 Paying cash for tix
nobody wrote
>Hilary wrote:
>>In the UK you sign for all purchases (where you are present) whether it is
>>debit or credit card. We are gradually moving towards a PIN system
>In the UK, is there a single network that allows all UK issued cards to be
>used as a debit card, or do it depend on which bank a merchant deals with ?
>(eg: Mastercard vs Visa, Plus vs Cirrus)
>>If you're not present to sign the slip (or later to input your PIN), the
>>transaction is marked "Cardholder not present".
>I take it the signed slips must be presented to the bank ? If a CNP
>transaction occurs, what additional information must you provide ?
>Billing/shipping address ?
I am a few years out of date, so things may have changed, but-
Each "Merchant" signed up with a bank to process their card transactions.
On behalf of that bank a Polling Organisation would automatically
phone the merchants credit card machine overnight and upload the day'a
transactions. The paper records did not need to be taken to the bank -
they were kept as hard copy in case they ever needed to be referred to.
The Polling Organisation sent Visa, Mastercard and Switch transactions
straight to the bank, Amex transactions to Amex and Diners transactions
to Diners.
Manual credit card machines were retained in case of emergency - eg power
cut. It was still possible to take these slips to the bank or another bank
acting as agent - but easier just to transpose them onto the machine when
power was restored.
Merchants had to sign a separate agreement regarding transactions
without the customer present, with more stringent conditions.
AFAIK each UK card is specifically tied to a particular account.
A customer will have a credit card (possibly more than one) and also
a separate cheque card which doubles as a debit card - often "Switch".
I know of no UK cards which allow the customer to choose which account
any particular transaction should be charged to.
HTH
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