Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) Practice Exam

What function does a Card Processing Network serve?

1. Facilitates customer service inquiries

2. Provides switching facilities for routing card transactions

3. Handles merchant transactions directly

4. Acts as a repository for financial data

The correct answer is: Provides switching facilities for routing card transactions

A Card Processing Network primarily serves the role of providing switching facilities for routing card transactions. This function is crucial because when a customer uses their card for a transaction, the network is responsible for connecting the merchant’s bank with the cardholder’s bank to facilitate the authorization, processing, and settlement of that transaction. The routing of transactions involves several different components, including authorization requests, which verify that the cardholder has enough funds or credit available, and the secure communication of that information between institutions. By managing this process, the Card Processing Network ensures that transactions can be completed quickly and efficiently. While other aspects of payment processing may involve customer service inquiries or data handling, those functions do not directly pertain to the primary role of ensuring that transactions are properly routed between banks. Similarly, the Card Processing Network does not directly handle merchant transactions or store financial data, which would fall to other entities or infrastructures involved in the payment processing ecosystem.