| Acquirer |
Obtains merchant's
credit card transactions and processes them for payment |
| Acquiring
Bank |
The financial
institution that assumes the credit card processing
risk for merchant services accounts |
| Address
Verification Service (AVS) |
The process
of validating a cardholder's given address against the
issuer's records, to determine accuracy and deter fraud.
This service is provided as part of a credit card authorization
for mail order/telephone order transactions. A code
is returned with the authorization result that indicates
the level of accuracy of the address match and helps
secure the most favorable interchange rates |
| Adjustment |
An adjustment
is initiated by the acquirer to correct a processing
error. The error could be a duplication of a transaction
or the result of a cardholder dispute. The acquirer
debits or credits the merchant DDA account for the dollar
amount of the adjustment |
| Approval
|
A transaction
was approved |
| Authorization |
The process
of verifying the credit card has sufficient funds (credit)
available to cover the amount of the transaction. An
authorization is obtained for every sale |
| Authorized
Cardholder |
The person who
signs for a particular credit card; credit card authorization
should be given to only this party |
| Auto
Close |
A software feature
that allows an end-of-day batch closing to occur automatically
at a specified time, without being initiated by the
merchant |
Auto
Credit |
Automatically crediting a disputed transaction.
A cardholder initiates a dispute through their issuing bank and the
merchant and or processor automatically credits the transaction. |
| Automated
Clearing House (ACH) File |
A file with
instructions for the exchange and settlement of electronic
payments passed between financial institutions. It represents
debits and credits to be deducted from an account automatically
as they occur |
| Average
Transaction Amount |
The monthly
credit card processing volume divided by the number
of credit card transactions |
| Bankcard |
A MasterCard
or Visa credit card |
| Batch |
A collection
of credit card transactions that are saved for submitting
at the end of the business day |
| Capture |
The process
by which the information in a credit card authorization
is sent by the credit card processing system to the
authorized cardholder’s bank to obtain money for goods
and services delivered |
| Card
Association |
A specific credit
card company, ie Visa, MasterCard, American Express,
and Discover |
| Card
Not Present |
A transaction
where the card is not present at the time of the transaction
(such as mail order or telephone order) |
| Cardholder |
Any person who
holds a payment card account (bankcard or otherwise) |
| Chargeback |
This is a fee
that is charged by a merchant service provider against
a merchant account, for credit card transactions that
have to be removed from a merchants account |
| Chargeback
Ratios |
A comparison
between the number of credit card authorizations and
the number of chargebacks that one merchant services
account acquires |
| Close
Batch |
The process
of sending the batch for settlement |
| Corporate
Card |
Charge card
designed for business related expenses, such as travel
and entertainment |
| Credit
Card Authorization |
Approval by,
or on behalf of, the credit card issuer to validate
a credit card transaction for a merchant or another
affiliate bank |
| Credit
Card Processors |
Companies that
handle all of the details of processing credit card
transactions |
| Credit
Card Sales Draft |
A hardcopy of
the contract between the merchant and the authorized
cardholder when a credit card transaction has taken
place |
| Credit
Rating |
An assessment
of a cardholder’s credit history as scored by one of
the major credit scoring agents; rated as A, B, or C |
| Credit
|
An amount issued
by the merchant to the cardholder if goods and services
are not satisfactory |
| CVV2/CVC2/CID |
An
important new security feature for card-not-present
transactions now appears on most Visa, MasterCard, American
Express and Discover cards. This new feature is a three
or four digit value which provides a cryptographic check
of the information embossed on the card. CVV2's/CVC2/CID
are card verification codes (known as CVV2 for Visa,
CVC2 for MasterCard, and CID for American Express and
Discover). For American Express, the code is a four
digit number on the front of the card above the account
number. For Visa, MasterCard and Discover the code is
a three digit number that appears at the end of the
account number on the back of the card. These code values
helps validate two things:
* The customer has the credit card in his/her possession.
* The card account is legitimate.
CVV2/CVC2/CID is printed only on the card - it is not
contained in the magnetic stripe information, nor does
it appear on sales receipts or statements. Anyone in
direct marketing or e-commerce wants to see chargebacks
reduced. Using the CVV2/CVC2 value can help minimize
the risk of unknowingly accepting a counterfeit card
or being a victim of fraud. |
| Debit
Card |
Credit card
whose funds are withdrawn directly from the cardholder's
checking account |
| Decline |
Transaction
was not approved |
| Deposit
Transaction |
The process
by which funds are delivered to a merchant services
account when a credit card authorization has taken place
and goods and services have been delivered |
| Discount
Rate |
The fee a credit
card processing company or merchant bank charges the
merchant account for giving the merchant deposit credit
and handling the merchant’s credit card sales draft
or electronic sales transactions |
| E-commerce |
The processing
of buying and selling via the Internet |
| Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) |
This is the
transmitting of electronic data within specific EDI
format or series of EDI standards |
| Electronic
Data Capture (EDC) |
Process of electronically
authorizing, capturing and settling a credit card transaction |
| Electronic
Deposit |
The way in which
the credit card association sends money to the merchant
account when a credit card authorization has taken place
and goods and services have been delivered |
| Encryption |
Encryption scrambles
and unscrambles information using mathematical equations
and a secret code called a key. Usually one key encodes
and another decodes. The sender possesses the encoding
key. The decoding key may be possessed by several receivers |
| Expected
Monthly Volume |
The amount of
money a merchant plans to process in credit card transactions
in one month |
| Fleet
Cards |
Private label
credit cards designed mainly for repairs, maintenance
and fueling of business vehicles |
| Interchange
Fee |
A fee paid by
an acquirer to an issuer for transactions entered into
interchange. The interchange fee is a percentage applied,
according to Visa/MasterCard regulations, to the dollar
value of each transaction. There are multiple categories
of interchange, and Visa and MasterCard each have their
own criteria for their own categories |
| Issuing
Financial Institution |
The financial
institution that extends credit to a cardholder through
bankcard accounts. The financial institution issues
a credit card and bills the cardholder for purchases
against the bankcard account |
| Keyed
Credit Card |
The credit card
is not present and the merchant punches in the information
from the credit card into the credit card terminal |
| Magnetic
Stripe |
A strip of magnetic
tape affixed to the back of credit cards containing
identifying data, such as account number and cardholder
name |
| Mail
Order/Telephone Order (MOTO) |
Credit card
transactions initiated via mail, email or telephone
Also known as card-not-present transactions |
| Manual
Close |
A batch close
that must be initiated by the merchant on a daily basis,
as opposed to an auto close at a preset time |
| Merchant
Account |
An account that
is established by a merchant to receive payment via
credit cards |
| Merchant
Account Provider (MAP) |
Either a bank
or other institution that will host a merchant account
and process credit card transactions |
| Merchant
ID |
A series or
group of numbers that numerically identifies each merchant
account to the credit card processing company or merchant
bank for accounting and billing purposes |
| Monthly
Minimum |
The amount charged
to the merchant account if credit card processing fees
(discount rate and transaction fees) do not reach an
amount previously agreed upon by the merchant and the
credit card processor |
| NonQualified
Transaction Fees (NONQual) |
Bankcard sales
transactions that do not meet set Visa/MasterCard criteria
for that particular merchant and are processed at a
higher interchange rate |
| Private
Label Cards |
Credit, debit
or storedvalue cards that can be used only within a
specific merchant's store. Also referred to as proprietary
cards |
| Processing
Network (Vendor) |
The medium of
data transport between the merchant application and
the processor. This company authorizes and captures
credit card transactions |
| Purchasing
Card |
Credit card
used by business to cover purchasing expenses |
| RealTimeProcessing |
The processing
of a credit card transaction immediately after the purchase
has been made. RealTime is the preferred choice for
Internetbased merchants |
| Recurring
Fees |
Usually means
fees that are billed each and every month |
| Referral |
Response pending
more information, merchant must call the toll-free authorization
phone number |
| Secure
Socket Layer (SSL) |
Used to encrypt
and protect data usually on an order from an online
merchants web site. Once the order has reached its destination,
the encrypted data is decoded |
| Settle
Batch |
The act by which
the merchant sends all of the credit card processing
transactions for a particular day to the credit card
processor |
| Smart
Card |
A payment card
that electronically stores account information utilizing
chip technology rather than a magnetic stripe |
| Swiped
Credit Card |
The credit card
is present and the merchant physically runs the consumer’s
credit card through the credit card terminal |
| T
& E Cards |
Credit or charge
card used by businesses for travel and entertainment
expenses. Examples of these cards are American Express,
Diners Club, Carte Blanche and JCB |
| Terminal
ID |
A series or
group of numbers that numerically identifies a specific
piece of credit card processing equipment, such as a
credit card terminal or credit card printer, to the
credit card processor |
| ThirdParty
Processor |
A thirdparty
processor is a company that provides a variety of bank/merchant
services including billing, reporting, customer service,
authorization and settlement services on behalf of the
acquiring financial institution. An example of a thirdparty
processor is NOVA Information Systems (NOVA) |
| Transaction
Fee |
A fixed amount
charged to the merchant services account for each credit
card processed |
| Transaction |
Each instance
of a credit card being charged or credited |
|
|
If you would like more information or if you have questions
about either dgCharge Basic Edition or dgCharge
Professional Edition, please contact DevGuru.
