Credit Card Verification from AS/400

Jeff:

        We have a system at work that does the auth process via green
screens with the card swipes attached to the terminals.  I found that
what's available depends upon the bank (or similar entity) that you're
connecting to.  

        The speed of the auths you get can vary greatly:  After changing
vendors and software we went from a 20-second response time on auths to 3
seconds.  The 20-seconds was from a vendor whose building we could see out
the window, and was via local dial with two 19,200 modems on a "dial and
hold" basis.  Interface to a PC running OS/2 and 3270 emulation
screen-scraped the authorizations to a vendor authorization package.  The
3-seconds is via a frame relay at 19.2 and X.25 communications app that
services data queues.  There is a queue that accepts auths, and each
terminal creates a queue at sign-on that it will expect to receive it's
responses in.  --It passes it's queue ID as part of the authorization
request.

        The requirements for data sent on authorization vary greatly
depending upon the industry.  Visa cards have what's known as "CPS
Compliance", which specifies how things work for their cards (Mastercard
and Amex also have specific requirments); and the standards vary greatly
from standard retail, supermarket, auto rental, automated fuel dispenser,
mail order etc etc.  If you are going to take debit cards, there is an ansi
standard that is applicable, but the implementation of the standard is not
consistent.

        Most all authorizers have a PC package that they recommend.  You
can typically interface to that.  If you are a larger account the
authorizer may be willing to pay for software development to hook you up in
exchange for a longer-term contract.

        If you have a specific question, just send me an e-mail

                                Best Regards,
                                L. Paul Andralouis
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