The CU*BASE counts are determined by all activity (member transactions) in each channel and are inclusive of generated transactions such as fees and overdraft transfers. Bills or reports that credit unions get from their card vendor only include totals for the base transaction. The following samples help illustrate this:
Sample Credit Card Activity:
Sales drafts 21,420
Foreign currency fees 296
Finance charges / overlimit fees 2,579
CU*BASE billing count = 24,295
CC Credit Vouchers (not billed) 581
In this case, the report from the card vendor would likely be closer to 22,001 (21,420 + 581) plus authorizations.
Sample PIN-Based Activity:
Deposits, withdrawals and transfers 66,254
Fees (NSF, ANR, ODP) 9,220
Overdraft transfers 2,287
Reversals 107
CU*BASE billing count = 77,868
Here, the report from the card vendor would likely be closer to 66,361 (66,254 + 107) plus inquiries.
Sample SIG-Based Activity:
Purchases 85,504
Refunds 1,075
Fees (NSF, ANR, ODP) 2,642
Overdraft transfers 3,679
Reversals 1
Total = 92,901
For SIG-based activity, CU*BASE bill = 85,499 (Purchases posted to checking accounts)
In this area the card vendor numbers tend to be more in line with our billing number, at 86,574 (85,499 + 1,075) plus authorizations.
Summary
When the billing programs were designed, our original intent was to count and bill all member transactions generated through the different channels, whether it be a transaction from a switch or an internally-generated transaction. This is why PIN-based activity counts include overdrafts, fees, etc. However, signature-based activity is handled a little differently. It is billed on purchases only and does not include overdraft transfers, fees or reversals.
Also remember that we only count member $ transactions. So even though on signature-based transactions, we receive an online authorization for approval, we do not count those as online activity until the actual posting transaction comes in. Therefore, we also do not count inquiries (unless they caused a member fee) or denials.