B2 Transaction types
Needs: Supporter
Purchase to batch close: each type's messages, processing code, amount fields, PIN rule and how it is undone.
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What this module covers
You will be able to
- Name the transaction type for a business need
- Give its MTI, processing code and amount fields
- Build field 3 with from and to accounts
- Choose void, refund or reversal
- Know which types need a PIN
The lesson
- Why it matters
- The concept
- In the real world
- Common mistakes
- What to test
In the module
- The lesson, with diagrams, common mistakes and what to test
- A worked example you can change: Building field 3
- Practice: 5 kinds of generated exercise, each with a step-by-step solution
- A quiz of 9 questions
Key terms
- Account verification (Zero-amount authorisation)
- A check that the card and account are valid without holding money, for example when a card is put on file. Its indicators are network-specific.
- Balance inquiry
- A request for the account balance: field 3 type 31, no money moves.
- Cash advance
- Cash taken against a credit card at a bank counter or ATM. It is priced differently from purchases.
- Completion (Pre-auth completion)
- The message that finalises a pre-authorisation with the final amount. It refers to the original approval and releases any difference.
- Deposit
- Paying cash or cheques into the account, typically at an ATM: field 3 type 21. It is usually credited after the envelope or notes are checked.
- Incremental authorisation
- An extra authorisation that raises the amount held by an earlier pre-authorisation.
- Offline sale (Force post)
- A transaction approved without going online (for example below a floor limit or with a voice approval code), sent later as an advice or in the batch.
- Original data elements
- Field 90 of a reversal or advice: the original MTI, STAN, transmission date and time, acquirer and forwarder IDs, so the host can find the original.
- PIN change
- An ATM transaction that changes the PIN stored by the issuer: the old and new PIN blocks are both sent encrypted.
- Pre-authorisation (Pre-auth)
- An authorisation that holds an estimated amount, such as for a hotel or a fuel pump, to be completed later for the final amount.
- Purchase (Sale)
- Payment for goods or services: field 3 type 00, a 0100 or 0200 request.
- Refund (Return, credit)
- Money given back to the cardholder for an earlier purchase: field 3 type 20. It is a new transaction, not an undo.
- Reversal
- A 0400 or 0420 message that undoes an earlier request, fully or in part, because of a timeout, a fault or a cancellation. Field 90 points to the original.
- Tip adjustment
- A change of a purchase amount after approval to add a tip, done before the batch closes within network tolerances.
- Transfer
- Moving money between two of the cardholder's accounts, typically at an ATM: field 3 type 40 with both account types.
- Void
- Cancellation of a transaction in the same batch, before it settles. On a dual message system it removes the transaction from the batch and releases the hold.
The lesson, worked example, practice and quiz open with a supporter pass, which you can try free for 7 days.