Cleared amount – no credit card payment without this value
A store operator transfers the cleared amount to its payment service provider so that the provider can process the payment with the credit card company. This payment processing procedure is also known as clearing.
Invoice amount corresponds to the cleared amount
If a customer decides to pay by credit card, he or she must provide the merchant with his or her card data, consisting of card number, expiration date and check digit, and confirm the purchase and the invoice amount, which corresponds to the cleared amount. The store operator then passes on the cleared amount to his payment provider, who takes over the authorization and processing of the card payment. If the authorization is successful, a code is generated, which is proof that the payment is legal. The payment provider checks the card data for plausibility and validity and processes the payment transactions such as debiting and crediting the payment. In the process, it ensures that cleared funds are debited from the customer’s credit card account and credited to the merchant.
Simple procedure for online merchants
For the store operator, the procedure does not involve much effort. As soon as the payment provider has processed the clearing with the credit card company and the payment amount has been debited and credited, the online merchant receives a report on the transactions and credits made to his account.
Discount and transaction costs are deducted from the cleared amount
Due to its high acceptance among Internet users, the credit card is mandatory for every store operator. However, the payment method via credit card incurs comparatively high payment fees. From the cleared amount, which appears one-to-one on the customer’s credit card statement, the payment provider charges both the discount and the transaction costs. Furthermore, online merchant transactions that offer payment by credit card in their store have to pay set-up and basic fees for the services of their payment service provider. The costs incurred are precisely included in the transaction contract that an online merchant concludes with its payment provider. In addition, the merchant needs a credit card acceptance contract with an acquirer in order to implement the credit card payment method in its own Web store.
