When a transaction is made through a POS, the transaction is recorded both on the POS itself and in the authorization system of the bank that issued the POS. When the end-of-day batch close is performed on the POS, the device sends all the transactions it holds to the bank's system. Using this information, the POS bank reconciles the transactions in its authorization system by:
- Sale,
- Installment Sale, and
- Refund transaction type, based on the Total Number of Transactions and Total Transaction Amount.
If the reconciliation is successful, the POS's batch close is completed successfully. The Batch number on the POS is automatically incremented by 1.
If the reconciliation fails, the transactions under the relevant batch fall into Batch Upload. The transactions under that batch are not credited to the merchant's account. Bank staff review the transactions behind the batches that fell into batch upload in detail, and if necessary, request receipt copies related to the transactions from the merchant. If the bank concludes that the transactions were genuinely carried out, the transactions that caused the batch upload are manually transferred to the merchant's account.
The assurance provided by batch upload
Comparing the day's transactions in bulk against the bank's system eliminates the risk of lost or duplicate transactions. If the reconciliation is successful, payment to the merchant's account is prepared.
If there is a discrepancy, the transactions are sent in detail and the cause of the discrepancy is identified. Although this process runs automatically, it can slow down during busy end-of-day periods.
Merchants are advised to perform their end-of-day batch close regularly and on time.