Photo illustrating a point-of-sale multiple installment sale transaction

This is a situation that can arise especially at companies selling products from different sectors.

For example, you enter a shopping mall. You buy a refrigerator for 3000 TL, a dishwasher for 2000 TL, and an iron for 1000 TL. You learn that there is a cash-price installment campaign offering 6 installments for the refrigerator, 4 installments for the dishwasher, and 5 installments for the iron. You bring the products to the checkout. You state that you want to complete the purchase in a single transaction.

The steps the merchant staff needs to follow are:

  • The Multiple Installment Sale transaction is selected from the POS menu.
  • The Transaction Amount and Installment information are entered for the first transaction.
  • In response to the question "Do you want to make another transaction?", Yes (the green button on the POS) is selected to move on to the next transaction.
  • The same steps are applied for the 2nd and 3rd transactions.
  • When "No" is selected in response to "Do you want to make another transaction?" at the end of the 3rd transaction, the process moves to the PIN entry step.
  • The PIN is entered.
  • After PIN verification, the Transaction Amount, Installment Amount, etc. information for all 3 transactions is shown separately on a single receipt.
  • All 3 transactions are approved with a single authorization number.
  • The merchant is credited with the total amount of 3000+2000+1000=6000 TL (the commission to be charged is deducted from this amount).
  • For the cardholder;
    • The 1st statement shows 500 (3000/6)+500(2000/4)+200(1000/5)= 1200 TL.
    • The 2nd statement shows 500 (3000/6)+500(2000/4)+200(1000/5)= 1200 TL.
    • The 3rd statement shows 500 (3000/6)+500(2000/4)+200(1000/5)= 1200 TL.
    • The 4th statement shows 500 (3000/6)+500(2000/4)+200(1000/5)= 1200 TL.
    • The 5th statement shows 500 (3000/6)+200(1000/5)= 700 TL.
    • The 6th statement shows 500 (3000/6)= 500 TL.

If we had carried out the 3 transactions separately, would it have made a difference for the merchant and the cardholder?

Financially, there would have been no difference.

But looking at it from an operational and post-sale point of view,

  • If the transaction had been done at the POS separately, the card would have had to be inserted and removed 3 times, the customer would have had to enter their PIN 3 times, 3 different receipts would have been created, and the customer would have had to keep 3 different receipts safe. Instead, the transaction was resolved in a single pass with one receipt and one authorization number.
  • After the sale; in the event of a possible issue, it becomes possible to resolve matters with a single receipt. Otherwise, keeping 3 different receipts without losing any of them is naturally more difficult.