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install, and test the connection of the Visanet module to the Base
24 system for the debit card product.
NTS and Visa experienced problems with communications between
the two systems. (Two types of communications are necessary for
the debit card to operate properly: (1) A communication from Visa
to Norwest seeking authorization for a purchase (this is referred
to as an on-line transaction); and (2) a communication from Visa to
Norwest posting the transaction to the checking account and
Norwest's general ledger (known as settlement).) The most
significant communication problem was with respect to the
transaction posting communication, which often failed entirely--
potentially resulting in customers' purchasing goods and services
without having their Norwest accounts correspondingly debited.
Because the settlement information was not being received from
Visa, NTS had to create its own set of transactions and run them
through a test system to ensure that other systems (including the
checking account and general ledger systems) that were dependent on
the settlement communications operated correctly. This
communication problem required a Norwest team of four or five
technicians working for 4 or 5 months to redesign the code and
retest the system until communications were correctly established.
The introduction of the debit card product required several
changes to other systems that operated in conjunction with the
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