Error 51: The Materiality of Point-of-Sale Credit Assessments

Abstract

Error 51 is the error code for insufficient funds. Error 51 signals on a POS terminal totell the seller that the card-holder has maxed out his credit limit or he is notcreditworthy for the time being for the product about to be sold. Although a POSterminal has sped up the process, point-of-sale credit assessment is as old as humanhistory. A seller always wants to build customer loyalty. Selling on credit has beenone of the most significant services a seller could offer to succeed in his goal to buildcustomer loyalty. A buyer always seeks for exceptional services attached to hisregular buying. Buying on credit with dear terms has been one of the most significantservices a buyer could find in his goal to get the most benefit out of buying. Hence theencounter between buyer and seller may lead a credit sale. However, the seller wouldwant to evaluate the creditworthiness of the buyer to avoid the loss of a bad trade.Debt books of shoppers, sale forms of instalment sale firms and POS terminals arethose market devices that enable the seller to assess the creditworthiness and thecredit limit of the buyer. The material aspects of these market devices matter in theassessment processes. Debt book of shoppers records the routine shopping ofcustomers. Hence, a rhythmic evaluation process leads seller to trust the customer oncredit. It also determines a certain credit limit and credit restructuring terms for thecustomer. Sale form of an instalment sale firm makes a buyer answer definitequestions that are weighted instantly. Hence, a clinical evaluation process leads sellerto trust on the customer on credit. POS terminal calls the server of Credit CardCompany to receive authorization for the credit sale. Hence, an algorithmicevaluation process leads seller to trust on his sale on a credit card. Based oninterviews with relevant parties of credit sale transactions and published materials aswell as literary works, this paper aims to open the black box of point-of-sale creditassessment processes by analysing the materiality of the market devices that enablecredit assessment. Bridging the historical figurational analysis of Norbert Elias, and insitu encounter analysis of Erving Goffman with the emphasis on non-human actantsof Actor Network Theory, the paper seeks for an alternative explanation of trust issue.This alternative explanation would deconstruct the grand narrative of the loss of trustin modern society.