Processing of card clearing transactions

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how the Tuum Card Management System (CMS) processes financial clearing data, ensures accurate linking to previously authorised transactions, and handles scenarios where matches are not automatically found.

In the lifecycle of a card transaction, the process typically begins with authorisation, where a card issuer approves or declines a transaction based on various checks such as available balance and fraud rules. Once authorised, the transaction is held in a pending state within the CMS, awaiting final settlement.

Clearing data, such as Mastercard IPM or Visa ITF data, is received by the CMS from the processor either via API or through file upload, and is used to finalise transactions for settlement with the cardholder. This data contains presentments, which are completed transactions sent from the acquirer to the issuer for confirmation. It includes essential details such as the transaction amount, approval code, and merchant information, enabling the CMS to accurately match each clearing record to its corresponding authorised transaction.

The processing of card clearing transactions begins once the clearing data is received from the processor. The goal of this processing is to match each clearing transaction with the original authorised transaction recorded by the issuer at the time of the initial authorisation request. You can see an overview of this process in the figure below.

To find out more about each step, refer to the particular chapter within that section.