We currently maintain an ecommerce solution for about 3,000 merchants
whereby merchants submit credit card based transactions to our network
and we screen and validate the transactions for fraud.

Our company would like to get into the retail arena at this point. We
have developed our solution now to allow merchants to screen retail
transactions.

The question is how to do get through to the retail terminals?

The obvious answer would be to go to Global Payments, Nova, FirstData,
etc, etc and work with them but we want to go to the industry with a
plan.

I need the a-z version of retail credit card processing. How is the
information encrypted at the terminal, what information is sent where?
What dialup network is used? Where I am trying to get is how to we get
to the point whereby we can capture that information before it hits
the processing network so that we can screen the transactions.

Would there be an option to have the terminals dialup to our networks
and we do the processing? We are in the research phase now of retail
processing and I need to capture a much information as possible on the
transaction from the time the transaction is swiped to the time the
approval receipt is printed out.

Any details would be appreciated.

retailers use "merchant processors" to process and settle credit card
transactions.  Processors include most major banks as well as some of
the companies you mention.  If you seriously want to be a "value add"
processor you may as well go back to waitressing because no one will
take you seriously.