Can you walk through the full credit-card payment flow from the payment terminal and swipe to the issuing bank returning an authorization code?

Even though this infographic technically explains how the Interchange fees, etc. is earned/split, it does provide a very good standard flow of the transaction.

Source: Understanding Swipe Fees and Interchange

Here is the flow otherwise:


Source: http://www.pathwaypayments.com/

Other resources:

• How Payment Processing Works