Close

“Closing,” in this instance, refers to finalizing the number of authorized credit card transactions to be sent for processing.

Merchants don’t automatically get paid when a transaction goes through. The authorization codes must be sent to the processor, which is the first step in getting funds transferred from the issuer to the acquirer and into the merchant’s account.

While it is possible to send each transaction as it happens, the job would be tedious and time-consuming. Most merchants prefer to send daily “batches” (groups) at specific intervals, typically the end of each day. At that time, they will close the batch and send those transactions in for settlement. If there were sales that were missed before closing, they can either be submitted separately or simply saved for the next batch.

See also Settlement.