Off-Line Sale

Almost all contemporary merchants use some type of point-of-sale system that is connected to the internet. An offline sale is one where the merchant processes credit card, debit card, or cash transactions when their POS system is offline.

These situations pop up when electronic payment terminals can't connect to the payment network. This could be because of a technical failure, a bad internet connection, or a situation where the transaction is happening outside of a physical building or on-site. If this happens, merchants accept the card details and complete the transaction, with authorization occurring later during batch processing.

Offline sales can be vital in situations where online authorization is temporarily unavailable or impractical. At the same time, they carry higher risks, such as an increased potential for fraud.