The scene opens with Colleen the Card Carrying Collie still asleep in her fashionable downtown apartment. Awww, she is doing that thing where she sleeps on her back and has her paws up in the air. So precious. She wakes up when the birds start chirping outside. After a brief dog yoga session Colleen the Card Carrying Collie spreads the blinds with her paw so she can peek outside at the birds. Her eyes narrow. Just what were they chirping about anyway? Also how do they fly? Crafty birds.
It's not bath day so she just does her ears up all wavy, floofs up her tail and hits the pavement running. Top speed, tongue out, fur flying in the wind running. On her way to work she stops by the local Moondoes Coffee shack and lounge. Colleen the Card Carrying Collie is panting as she approaches the counter with her debit card in paw. Barbara the Barista Beaver is fixing a leak in the Coffee machine so it takes a minute before she acknowledges Colleen. Poor Colleen is just standing there staring at the pyramid of clean pure life giving water bottles right in front of her nose. Her eyes get super big. How do they do that? Eyeballs don't just grow. Even if you could pump them up with more aqueous humor the eye socket is set in bone. After what seems like forever Barbara the Barista Beaver fixes the leak. Now she wants to suggest things like mochachino yaya grape juju sauce. Doggos are allergic to most of that crap so Colleen the Card Carrying Collie gets offended and she starts baring her teeth when she talks. After this point in the conversation she doesn't have to say much to convince Barbara to just swipe the card already.
Barbara the Barista Beaver rings up the bottled water for $5 and processes the debit card as a credit transaction. An electronic authorization happens almost instantaneously when the card hits the point of sale terminal. The robot overlords verify that there is indeed $5 in Colleen the Card Carrying Collie's checking account. The bank removes $5 from the available balance in her checking account. A pending transaction for $5 at Moondoes Coffee can now be viewed with her online banking app. A receipt prints out of the point of sale terminal for $5. Barbara hands the receipt and a pen to Colleen. Colleen writes in a $1 tip and signs the bottom of the receipt. On one hand she didn't think she got great service but on the other hand she comes here all the time and doesn't want Barbara doing beaver business in the water.
Debit card transactions swiped as a credit usually take a few days to fully post to an account. The merchant finalizes the transaction by collecting the money from the bank. The amount that they come to collect may differ from the initial authorization amount. What this means for Colleen is that the Moondoes Coffee shack and lounge transaction would appear as $5 while it was pending, but post to the account for $6 a few days later.
After a few invigorating slurps of life giving water Colleen is ready to get on with her day. She's almost late now, so she sprints in. Right on time. So dependable. She is an emotional support dog for youngsters at the hospital. It's pretty much the perfect job for her. She's so supportive.
Fast forward to her first break where she dashes across the street to Bodega Mart to buy herself some treats. She has been a good girl today and she deserves treats. Colleen uses her debit card to pay for the treats. She chooses to process the transaction as a debit on the point of sale terminal. Because the debit card is being processed as a debit Colleen must enter her pin number. She does not have to sign the receipt with this type of transaction. Pin based debit transactions clear the account faster than signature based credit transactions made with a debit card. The money is coming out of the linked checking account in either case.
Fortified by her treats Colleen the Card Carrying Collie returns to work until her lunch break. She trots out to a nearby dining establishment. She explains to the server that she is allergic to onions multiple times. She enjoys a protein rich meal and pays with her credit card. The server swipes her credit card for $15. A $15 pending transaction is created which lowers the available credit associated with the card. When Colleen signs the receipt she leaves a $5 tip because she likes round numbers. The tip won't show up against the total balance owed on the credit card until the merchant finalizes the transaction a few days later. Colleen won't have to make a payment on the credit card until the 8th of next month. By that time all the transactions will have plenty of time to figure out what amount they want to be.
Only halfway into Colleen's workday and we are already three card transactions deep. Colleen the Card Carrying Collie still had a few more swipes left in her before the end of the day, but I think you get the idea by now. Join us next time as we explore Colleen's sordid past.
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