Accounting is technical business function responsible for recording,

reporting and analyzing financial information. Objectives:

Dear learner after completing this competency you will be able to:
Greet and serve customer with respect and professionalism in
accordance with the company service standards and expectations
Provide Customer with information as required in a timely, accurate
and effective manner
Process basic financial transactions
analyze Error records and exception reports according to standard
procedures and within required timeframes
Learning outcome #1
•Provide customer service
1.1. Customer is greeted and served with respect and
professionalism in accordance with the company service
standards and expectations
All employees should do the following tasks/activities while
providing service to customers:
1)Customer is greeted and served with respect and
professionalism in accordance with the company service
standards and expectations.
2)Customer is provided with information as required in
a timely, accurate and effective manner with any queries
about transactions answered fully and clearly to ensure
customer is appropriately informed.
3)Transactions outside the knowledge or delegated
authority of the employees are referred to other
appropriate personnel for resolution as required.
 . Customer is provided with information as
.2

required in a timely, accurate and effective manner

with any queries about transactions answered fully
and clearly to ensure customer is appropriately
informed
Information may be related to:
account services, including:
 savings
 retirement
 superannuation
 investment services
processes for completing transactions including:
 cash or non-cash transactions
 cheques
 debit/credit cards
Here are ten tips for you to provide great service to your clients
A. Respond to Clients as Soon as Possible
B. Keep Clients Updated
C. Go the Extra Mile
D. Fix Your Mistakes
E. Listen to Your Clients
F. Keep Your Promises
H. Be Patient
I. Know Everything You Need to Know
. Put Yourself in Their Shoes
1.2. Customer is provided with information as required in a timely,
accurate and effective manner with any queries about transactions
answered fully and clearly to ensure customer is appropriately
informed
Information may be related to:
account services, including:
 savings
 retirement
 superannuation
 investment services
processes for completing transactions including:
 cash or non-cash transactions
 cheques
 debit/credit cards
The interests of customer include knowledge of the changing
circumstances of the customer and how these contexts influence
customer needs in relation to financial, retirement, investment and
other services.
Below are ten phrases that should never be used because they
frustrate and anger customers.
“No.”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not my job./That’s not my department.”
“You are right – that is bad”
“Calm down.”
“I’m busy right now.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“You need to talk to my supervisor.”
“You want it by when?”
“Call me back”
Helpful Reminders for Polite and Friendly Polite and Friendly Alternative
Responses Wrong Approach

“I don’t know.” “I’ll find out.”

“No.” “What I can do is…”

“That’s not my job.” “Let me find the right person who can help you
with …”
“You’re right – this is bad.” “I understand your frustrations.”

“That’s not my fault.” “Let’s see what we can do about this.”

“You want it by when?” “I’ll try my best.”

“Calm down.” “I’m sorry.”

“I’m busy right now.” “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“Call me back.” “I will call you back, what is your telephone

number.”
1.3. Transactions outside the knowledge or delegated authority of the officer
are referred to other personnel for resolution as required
Authorized personnel may include:
•dispute resolution officer
•employees
•supervisors and managers
Learning outcome #2
2. Process basic financial transactions
2.1. Process Customer transactions in an accurate and timely manner using
standard policies, procedures and systems
Transactions may be processed:
•using manual or electronic systems
•using the standard procedures and systems of the financial services institution and
may include:
bank cheques
credit card transactions
debits such as from:
savings accounts
cheque accounts
inward credits/outward payments
payroll deductions
Periodic payments.
 The relevant financial services organization’s policies,
procedures and systems may relate or be influenced by:
• administrative and clerical systems
• database and IT systems
• product and account and service range
• range of responsibility
• size, type and location of branch
• Types of equipment used.
Accounting Processes & Procedures
Identify Transactions
Record Transactions
Prepare Reports and Statements
Handling Procedures
Reconciliation Procedures
Review Procedures
Customer service policies and procedures
What customer service policies and procedures are used in your
workplace? Some of these policies may not be written. They could
include:
Policy on the return of damaged goods
Procedures for direct checking
Quality checking procedures
Procedures for handling telephone complaints
Procedures for obtaining information about a lost
consignment
What do quality and customer service mean?
Quality is a term that is increasingly used in our society. As
business and industry become more competitive, so ‘Quality’ and
‘Standards’ are being improved.
Some definitions of 'quality' are:
Fitness for purpose
Quality is meeting customer needs
Quality consists of freedom from deficiencies
There are four steps to quality customer service that you can
apply in your workplace.

Step 1: Send a positive attitude.

An attitude is a state of mind influenced by feelings, thought
and actions.
The attitude you show is usually the attitude you receive.

Step 2: Identify the needs of your customers.

Step 3: Provide for the needs of your customers.
Step 4: Make sure your customers return.
Financial transaction
A financial transaction is an agreement, communication, or
movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange
an asset for payment. It involves a change in the status of the
finances of two or more businesses or individuals. The buyer and
seller are separate entities or objects, often involving the
exchange of items of value, such as information, goods, services,
and money. It is still a transaction if the goods are exchanged at
one time, and the money at another. This is known as a two-part
transaction: part one is giving the money; part two is receiving the
goods.
Accounts
The records that are kept for the individual asset, liability, equity,
revenue, expense, and dividend components are known as
accounts. In other words, a business would maintain an account
for cash, another account for inventory, and so forth for every
other financial statement element. All accounts, collectively, are
said to comprise a firm's general ledger. In a manual processing
system, imagine the general ledger as nothing more than a
notebook, with a separate page for every account. Thus, one
could thumb through the notebook to see the "ins" and "outs" of
every account, as well as existing balances.
 • Nature and Classification of Accounts
Definition - an account is the basic storage unit for accounting
data. It is used to classify transactions in terms of their effects on
specific asset, liability, capital, revenue and expense items. Thus,
a separate account is kept to record and accumulate/store
monetary effects of transactions on such specific items that
appear on the financial statements as Cash, Supplies, Accounts
Payable, Bank Loan Payable, Alemu-Capital, Fees Earned, Rent
Income, Salary Expense and Supplies Expense.
 
Nature of an Account - The simplest form of an account is called
“T” account. It is so named because it looks like the capital letter
"T" as shown in the figure below. In its most elementary form, an
account (i.e. T account)has three parts:
the account title - used to write the name of the account such as
Cash
the left (debit) side - a place to record increases or decreases in
the account in monetary terms
the right (credit) side - a place to record increases or decreases in
the account in monetary terms
Account Title
Left (Debit) Side Right (Credit) Side
If monetary increases in an account are recorded in the
debit/credit side, then the decreases in the same account are
recorded in the credit/debit side.
Classification of Accounts - accounts may be classified into two major root
categories: balance sheet and income statement accounts.
Balance sheet accounts - refer to accounts that appear on the balance sheet. They
include assets, liabilities and owner's equity accounts. These accounts (except
drawing and income summary accounts) are also called permanent or real
accounts. They are so named because their balances will not be closed at the end of
each accounting period rather are carried forward from period to period so long as
business activities continue.
• Assets - include any tangible and intangible items that have monetary value to
and owned by a business. Assets are further divided into current and non-current.
•Current assets - include cash and other assets that are expected to be converted into
cash, sold or consumed within a very short period of time usually one year or less.
Examples include
• Cash - coins and paper money on hand or deposited at bank.
• Accounts Receivable - claims against customers (debtors) for goods and services
sold on credit. They are based on oral promise or good faith rather than supported
by written evidences.
• Notes Receivable - claims against customers supported by written evidences.
• Merchandise Inventory - finished goods held for resale.
• Prepaid Expenses (assets) - include consumable items such as supplies and
advance payments for such items as insurance (Prepaid Insurance) and rent
(Prepaid Rent).
 
• Non-current assets - also called fixed/plant assets refer to assets
with the potential to provide benefit to the business for relatively
long period of time, at least more than a year. They include land,
buildings, vehicles, machinery, equipment, patent, furniture, fixtures
and long-term receivables. All non-current assets held for use in
operations, except land held for purposes other than agriculture,
lose their usefulness with the passage of time or as a result of
usage. Such decline in usefulness is called depreciation or
amortization and is a business expense identified as Depreciation
or Amortization Expense. Liabilities - refer to obligations of a
business to pay cash, perform service or deliver goods to its
creditor. Liabilities are further divided into current and non-current.
• Current liabilities - refer to obligations that must be paid/settled
within one year or less. They include Accounts Payable, Notes
Payable, Salary Payable, Income/Sales Tax Payable and Rent
Payable.
• Non-current liabilities - also called long-term liabilities refer to
obligations that are expected to be settled over an extended period
of time usually more than a year. Examples include Mortgage
Notes Payable and Bonds Payable. A part of a long-term debt,
which is due within a year or less, is reclassified and reported as
current liability.
 Owner’s Equity - refers to residual
claim of the owner against the assets
of a business. For soleproprietorship
and partnership forms of businesses,
owner’s equity accounts include:
• Capital - used to accumulate investments made by the owner/partner
and profit earned by the business but not withdrawn by the
owner/partner. Capital account is identified by the name of the
owner/partner and the word capital. E.g. Alemu, Capital.
• Drawing - used to accumulate money or other assets taken out of the
business by the owner/partner for personal consumption. Drawing
decreases capital of a business. Like capital, drawing account is
identified by the name of the owner/partner and the word drawing. E.g.
Alemu, Drawing.
• Income Summary - used to summarize effects of revenues and
expenses on the capital of business.
 
Income statement accounts - refer to accounts that appear on the
income statement. They include revenue and expense accounts.
These accounts are used to temporarily accumulate effects of
revenue and expense transactions on capital of a business. These
accounts, together with drawing and income summary accounts, are
also called temporary or nominal accounts. They are so named
because their balances will be closed to zero by the end of an
accounting period thus will not be carried forward from period to
period. By the end of the accounting period, balances of such
accounts are summarized and transferred to the capital account.
Thus, these accounts exist for only one accounting period.
• Revenues - refer to gross increases in owner’s equity as a
result of inflows of cash or any other assets in exchange for
inventories sold, services rendered, properties leased, money
lend or any other activity performed by the business to
generate income. Revenues include:
• Sales - from sales of inventories
• Fees Earned - from performing services
• Rent/Royalty Income - from letting others use ones own properties
such as building and machinery
• Interest Income - from lending money
 • Expenses - refer to expired cost of goods and
services consumed in generating revenues or
carrying out the day-to-day affairs of a business.
Expenses include:
• Cost of Goods Sold - expired cost of inventories sold to customers
• Salary/Wages Expense - cost of services received from employees
• Utilities Expenses - cost of utility services consumed, such as
telephone, electricity and water services.
• Depreciation Expense - expired cost of tangible non-current assets
as a result of usage or passage of time.
Rules of Debit and Credit - are conventions/principles (part of the
GAAP) for recording increases and decreases in an account.
According to these principles
Increases in an asset account are recorded on the debit side while
decreases are recorded on the credit side.
Increases in a liability account are recorded on the credit side while
decreases are recorded on the debit side.
.
Increases in an owner’s equity account are
recorded on the credit side while decreases are
recorded on the debit side.
For revenues represent increases in owner’s
equity, increases in a revenue account are recorded
on the credit side while decreases, if any, are
recorded on the debit side.
For expenses and drawings represent decreases in
owner’s equity, increases in expense and drawing
accounts are recorded in the debit side while
decreases, if any, are recorded in the credit side
Normal balance of an Account - Account balance refers to
the difference between total increase and total decrease
recorded in an account. Total increase recorded in an
account is usually greater than the total decrease recorded
in the same account. Thus, the usual (normal) balance of an
account is positive. This implies that the normal balance of
an asset, an expense or a drawing account is debit while that
of a liability, capital or revenue account is credit. Abnormal
balance in an account may arise as a result of
• Recording errors - for any account
• Bank overdraft (over-drawing bank account) - for cash
at bank account
• Over-collection - for receivable accounts
• Overpayment - for payable accounts
• Reversing entries - for revenue and expense accounts
 
THE FOLLOWING TABLE SUMMARIZES THE RULES
OF DEBIT AND CREDIT AND THE NORMAL
BALANCES OF ACCOUNTS

Account Type Increases Decreases Normal balance

Balance Sheet
Accounts
Asset Debit Credit Debit
Liability Credit Debit Credit
Owner’s Equity
Capital Credit Debit Credit
Drawing Debit Credit Debit
Income May have a credit/debit balance for income/loss
Summary
Income Statement
Accounts
Revenue Credit Debit Credit
Expense Debit Credit Debit
Chart of Accounts - refers to the list of the titles and related
identification numbers of all general ledger (to be discussed in the
next sections) accounts a business uses for recording its
financial affairs. Below is an example of chart of accounts for a
certain business.
Balance Sheet Accounts

100 Asset
111 Cash
112 Accounts Receivable
121 Buildings

200 Liability
211 Accounts Payable
221 Mortgage Notes Payable
300 Owner’s Equity
301 Alemu, Capital
302 Alemu, Drawing
303 Income Summary

Income Statement Accounts

400 Revenue
401 Fees Earned
402 Interest Income
500 Expense
501 Salary Expense
502 Utility Expense
 •Ledgers
Definition - Ledger refers to a kind of folder/ring binder used to arrange
and put in one place all accounts used by a business. Accounts are
placed in the ledger in sequence and each account may take one or
more pages of the ledger.  
Types - two types of ledgers: general and subsidiary.
General ledger - a ledger that contains all accounts that appear on the
balance sheet and income statement of a business. General ledger
accounts are called controlling accounts because they show the total
balance of a certain element of the financial statements such as
Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable regardless of the amount
of money expected to be collected from each credit customer and the
amount of money payable to each creditor, respectively. Controlling
accounts are assigned with and identified by their respective account
numbers. According they are placed in the general ledger according to
their numerical orders.
Subsidiary ledger - a ledger that contains accounts showing details of
controlling accounts. For example, Accounts Receivable Ledger, also
called customers’ ledger, contains accounts of individual credit
customers showing the amount of money due from each credit
customer. Subsidiary ledger accounts are identified by the name of the
credit customer or creditor and are accordingly arranged alphabetically.
 • Journals
Definition - Journal, also called the book of original entry, refers to
a business document where effects of business transactions on
specific elements of the financial statements are recorded in or
copied from source documents. we have seen how to record and
summarize effects of business transactions on asset, liability and
owner’s equity items using the accounting equation format. Such
system, however, is not practicable or is not cost- and time-
effective when a business has thousands of transactions to
record and several asset, liability, capital, revenue and expense
items
Types - two types of journals: general and special.
General journal - a two-column form used to record any kind of
business transaction (see sample on page-20).
Special journal - a journal designed to record frequently occurring
identical transactions. Detailed discussions on special journals
are deferred to Chapter-5. 
An organization may use only general journal or both general and
special journals depending up on the volume and similarities of
its business transactions.
 
 • Accounting Cycle
Definition - Accounting cycle refers to the procedures (steps)
for gathering business transactions, processing and converting
them into useful accounting information that will be
communicated to users to serve as a basis for investment,
credit and similar economic decisions.
Procedures/Steps in the Accounting Cycle - The accounting
cycle consists of the following specific procedures:
• Analyzing business documents and transactions
• Journalizing business transactions
• Posting journal entries to accounts
• Preparing unadjusted trial balance
• Journalizing and posting adjusting entries
• Preparing adjusted trial balance
• Preparing financial statements
• Journalizing and posting closing entries
• Preparing post-closing trial balance
• Journalizing and posting reversing entries (optional)
IN REVIEWING THE GENERAL
JOURNAL FOR XAO, NOTE THAT IT IS
ONLY TWO PAGES LONG. AN ACTUAL
JOURNAL FOR A BUSINESS MIGHT
CONSUME HUNDREDS AND
THOUSANDS OF PAGES TO
DOCUMENT ITS MANY
TRANSACTIONS. AS A RESULT, SOME
BUSINESSES MAY MAINTAIN THE
JOURNAL IN ELECTRONIC FORM
ONLY
SPECIAL JOURNAL
To Review
Thus far the following accounting “steps” should have been
grasped:
STEP 1: Each transaction is analyzed to determine the accounts
involved
STEP 2: A journal entry is entered into the general journal for each
transaction
STEP 3: Periodically, the journal entries are posted to the appropriate
general ledger pages
The Trial Balance
After all transactions have been posted from the journal to the
ledger, it is a good practice to prepare a trial balance. A trial
balance is simply a listing of the ledger accounts along with their
respective debit or credit balances. The trial balance is not a
formal financial statement, but rather a self-check to determine
that debits equal credits. Following is the trial balance prepared
for Xao Corporation
THE BASIC PROCESS IS TO TRANSFER AMOUNTS FROM THE
GENERAL LEDGER TO THE TRIAL BALANCE, THEN INTO THE

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS :
Illustration
To illustrate the complete accounting cycle, we will consider the following list of selected
transactions. The transactions were completed by Bati Transport in the month of January 2003
and prepare the neccesary journal entries for the month.
January 1. Ato yimer took Birr 450,000 from his personal savings and deposited it in
the name of Bati transport.
Jan 2.       Bati Transport purchased two used trucks for Birr 150,000 each, on cash.
Jan 4.   Bati Transport received a check for Birr 650 for services given to Alem Trading.
Jan 4.       Received an invoice for truck expenses Birr 90.
Jan 11.  Paid Birr 600 for Awash Insurance Company to buy an insurance policy for its
trucks.
Jan 16.  Ato Yimer issued a check for Birr 9,400 to the workers as a salary for two weeks.
Jan 20.  Bati trading Billed Muradu Supermarket for goods transported from
               Djibouti to Gondar Birr 2,650
Jan 21.     Ato Yimer wrote a check for birr 450 to have one of the trucks repainted
Jan 21 Bati trading purchased stationary materials and other supplies of Birr 740 on
account
Jan 22.    Office equipment of Birr 11,600 is bought on account.
Jan 23.    Purchased an additional truck for Birr 250,000 paying birr 100,000 in cash
                   and issuing a note for the difference.
Jan 23.    Recorded services billed to customers on account birr 14,600.
Jan 25.    Received cash from customers on account Birr 15,000.
Jan 27.    The owner withdrew Birr 500 in cash for his personal use.
Jan 28.   Paid Birr 9,400 to workers as a salary for the last two weeks of the month.
Jan 30. Paid telephone expense Birr 95 and electric expenses of Birr 125 for the month.
Jan 30.    Paid other miscellaneous expenses Birr 50.
Jan 31.    Paid Birr 4,000 as a rent for a building used for office space.
These transactions are journalized as follows
Date Description Debit Credit
2003 Cash 450,000
Jan.1 Yimer Capital 450,000

(To record investment by owner )

Truck 300,000  
2 Cash 300,000
( Purchase of trucks)
4 Cash 650  
Service Income 650
(Cash received from customers)
4 Truck Expenses 90
Accounts Payable 90
(Service received in advance)
11 Prepaid Insurance 600
Cash 600
(Purchase of insurance policy)
16 Salary Expense 9,400
Cash 9,400
(Payment of salary)
20 Accounts Receivable 2,650
Service Income 2,650
(Provision of service)
21 Truck Expense 450
Cash 450
(Cash paid to repaint truck)
21 Supplies 740
Accounts Payable 740
(Purchase of supplies of account)
22 Office Equipment 11,600
Accounts Payable 11,600
(Purchase of equipment)
23 Truck 250,000
Cash 100,000
Notes Payable 150,000
(Purchase of truck)
23 Accounts Receivable 14,600
Service Income 14,600
(Provision of service on
account)
25 Cash 15,000
Accounts Receivable 15,000
(Collection of cash)
27 Drawings 500
Cash 500
(Owner withdrawals)
28 Salary Expense 9,400
Cash 9,400
(Payment of salary )
30 Utilities Expense 220
Cash 220
(Payment for telephone,
electricity)
30 Miscellaneous Expenses 50
Cash 50
(Payment for various
expenses)
31 Rent Expense 4,000
Cash
(Payment of Rent) 4,000
Learning outcome #3
3. Administer the transaction process
3.1. Error records and exception reports are analyzed and responded to according to
standard procedures and within required timeframes
There will be times when you are checking or processing financial transactions in your
organisation and you identify an error or discrepancy which needs to be rectified
(corrected.) You may be able to do this yourself. If you are unable to do this because you
don’t know how, or you are not authorised to do so, you will need to refer the
discrepancy to an authorised work colleague.
Discrepancies may occur for a variety of reasons, including:
miskeyed data; for example, making a mistake when entering information such as an
item code, price or quantity;
arithmetic errors; for example, adding amounts together instead of subtractingƒ.
counting errors; for example, incorrectly counting cash in a till
accounting errors; for example, entering debit amounts as credits.
When discrepancies occur on financial documents the consequences may vary
depending on the type of document, the extent of the discrepancy and the period of time
which has elapsed before the discrepancy is detected. For example, a discrepancy on a
tax invoice may mean that a client is overcharged or undercharged, and a discrepancy
on a purchase order could result in an incorrect quantity of goods being supplied.
3.2. Activity reports monitoring the nature and level of transaction activity are provided
and database records or customer files updated according to standard procedures and
within required timeframes
Financial transaction involving money and agricultural goods at a
farmers' market
A financial transaction is an agreement, communication, or
movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an
asset for payment. It involves a change in the status of the finances of
two or more businesses or individuals. The buyer and seller are
separate entities or objects, often involving the exchange of items of
value, such as information, goods, services, and money. It is still a
transaction if the goods are exchanged at one time, and the money at
another. This is known as a two-part transaction: part one is giving the
money, part two is receiving the goods.
In ancient times non-financial transactions were commonly conducted
through systems of credit, in which goods and services were
exchanged for a promise of future recompense. Credit has certain
disadvantages, including the requirement that traders or their
intermediaries trust one another, or trust that authorities exist who can
be relied on to enforce agreements. Debts must eventually be settled
either with goods or by payment of money, a substance of agreed
value such as gold and silver.
Purchase
This is the most common type of financial transaction. An item or
good is exchanged for money. This transaction results in a decrease
in the finances of the purchaser and an increase in the benefits of the
sellers. An example is a real estate transaction.
Loan
This is a slightly more complicated transaction in which the lender
gives a single large amount of money to the borrower now in return
for many smaller repayments of the borrower to the lender over time,
usually on a fixed schedule. The smaller delayed repayments usually
add up to more than the first large amount. The difference in payments
is called interest. Here, money is given for not any specific reason.
Mortgage
This is a combined loan and purchase in which a lender gives a large
amount of money to a borrower for the specific purpose of purchasing
a very expensive item (most often a house). As part of the transaction,
the borrower usually agrees to give the item (or some other high value
item) to the lender if the loan is not paid back on time. This guarantee
of repayment is known as collateral.
Bank account
A bank is a business that is based almost entirely on financial
transactions. In addition to acting as a lender for loans and
mortgages, banks act as a borrower in a special type of loan
called an account. The lender is known as a customer and gives
unspecified amounts of money to the bank for unspecified
amounts of time. The bank agrees to repay any amount in the
account at any time and will pay small amounts of interest on the
amount of money that the customer leaves in the account for a
certain period of time. In addition, the bank guarantees that the
money will not be stolen while it is in the account and will
reimburse the customer if it is. In return, the bank gets to use the
money for other financial transactions as long as they hold it.
Credit card
This is a special combination of a purchase and a loan. The seller gives
the buyer the good or item as normal, but the buyer pays the seller using
a credit card. In this way, the buyer is paying with a loan from the credit
card company, usually a bank. The bank or other financial institution
issues credit cards to buyers that allow any number of loans up to a
certain cumulative amount. Repayment terms for credit card loans, or
debts vary, but the interest is often extremely high. An example of
common repayment terms would be a minimum payment of the greater of
$10 or 3% every month and a 15-20% interest charge for any unpaid loan
amount. In addition to interest, buyers are sometimes charged a yearly
fee to use the credit card.
In order to collect the money for their item, the seller must apply to the
credit card company with a signed receipt. Sellers usually apply for many
payments at regular intervals. The seller is also charged a fee of normally
1-3% of the purchase price by the credit card company for the privilege of
accepting that brand of credit card for purchases.
Thus, in a credit card purchase, the transfer of the item is immediate, but
all payments are delayed. The credit card holder receives a monthly
account of all transactions. The billing delay may be long enough to defer
a purchase payment to the bill after the next one.
Debit card
This is a special type of purchase. The item or good is transferred
as normal, but the purchaser uses a debit card instead of money
to pay. A debit card contains an electronic record of the
purchaser's account with a bank. Using this card, the seller is able
to send an electronic signal to the buyer's bank for the amount of
the purchase, and that amount of money is simultaneously
debited from the customer's account and credited to the account
of the seller. This is possible even if the buyer or seller use
different financial institutions. Currently, fees to both the buyer
and seller for the use of debit cards are fairly low because the
banks want to encourage the use of debit cards. The seller must
have a card reader set up in order for such purchases to be made.
Debit cards allow a buyer to have access to all the funds in his
account without having to carry the money around. It is more
difficult to steal such funds than cash, but it is still done. See also
skimming and shoulder surfing.
3.3 store safely, securely and in accordance with standard
customer records