Abstract: The invention provides a credit/debit authorization system and method which aim at stopping unauthorized use of credit/debit cards. The authorization system and method takes a two-step authorization approach. When a credit/debit card transaction authorization request is routed to the authorization system, the authorization system first validates the transaction by comparing card and transaction amount information extracted from the transaction to the account information stored in an account database. If the transaction is invalid, the authorization system refuses the transaction. If the transaction is valid, the authorization system then determines if the transaction requires the card user's approval.