Credit card processing machines are located in every store across the globe. The credit card processing machines are in every country and they basically all work the same no matter what country of origin they are established in.
Most people that have a checking account use very few paper checks to draw money out of those accounts. They are generally issued a debit card when they establish the account and they can use their debit card anywhere that has credit card processing machines to transmit payments with.
One of the best things about these machines is they are easy to use. Anyone can use them and all you have to have is a card to swipe. They accept credit cards, debit cards, and even pre-paid credit cards. Once the card has been swiped so that the reader can decipher the encrypted information on the card there will be on screen prompts to talk you through the process of using the machine.
While the screen is prompting you to enter your information like your pin number the data that is on the card is traveling from where you are to the machine at the card issuing financial institution for authorization. The card issuing facility will determine through a series of coded responses whether or not the person using the card is authorized to do so.
The financial institution also determines whether there are sufficient funds available to cover the purchases the card holder wishes to make. If there are enough funds and the card appears to be being used by authorized people then they send an authorization code to the merchant. All of these actions take less than five seconds to perform.
Once the merchant tells the customer that the charge has been approved the entire transaction is repeated so that the merchant can get a clear code. They must have the clear code to request their money from the bank later, but once again the time lapse is a matter of seconds and the clear code is processed.
Your information is protected by encryption codes when it is sent to the financial institution to protect it from being confiscated by unauthorized users. The receipts that print and have to be signed will not display the entire number of the account or the pass word so that your information remains protected.
There are plenty of people who would like to gather this data so the companies that produce the equipment that reads the cards and transmits the data make sure they install the best firewalls and antivirus programs that are available at the time.
Part of the security you need for using these machines lies with the decisions that you make. When you use your card make certain that no one is watching you enter your card numbers or codes. Never give your password out to anyone else. Do not write your password on the back of the card and do not carry your card in your back pocket where it can be easily lifted out.