Credit Card Network

This is general term used by many merchant banks and processors to refer to their transaction networks. These can be everything from a real network owned and utilized by the processor, to a third party 800 service or Telco network of one of the major phone companies that the processor uses to transmit transactions. Some processors use private networks to transmit their transactions, while others use virtual-networks built and managed by wholesalers of the major networks for leased lines. Theoretically, the greater the ownership or control by the processor, the better the reliability and performance.