Have you ever wondered what happens when you hand to the sales clerk your Master Card? After all, the logo is displayed everywhere where merchants will accept Visa, which is virtually across the globe. There are now Master Card gift cards, debit cards, and a host of other co-branded Master Cards. Consider the fact that banks are now decisively getting into the action: there is the Discover Master Card, Capital One Master Card, Chase Master Card, MBNA Master Card, Citi Master Card and even the Sears Master Card. By tying their names and logos to a Master credit card, these financial institutions have managed to see both the card as well as their bank advertised.

Yet what happens when you go past the Master Card commercials and you finally have applied for your very own Master Card online? Once you receive it you will undoubtedly be required to sign the back of the card, verify it over the telephone with the help of an automated system and are now ready to begin charging. Whatever purchases you can imagine Master Card will probably be able to be the payment option of choice. Generally speaking, unless you use a Master Card gift card, at the point of the transaction the merchant will verify that the Master Credit card you are using is valid and not reported stolen. Oftentimes a merchant will do a visual check of the Master Credit card to not only check your signature but also compare it to your driver’s license before even sending on the information electronically.

The next step for the charge on your Master Credit card account will be the verification that the credit card processor makes. The kind of credit card info - Master Card, Visa, American Express, or Discover – the processor is looking for differs slightly from the one your merchant sought to find. At this stage the goal is to find out if you have enough money in your account to actually pay for the purchase. The processor corresponds with the issuing bank which then checks the status of your Master Credit card account. If all is in order, the charge is approved to the processor, which in turn approves it for the merchant. At the end of the evening, when the merchant puts all the credit card info collected throughout the day together and sends it along to the processor, the latter will divide it up and send it to the appropriate banks, which in turn will send payment to the processor. The processor sends the money to the merchant and your account is debited, while the merchant’s account is credited. It is a tribute to Master Card that this process can be done within minutes!