Payment Processing Glossary

Common Payment and Processing Terms

A

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ABA Routing Number

This is the nine-digit number that appears on checks and identifies the financial institution.

ACH / Automated Clearing House

An electronic payment from one bank account to another.

Acquiring Bank

A bank that provides merchant accounts and deposits funds.

Associations / Payment Brands

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

ATM Debit Card

A card that withdraws funds directly from a bank account.

Authorization

The process of requesting approval from the card issuer for a transaction.

Authorization Code

A code returned by the issuer when a transaction is approved.

Authorization Fee

A fee charged each time a transaction is sent for approval.

Authorization Only Transaction

Reserves funds on a card for later settlement.

Authorization Response

The issuing bank’s approval, decline or call center message.

Average Ticket Size

The average dollar amount of credit card sales.

Address Verification Service / AVS

A fraud control tool for verifying billing address information.

B

4 items

Basis Points

One basis point equals 0.01%.

Batch Processing

Submitting a group of transactions for settlement.

Breach Security Coverage

Coverage to offset costs of a suspected or actual data breach.

Business Type

A classification based on a business’s model and payment environment, such as retail, restaurant, lodging, mail or telephone order, or e-commerce.

C

8 items

Capture

The step that submits a previously authorized card transaction for settlement.

Card Brand Fees

Fees established by payment card networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express, that may apply to the processing of card transactions.

Card Not Present

Online or phone transactions where the card is not physically present.

Card Present

A face to face transaction where the card is physically used.

Cash Discount

A pricing approach where customers receive a discount for paying with cash rather than another payment method, when structured in accordance with applicable requirements.

Chargeback

A reversal of a card transaction following a dispute or other qualifying issue.

Credit Card

A payment card issued by a bank for credit purchases.

Credit Card Processing

The electronic settlement of card transactions.

Credit Card Processor

The entity that verifies and processes transactions.

Credit Card Reader

A magnetic stripe or chip reader used at point of sale.

D

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Debit Card

A card that deducts funds directly from a bank account.

Dispute

A challenge to a transaction initiated by a cardholder or issuing bank, which may lead to a review and potentially a chargeback.

Discount Fee

The percentage fee charged for processing credit card payments.

Dual Pricing

A pricing model that displays separate prices based on payment method, such as one price for cash and another for card payments, subject to applicable laws and card brand requirements.

E

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EBT

Electronic Benefits Transfer for government assistance programs.

EFT

Electronic movement of funds between bank accounts.

Electronic Wallet

A digital wallet used to store payment information.

Encryption

Encoding information for secure transmission.

I

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Interchange

A fee set by card networks and paid to issuing banks.

Issuing Bank

The financial institution that issues a payment card to the cardholder and approves or declines transactions.

M

8 items

Merchant Account

An account arrangement that enables a business to accept and settle card payments.

Merchant Account Provider

The company that provides card processing services.

Merchant Processing Agreement

A contract outlining credit card processing terms.

MID (Merchant Identification Number):

A unique identifier assigned to a business for processing and tracking payment transactions through its payment account.

Mobile Credit Card Processing

Accepting payments via smartphone or tablet.

Monthly Minimum

A minimum required monthly processing fee.

Monthly Processing Limit

The maximum processing amount allowed per month.

Monthly Processing Volume

Total monthly credit card sales.

MOTO

Mail order or telephone order transactions.

O

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Over Limit Fee

A fee charged when monthly processing exceeds approved limits.

P

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Payment Cards

Includes credit, debit, prepaid and EBT cards.

Payment Gateway

Software that routes transactions to your processor.

PCI DSS

Security standards for handling credit card data.

PCI Non Validation Fee

A fee for failing to submit proof of PCI compliance.

PIN

Personal Identification Number for debit purchases.

PIN Debit

A debit card transaction authorized by the cardholder using a personal identification number (PIN), typically routed through a debit network.

PIN Pad

Device used for entering debit card PIN numbers.

POS

Point of Sale where payment occurs.

POS Terminal

Device used to process card payments.

R

3 items

Recurring Billing

A transaction charged automatically on a schedule.

Real Time Processing

Immediate approval or decline of transactions.

Retrieval

A request for transaction details during a dispute.

S

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SSL

Secure Sockets Layer, a legacy encryption protocol that has largely been replaced by Transport Layer Security (TLS).

Surcharge

An additional fee applied to certain card transactions to help offset payment acceptance costs, where permitted and implemented in accordance with applicable laws and card brand rules.

T

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Terminated Merchant File

A Mastercard-maintained database, commonly called MATCH, containing businesses terminated by acquirers for specified risk reasons.

V

2 items

Virtual Shopping Cart

Website software allowing customers to add items before checkout.

Voice Authorization

Authorization obtained by phone instead of electronically.

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