First, a customer swipes, dips, or taps their payment method. The card and transaction information have an interchange fee assessed by the card networks. This fee will be deducted from the amount sent to merchant. At the same time, the information is sent to the issuing bank (the customer's) which gives the approved or declined decision. Once approved, the money will be sent to the acquiring bank (the merchant's) and will be cleared within 24 hours.