Since banks handle and process payments for credit and debit cards, what do Visa and MasterCard actually do?

Question

Since banks handle and process payments for credit and debit cards, what do Visa and MasterCard actually do?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Visa and MC do the bulk of the process, getting data from the shop to the bank while validating the authenticity of the parties on both ends. The bank only handles updating the account balance and sending the bills.