In the classical definition, a processing center is a legal entity that provides technological and information support between participants in the banking system of the state. In other words, it is a payment processing structure.
Russian credit institutions, as a rule, create a special unit that processes payments and money transfers from customers, i.e. have their own processing centers.
- Banking processing includes: issuance and maintenance of plastic cards of local and international payment systems;
- To non-banking: acceptance of regular payments (cellular communications, Internet, digital television, utilities, etc.), money transfers and maintenance of non-bank cards (social, transport, gift, etc.).
Processing within payment systems
In order for the bank to be able to pay for services anywhere in the country and the world, the activities of internal processing centers must comply with the rules of Russian and international payment systems. The most famous processing systems on a global scale are VISA and MasterCard. Not being banks, they make the vast majority of settlements around the world. Thus, a single international financial space is being created.
Popular processing centers
Processing is carried out not only by banks, but also by specialized companies, for example, PayOnline, Platron, Robokassa and others. “Clean processing” is more profitable, as it implies for such companies simultaneous cooperation with several banks at once and the possibility of involving a larger number of subjects of relations and, accordingly, large sums of money into the money circulation. Processing centers of this type are not the owners of money. They just operate on them.
What is processing?
What is processing? You can answer simply: the process of processing data when making payment transactions. For payment server providers, payment service providers, processing is the main activity. It is handled by processing centers, in other words, providers.
The most widely used processing centers in such a direction as electronic payments.
- Electronic payment systems organize the transfer of money to the company's current account when making purchases in online stores.
- Acceptance of payments for goods and services on the Internet using bank cards is called bank card processing. This procedure is complicated, although the process of processing payments through bank accounts takes several minutes.
Processing connection tariffs
In payment systems, the tariffs for connecting the processing of electronic currencies and bank cards are different, while the payment differs depending on the purposes. For example, "simple connection" will be charged differently for virtual services and goods around the world.
There are several tariffs for connection:
- connecting the site to a bank or partner foreign processing (simple);
- “complex” connection with a large number of payment options and tax planning;
- optional (with a set of functions selected at will).
Processing of plastic cards
Processing companies, unlike banks, are not subject to certain rules and have no obligations to depositors. Such processing companies most often cooperate with several banks at once, taking advantage of the work of these institutions, which affects the reduction of the commission for the merchant. An ordinary bank does not have the ability to work with electronic cash, unlike processing companies.
Unlike Internet acquiring in banking institutions, "offshore" processing of plastic cards is less transparent for regulators and controllers. This allows you to serve "special" clients from the "Super high risk" group.
Types of processing systems
Types of processing systems are: white, gray, black.
- "White" processors work with low-risk companies that regularly pay all taxes. Such processings are absolutely law-abiding, usually they are residents of the USA and the EU. Connecting to such payment systems is quite easy and accessible to everyone, while the connection cost is minimal.
- The second type of providers is "gray". These include companies registered in different offshore countries, countries of the Asian region. They are ready to conclude contracts for servicing any business (pharmaceuticals, adult sites and other high risk companies). But it is not so easy to negotiate with them, such companies do not communicate with people “from the street”. In case of agreement, you can get the best value for money.
- "Black processors" are engaged in processing payments of any business, even frankly illegal ones. Usually these are Chinese banks and odious offshore companies. Such structures are deeply conspiratorial due to high risks. It is possible to work with them, but it is very difficult to "get out" to the processing representatives.
List of banks connected to JSC Banking Processing Center
In order to introduce non-cash payments in the Republic of Belarus, a number of large banks and enterprises set up Bank Processing Center JSC. The Center provides a range of services in the field of information technology non-cash payments using payment cards. All offered services are fully certified and comply with the rules of payment systems. The clients of the procession center are all large enterprises of the republic.
List of banks connected to Bank Processing Center OJSC:
- JSC "Belinvestbank"
- Zepter Bank CJSC
- OJSC "BPS-Sberbank"
- CJSC "BTA Bank"
- OJSC "Belagroprombank"
- OJSC "Paritetbank"
- ZAO Delta Bank
- CJSC "Trustbank"
- JSC "Belarusian People's Bank"
- JSC "Fransabank"
- CJSC InterPayBank.
Building your own (In-House) processing center
There are many banking institutions in our country, and every more or less serious player in this market wants to build their own (In-House) processing center. This is not always economically feasible, but banks continue to create PCs with enviable constancy.
Reasons why tanks create their own HRC:
- business volumes are such that it is sometimes cheaper to have your own PC than to use a third-party one;
- its PC allows you to quickly introduce new technological products and services;
- satisfaction of the ambitions of the heads of the banking organization;
possible risks in data transfer. Information about clients and turnover of the organization is always known to a third-party PC.
Advice from Sravni.ru: If you want to pay with a card, check if it is supported by the payment system of the payment terminal. Store signs usually indicate which cards are accepted for payment.
English processing) - processing of transactions, as a result of which, in accordance with the amounts of transactions, debiting the accounts of cardholders by issuing banks and transferring funds to the accounts of card acceptance points by acquiring banks are carried out. Information for performing these actions is generated by the processing center after receiving settlement information about transactions from the card payment system or directly from serviced acceptance points. If the processing center of the local payment system serves the points of acceptance of cards, issuing. one bank, all operations are local. P. consists in debiting the amount of each transaction (possibly taking into account the commission charged for performing this type of operation) from the cardholder's account and transferring this amount, minus the bank commission, to the account of the point of acceptance. When the processing center serves one or more banks within the payment system, the processing is carried out in several stages. First of all, local operations are processed. Settlement information on transactions received from acceptance points with cards of third-party banks is transmitted to the payment system (presentation is carried out). In accordance with the information received, the acquiring banks should receive the amount of compensation for the committed. operations. The processing center, in turn, receives from the payment system information about transactions with cards of issuing banks served by it, committed. at reception points served by third-party acquiring banks. Based on this information, issuing banks reimburse costs (by transferring the corresponding funds to correspondent bank accounts opened with settlement banks) in favor of acquirers.
Reading 6 min. Views 203 Published on 05.10.2018
Most users of plastic payment instruments do not know what processing is. For them, it is important that a debit or credit card works stably and is accepted by terminals and ATMs, be a convenient tool for online payments and an assistant, thanks to which you can make the necessary number of financial transactions.
All of the above is related to processing. It is he who is the guarantor that the money from the card will reach the final destination. Thanks to him, the seller receives the money, and the buyer receives the ordered goods.
Processing: the essence of the concept
Processing is the process of processing payments. We are talking about a complex process that occurs in a matter of seconds. Its essence is as follows: the holder of a bank payment instrument pays them for the service received or the purchased goods. Money is debited from the plastic, which are redirected to the seller or the company that provided the service.
Bank card processing is a process of processing electronic data. His task is to organize the transfer of funds to the settlement accounts of companies.
The concept of "processing" is a translation of the phrase Credit Card Processing. It appeared along with debit cards and the ability to check the card balance online. Then, in the 90s of the last century, banking legislation had not yet decided on the laws in the field of Internet payments, which was used by some specialists who began to create their own electronic currencies. Soon the process was legalized, and the companies were called processing centers (Transaction Processing Clearinghouse).
Activities of processing centers
In the international financial market, processing services are provided by some banks and processing companies. At their core, they are intermediaries in the chain:
- buyer;
- a merchant, that is, a seller who has registered a special account, where money is transferred from the payment gateway;
- banking system.
Transaction Processing Clearinghouse operates with big money. However, she does not own them.
Features of bank card processing
The concept of "processing" can be considered from 2 positions:
- Bank. Credit companies are engaged in the issuance of cards within the framework of various payment systems, as well as provide their services.
- Non-banking. This includes the acceptance of such types of regular payments as payments for utilities, telephony and Internet providers, television, etc., as well as servicing transport, gift and other non-bank payment instruments and money transfers.
The processing of plastic cards must comply with the basic rules that are followed by both international and Russian payment systems. In the international space, there are 2 most famous processing systems: MasterCard - European and Visa - American. They are related to the banking system, but in themselves are not credit institutions. However, Visa and MasterCard do most of the international card transactions.
Organization of processing
A company that provides services to the public or sells goods online must organize processing, that is, acquire a merchant account by entering into an agreement with a bank, for example, with Sberbank, or a processing center.
Some business representatives decide to open processing centers themselves. This gives them benefits such as:
- the possibility of prompt implementation of new functions and payment instruments;
- ensuring the security and confidentiality of payment data;
- reduction of processing costs;
- the ability to provide full control of all business processes.
In any case, own or ordered processing is necessary.
What is checked during the calculation
In the processing centers, the payment data of the users of the acquirers with whom they cooperate are stored. As soon as the equipment of trade establishments reads information from the card, it is sent to the center for verification. Data verification is performed:
- details;
- the availability of the amount necessary to pay for the service or product;
- Are there any withdrawal restrictions?
Only after the system is convinced of the possibility of making a payment, the funds are transferred from the plastic to the seller.
Varieties of processing systems
There are 3 types of processing systems in the international financial market:
- "White";
- "Gray";
- "Blacks".
Let's take a closer look at each type
"White"
The "White" includes the most secure systems, the activities of which are absolutely transparent. Most of them are registered in the European Union or the United States. It is easy to connect to them, connection costs are minimal. You get high-quality services for little money and are completely calm about the security of payments made.
"Gray"
This type includes companies registered on the Asian continent in various offshore companies. They cannot be called law-abiding, as representatives of "gray" processing willingly enter into contracts with any type of business, including adult sites, and companies from the High Risk category. "Gray" representatives of processing are like closed clubs, with which it is not so easy to start cooperation. If it works out, you can get mutually beneficial conditions in which price and quality correspond to each other.
"Black"
There is no legality involved here. Representatives of this segment do not shy away from any type of business and are ready to offer cooperation to companies engaged in frankly illegal activities. Most representatives of "black" processing are banks located in China and not the cleanest offshore companies. Such structures operate in conditions of deep secrecy, which makes it difficult to reach them to conclude an agreement. Collaboration with "blacks" is associated with risks.
Security Fundamentals (Standards)
Payment security is an issue that worries all participants in the processing. Process security is provided by special electronic payment security technologies that comply with international standards.
For issuing banks
Issuing banks use special protocols to protect data. Ideally, these are 2 systems:
- 3D Secure;
- Secure Socket Layer.
Secure Socket Layer - the main, 3D Secure - based on 3 domains: acquirer, issuer and interaction. Each domain has its own area of responsibility and security.
For processing centers
Processing centers also use certificates and payment security protocols, as they are responsible for the safety of customer data. In particular, the SSL protocol described above is used.
Russian processing card systems
The most popular processing card systems in Russia include:
- Robokassa, created by Business Element LLC in 2003;
- Platron launched in Moscow in October 2009;
- PayOnline, operating on the basis of the international holding Net Element since January 2009.
These are 3 reliable services that most Russian companies that accept online payments cooperate with. It is worth paying attention to them.
conclusions
Processing has become an integral part of modern business. Businessmen of the 21st century should not have a question what it means: “we are waiting for reservations in processing”. Sberbank and other financial institutions, as well as processing companies, are ready to cooperate with novice businessmen. It remains to choose who to contact.
Transaction processing
Processing - own or third party: pros and cons
Processing center (PC) is an organizational and technological subdivision of a financial institution or a specialized company that maintains the life cycle of banking products based on plastic cards. The list of functions performed by the PC includes servicing the life cycle of the card, connecting and monitoring the network of terminal devices, capturing and technical processing (processing) of transactions, preparing data for mutual settlements (clearing) with clients and counterparties. A separate function, which in some cases is also performed by the PC, is card personalization.
When implementing projects using plastic cards, there are three main technological schemes - using our own processing (in house) third-party or in accordance with the terminology of international payment systems, - third-party processing (third party processor or member service provider) as well as a combined scheme.
In the first case, the performance of all technological functions related to servicing plastic cards is carried out by the personnel of a financial institution using a software and hardware complex belonging to it.
In the second case, the main technological functions are transferred for execution (outsourcing) to a third-party organization certified by payment systems to provide such services - a third-party processor (third party processor or member service provider).
In the third case, some of the functions (for example, support for the issuance and product line) are performed directly at the bank's technological facilities, and the other part (support for the terminal network, maintenance of connections to payment systems, preparation of data for clearing) is performed by a third-party processor.
The choice of a processing scheme for a bank's plastic project is determined primarily by economic reasons, but an important role in making a decision is also played by an assessment of the potential risks of the considered alternatives - both business and technical. Therefore, by the time a decision is made on the technological part of the project, the bank must have a clear concept for the development of business with plastic cards, drawn up in the form of a business plan with a perspective for the next few years, which indicates at least the following parameters:
Product range and positioning of the bank in the market (what trends are there in the market, what products the bank is going to offer, what market share it plans to take and what it intends to earn on);
Issue parameters (which cards of which payment system are selected for the project, the ratio of transactions in one's own and in someone else's network, card utilization rates);
Economics of products (cost and revenue parts);
Characteristics of the terminal network (presence of its own terminal network and the terminal network of other banks operating in the region; the cost of access to someone else's terminal network at the rates of payment systems present in the region);
Financial capabilities and ambitions of the bank (how much we are ready to invest in the infrastructure of this project).
To understand the share of the technological component, let's briefly consider the typical economics of a project for the production and maintenance of products with plastic cards. The bank works with clients and makes a profit from their service - income and expenditure components can be approximately represented in the form of the following table (Table 1).
From Table. Table 1 shows that a significant share of the expenses of the financial institution is made up of transaction fees in favor of the processor. At the same time, with an increase in the volume of emission and the number of devices owned by the bank, the weight of the technological component in the expenditure part of the project increases.
Let's consider what makes up the economics of the processor (Table 2).
From Table. It follows from Table 2 that a significant share of the processor's costs is made up of one-time investments in the construction and certification of the data center and personalization center, as well as regular costs for maintaining their performance. Therefore, it is obvious that for small issuing projects (estimated up to 50,000 cards), organizing your own full-featured processing, as a rule, does not pay off.
An essential role in choosing a transaction processing solution is played by the assessment of technological and business risks. In particular, when choosing a third-party processor, you should pay attention to factors such as the size of the business and organizational structure of the company, the product range offered, the technological solutions used, the existing client base of the processor in your region (which financial institutions and with which product range). Particular attention should be paid to the contractual framework - the presence of prescribed interaction procedures, the terms of the service level agreement (SLA - Service Level Agreement). An unpleasant surprise for the bank may be the presence in the contract with the processor of an exit fee - an obligation to compensate for certain costs, or to pay a fine in the amount of the expected turnover for the term of the contract in case of its early termination.
The main arguments in favor of a particular solution are given in Table. 3.
Another limitation when choosing a processor for banks entering payment systems under the sponsorship of another financial institution is the fact that usually the terms of the sponsorship package provide for implementation on a processor affiliated with this financial institution.
Currently, there are a sufficient number of players on the processing services market in Russia, both domestic (CJSC United Credit Cards Company, a number of banks offering processing services as part of sponsorship packages) and foreign (First Data Inc., Global Payments Inc. ) with competing rates. Therefore, it seems that the choice of a technology partner for the implementation of a card project, given a clear understanding of its intended economics, should not be difficult.
The technology of the financial institution with the processor
As is known, in organizational and technological terms, processing systems can be divided into front office, back office, personalization center and infrastructure subsystems that are not directly involved in the process of transaction authorization and plastic personalization (Fig. 1).
Let us consider the elements of technological processes associated with servicing the transactional and life cycles of the card, indicating the technological subsystems of the processing center and the participating divisions of the processor and the financial institution (Table 4).
Obviously, some of the processes listed in Table. 4 can execute the processor, part is the bank.
There are two limiting cases - offline (Fig. 2, 3) and online interaction of the bank with the processor (Fig. 4). When connected online, transactions are authorized in real time against the current values of the balances on the client's accounts in the bank's ABS. Part of the functions of the processor's personnel has been delegated to the bank's subdivisions with the help of means of remote access to the front and back office subsystems of the processor. However, the main exchange of information with financial implications (card issuance instructions, clearing files, etc.) is done in files using a notarized workflow. The advantages of this method of working with the processor is the speed of access to data, which brings the bank's capabilities closer to the possibilities of working with its own processing, without the need to build the latter and, as a result, lower risks. The disadvantages are higher communication costs and the need in some cases to have qualified personnel, duplicating the processor staff.
When interacting offline with a financial institution, the processor authorizes transactions according to limits provided at regular intervals. The bank, on the other hand, processes the transactional reports provided by the processor and keeps records of transactions in its back office. All data exchange with the bank is also carried out through a notarized document flow. The advantage of this method is the extremely low initial costs for starting the card program (in fact, the purchase of card back office software that is compatible with the processor in terms of data exchange formats). The disadvantages are higher risks and lack of flexibility - the product range is limited by the ability to interact with the service provider, and the service provided is limited by the capabilities of its customer service.
It should be noted that in real life, a purely offline scheme is practically not used at present. The use of remote access to processor resources and the organization of several file exchange sessions with the processor per day bring it closer to online capabilities.
Building a bank processing center
Building a bank's processing center is a multi-stage project, during which it is necessary to solve a set of tasks for designing and preparing premises, engineering infrastructure, choosing a software and hardware platform, and developing organizational procedures.
Particular attention at the design stage should be paid to the issues of physical, logical and information security, since changes to the already implemented elements of structures and infrastructure based on the results of audits (premises, elements of the software and hardware complex) can be associated with significant financial and time costs. Involvement in the design process of external consultants and suppliers who are familiar with the audit procedures and the requirements of payment systems will help to avoid possible errors and additional costs for their elimination.
In the process of building and commissioning a processing center, as in the creation of any automated control system, several stages can be distinguished (Table 5).
A separate issue when building a PC is the choice of a software and hardware platform, since it is it that determines the user characteristics of the entire system. There are a sufficient number of providers of solutions for processing transactions using plastic cards in the world. An interested specialist can easily compile a list based on publications in the specialized press (“European Card Review”, “PLUS”) or according to catalogs of industry exhibitions such as CARTES (.
Processing- this is the stage of formation of functionally active RNA molecules from the initial transcripts. Processing is considered as post-transcriptional RNA modifications characteristic of eukaryotes. (In prokaryotes, the processes of transcription and translation of mRNA occur almost simultaneously. This type of RNA does not undergo processing in them.)
As a result of processing, primary RNA transcripts are converted into mature RNAs. Since there are several different types of RNA, each of them has its own modifications.
Processing of informational (matrix) RNA
In the DNA regions encoding the structure of the protein, a precursor of informational (matrix) RNA (pre-mRNA) is formed. The pre-mRNA copies the entire DNA nucleotide sequence from the promoter to the transcripton terminator. That is, it includes terminal untranslated regions (5" and 3"), introns and exons.
Pre-mRNA processing involves capping, polyadenylation, splicing, as well as some other processes (methylation, editing).
capping- this is the addition of 7-methyl-GTP (7-methylguanosine triphosphate) to the 5 "end of the RNA, as well as the methylation of the ribose of the first two nucleotides.
As a result, the so-called "cap" (cap) is formed. The function of the cap is related to the initiation of translation. Thanks to him, the initial site of mRNA is attached to the ribosome. The cap also protects the transcript from the destructive action of ribonucleases and perform a number of functions in splicing.
As a result polyadenylation a polyadenylic region (poly-A) about 100-200 nucleotides long (containing adenine) is attached to the 3 "end of the RNA. These reactions are provided by the poly-A polymerase enzyme. The signal for polyadenylation is the AAUAAACA sequence at the 3" end. At the -CA site, the mRNA molecule is cut.
Poly-A protects the RNA molecule from enzymatic degradation.
Capping and polyadenylation occur at the stage of transcription. The cap is formed immediately after the 5'-end of the synthesized RNA is released from RNA polymerase, and poly-A is formed immediately after transcription termination.
Splicing is the excision of introns and the connection of exons. Exons can connect in different ways. Thus, different mRNAs can be formed from one transcript. Splicing of messenger RNA involves small nuclear RNAs that have regions complementary to the ends of introns and bind to them. In addition to snRNA, various proteins are involved in splicing. All together (proteins and snRNA) form a nucleoprotein complex - spliceosome.
After processing, mRNA becomes shorter than its predecessor, sometimes by tens of times.
Processing of other types of RNA
During the processing of ribosomal and transfer RNA molecules, capping and polyadenylation do not occur. Modifications of these types of RNA occur not only in eukaryotes, but also in prokaryotes.
Three types of eukaryotic ribosomal RNA are formed as a result of cleavage of one transcript (45S-RNA).
Processing of a number of transfer RNAs may also involve cleavage of one transcript, while other tRNAs are obtained without cleavage. A feature of tRNA processing is that the RNA molecule goes through a long chain of nucleotide modifications: methylation, deamination, etc.
