Evan, the mag strip on the back of a card carries that information. It isn't something a merchant with your set-up needs to think about. Not every merchant has the same set-up as you have, and most merchants are going to find that their in-house CC processing is going to change to accomodate the EMV chip standard being phased into common useage. The US CC industry is being very slow to adopt the EMV -chip standard, but it IS COMING. Cards that I see from the EU, from Asia, from South Africa, and Scandinavia, and many from Canada, mostly have both the chip and the mag strip, so for now they all work in the swipe technology most of us have in the US. Swipe cards ( mag strip only) are on their way out.

Some larger merchants, especially retailers, and chainstores, use a different swipe processor, requiring interaction with the customer for selesction of debit or credit and input of PIN. Especially when you get into the EBT network, there are whole other levels of authorization and particularly, item acceptance. That is not something you have to deal with in a restuarant.

Breeze