kortbetaling

Kortbetaling is a payment method in which a consumer uses a payment card, such as a credit or debit card, to purchase goods or services. It covers transactions made at physical point-of-sale terminals as well as online, over the phone, or through other remote channels.

In a typical kortbetaling, the cardholder presents the card or enters card details. The merchant’s payment system forwards an authorization request through a payment processor and a card network to the card issuer. The issuer approves or declines the request and may place a temporary hold on funds. If authorized, the merchant completes the sale and the financial settlement transfers funds from the issuer to the merchant’s account via the processor and network, usually within one to a few days. Interchange fees and other costs are paid by the merchant or the card issuer depending on the arrangement.

Common technologies include magnetic stripe cards, EMV chip and PIN, and contactless near-field communication (NFC) payments. Card-present transactions often require verification such as a PIN or signature, while card-not-present transactions (online or over the phone) rely on entered card data and additional security measures like tokenization or 3-D Secure.

Security is supported by standards such as EMV, PCI-DSS, and fraud-prevention tools, including CVV checks and tokenized payments. Card payments are widely accepted and convenient but involve fees for merchants and potential fraud risk, especially in card-not-present scenarios. Regional networks and global card schemes, such as Visa and Mastercard, enable most of these transactions, with some regions also operating national payment networks.