What information is passed on to a credit card company when a purchase is made?
February 13, 2007 9:59 PM Subscribe
What information is passed on to a credit card company by merchants when a purchase is made?
On my credit card statement, listed is the date, the amount, a purchase tracking number (I think), the merchant, and the merchant location (with the purchaser info obviously also shared). Does the credit card company collect more information that isn't displayed? Can they see an breakdown of my purchase (without individually contacting the merchant for more info)?
(To give you a sense of the problem I'm trying to solve -- if a credit card wanted to partner with, let's say, General Mills, to give an extra .5% cashback on $$ spent specifically on their products at the grocery store, would they have the infrastructure/information sharing to do that?)
On my credit card statement, listed is the date, the amount, a purchase tracking number (I think), the merchant, and the merchant location (with the purchaser info obviously also shared). Does the credit card company collect more information that isn't displayed? Can they see an breakdown of my purchase (without individually contacting the merchant for more info)?
(To give you a sense of the problem I'm trying to solve -- if a credit card wanted to partner with, let's say, General Mills, to give an extra .5% cashback on $$ spent specifically on their products at the grocery store, would they have the infrastructure/information sharing to do that?)
I'm almost certain that they wouldn't. If you notice, credit card gateways are almost always physically separate devices from cash registers. Like even at an automated checkout, you'll do all your work on one screen, then swipe your card on another device with it's own screen. At gas stations attendants will type the price into the gateway device that they swipe your card on, and so on.
posted by delmoi at 10:14 PM on February 13, 2007
posted by delmoi at 10:14 PM on February 13, 2007
Possibly. No. Maybe, but not with the information currently shared with the CC company, and probably not without a fuckton of whining. People complain when the store itself tracks what they purchase; imagine the outrage if Visa was doing it too.
posted by punishinglemur at 10:39 PM on February 13, 2007
posted by punishinglemur at 10:39 PM on February 13, 2007
Best answer: They can pass a fairly granular, but entirely freeform amount of information. In the course of my job I can and do charge credit cards, almost always remotely (ie no card in hand). Sad to say, all you need is the card number and the expiry, not even the billing address and the "secret code". At a bare minimum that is all that is passed to a credit card company. There are many other optional fields that can be filled out about the purchase.
A supermarket, for example, can collect a huge amount of data about your purchase and tag it to your card number.
Delmoi, the gateway is connected to the register/computer. Take a look at where the transaction is actually submitted next time, always on the register, not the gateway (where the card is swiped, one has to wait for the clerk to submit the transaction after you swipe your card). I'm not saying that they do save or forward on this info, merely that it is trivial to do so. Certainly the supermarket saves the information about what was purchased for themselves, if only for inventory and reorder purposes.
I know with American Express, if the merchant collects the information about what was purchased, then a fairly specific description of the purchase is passed on. The upshot of all this is that you can pass on very detailed info, but credit card companies through merchant processors don't necessarily collect it and it would have to be submitted at the point of purchase.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:41 PM on February 13, 2007
A supermarket, for example, can collect a huge amount of data about your purchase and tag it to your card number.
Delmoi, the gateway is connected to the register/computer. Take a look at where the transaction is actually submitted next time, always on the register, not the gateway (where the card is swiped, one has to wait for the clerk to submit the transaction after you swipe your card). I'm not saying that they do save or forward on this info, merely that it is trivial to do so. Certainly the supermarket saves the information about what was purchased for themselves, if only for inventory and reorder purposes.
I know with American Express, if the merchant collects the information about what was purchased, then a fairly specific description of the purchase is passed on. The upshot of all this is that you can pass on very detailed info, but credit card companies through merchant processors don't necessarily collect it and it would have to be submitted at the point of purchase.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:41 PM on February 13, 2007
Doesn't Airmiles do just the kind of transaction you are asking about at the end of your question? They give a sort of bonus, their points, on certain products that are being promoted by the store by arrangement with them, as well as the usual overall points.
posted by Listener at 10:50 PM on February 13, 2007
posted by Listener at 10:50 PM on February 13, 2007
I am a small merchant and the only thing I submit is credit card number, expiration, and amount. The recipient does get my telephone number but that's as a result of Visa/Mastercard identifying me and accessing my own profile as a party to the transaction. The software update of my Linkpoint merchant terminal added some sort of field to key in an "order number", but it was never explained to me and I always leave it blank.
posted by rolypolyman at 10:50 PM on February 13, 2007
posted by rolypolyman at 10:50 PM on February 13, 2007
Divine_Wino: The question wasn't about what could be sent back with the supermarket's cooperation, but what could be done without the supermarket's involvement like if Capital One wanted to make a "General Mills rewards card" where you got $1 back for every box of cereal. Obviously if the supermarket was involved they could just synch their database with the card provider however they wanted.
Delmoi, the gateway is connected to the register/computer. Take a look at where the transaction is actually submitted next time, always on the register, not the gateway
I might be confusing debit and credit purchases. I usually use a debit card. I'm guessing there is more security for debit transactions then credit. Hmm.
posted by delmoi at 11:02 PM on February 13, 2007
Delmoi, the gateway is connected to the register/computer. Take a look at where the transaction is actually submitted next time, always on the register, not the gateway
I might be confusing debit and credit purchases. I usually use a debit card. I'm guessing there is more security for debit transactions then credit. Hmm.
posted by delmoi at 11:02 PM on February 13, 2007
American Express can show a fair amount of detail, from itinerary information for an airfare purchase to a food/tip breakdown at restaurants.
posted by deeaytch at 1:10 AM on February 14, 2007
posted by deeaytch at 1:10 AM on February 14, 2007
The question wasn't about what could be sent back with the supermarket's cooperation, but what could be done without the supermarket's involvement
Nothing can be done without the merchant's cooperation. Perhaps I am seeing a further level of complexity in the question that is not actually there.
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:29 AM on February 14, 2007
Nothing can be done without the merchant's cooperation. Perhaps I am seeing a further level of complexity in the question that is not actually there.
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:29 AM on February 14, 2007
Best answer: When a merchant accepts credit cards, they are assigned a four-digit Merchant Category Code which is passed on when a card is swiped. These can be general (5411 is grocery stores & supermarkets) or specific (3773 is the Venetian hotel & casino in Las Vegas). The specific ones are mostly travel-related; hotel chains, resorts, airlines, and car rental companies get their own specific code, while other sorts of merchants get a lump code. Your credit or debit card statement may show these codes, or you may be able to view them online. The code is associated with the credit card terminal rather than with the merchandise, so even if General Mills had its own code (it doesn't) your supermarket would pass 5411 rather than different codes for the separate items in your cart.
The merchant also has the option of passing a great deal of additional data later in the purchase process, including data on individual line items, your travel itinerary, detailed fleet-related information, etc. Merchants may or may not do so (I'm not sure that any supermarkets do), and when they do the information is not necessarily detailed enough to do what you want (they may choose to pass just "CEREAL" and a unit price rather than specifying that the product is a General Mills product, or even that it is Cheerios).
posted by magicbus at 5:53 AM on February 14, 2007
The merchant also has the option of passing a great deal of additional data later in the purchase process, including data on individual line items, your travel itinerary, detailed fleet-related information, etc. Merchants may or may not do so (I'm not sure that any supermarkets do), and when they do the information is not necessarily detailed enough to do what you want (they may choose to pass just "CEREAL" and a unit price rather than specifying that the product is a General Mills product, or even that it is Cheerios).
posted by magicbus at 5:53 AM on February 14, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:12 PM on February 13, 2007