to me to do otherwise. I buy something, they hand me a scrap of paper, and I sign it. (I think the light bulb has now come on. <g>) ACH? Automated Clearing House, I think. It's the automated inter-bank deduction system. The Safeway card works like a debit card. You key in a pin and your money automatically transfers. But unlike your debit card, there is no charge. It's what they use for automated payments of your electric bills or mortgage or whatever. It's been around for a good thirty years. (I was involved in some of the early work of automating payments for SEC filings. That's how I got familiar with it. Worked the technical end of it with Mellon Bank. This was in the late seventies.)

To: TimF who wrote (184)	9/7/2006 9:48:34 AM
From: Hagar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10087

In the past (I don't know it is still the same) credit card processing is tiered. Typically there is a cutoff amount. Below that level the charge is approved by the point of sale, above that amount and below another tier the charge is processed by a "processor/clearing center". Typically the charge information is compared to a blacklist and approved or disapproved. The last level is processed by the card issuer e.g. Bank of America. There may be local centers all operating within some charge amount.