A | B | C | D | E | F | G | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | V ACQUIRER /ACQURING BANK A financial institution having a business relationship with merchants, retailers and other service providers to process their plastic card transactions. Acquirers obtain financial settlement from the card issuers, typically via the card schemes which maintain the clearing systems, and pay the proceeds to the merchant, charging a fee. [top]AMEX American Express. [top]ATM Automatic Teller Machine or “hole-in-the-wall” machine. A robust machine primarily used to dispense cash to Cardholders, often built into a wall (hence “hole-in-the-wall”), although smaller freestanding versions run by independent companies can now be found in-store and other locations. [top]APACS The Association for Payment and Clearing Services now called “UK Cards Associations" a trade body that gives credit, debit and charge card issuers, and merchant acquiring banks a forum where they can work together on non-competitive issues. It was formed in April 2009 as the successor body to the APACS Card Payments Group. [top]ATV Average Transaction Value or ticket value. [top]AUTHORISATION A process whereby a credit or debit card transaction for a specified amount is approved, referred or declined by a Card Issuer or an Acquirer on behalf of a Card Issuer. [top]AUTHORISATION CALL A telephone call made from a point of sale to obtain authorisation for a transaction. [top]AUTHORISATION CODE A code which is generated by a card issuer or by an acquirer on behalf of a Card Issuer when an authorisation request is approved. [top]AVS Address Verification Service – a system to verify the billing address of a Cardholder by extracting the numbers form his/her address and comparing them with the address on file with the Card Issuer. B2B Business to business. [top]BACS Bank Automated Clearing System that provides a system to transfer funds between accounts in different financial institutions. [top]BANKING DAY Any day other than a Saturday or Sunday or a Bank Holiday. [top]BANKING WINDOW This is a time interval at the end of which the Acquirer will “cutover” to the next business day. If a user performs an End-of-Day during the Banking Window this causes the cutover to occur at that time, performing an End-of-Day outside of the Banking Window does not cause a cut-over to occur. Cut-over batches transactions and submits them for settlement. [top]C2B Consumer to Business [top]CARD ISSUER An organisation (usually a Bank) who issues the payment card to the cardholder. [top]CARD SCHEME Card schemes are organisations that set the business rules that govern the issue of the payment cards that carry their logo. Typically, these rules apply throughout the world to ensure interoperability of cards. In many countries, domestic schemes also operate. The schemes operate the clearing and settlement of payment card transactions. In the UK, banks and building societies must be members of the appropriate scheme to issue cards and acquire card transactions. Examples of international card schemes in the UK are Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club. [top]CARDHOLDER An individual or business to whom a card has been issued. [top]CARDHOLDER TRANSACTION The uses of a card by a customer in order to purchase goods or services from a merchant or obtain cash from an ATM or financial institution. [top]CHARGE CARD A payment card, enabling holders to make purchases and to draw cash up to a pre-arranged ceiling, the terms of which include the obligation to settle the account in full at the end of a specified period. Cardholders are normally charged an annual fee. [top]CHARGEBACK The right, in defined circumstances (usually a disputed transaction), of a card issuer to charge part or all of the value of a transaction back to the acquirer. The acquirer may subsequently chargeback the value of the transaction to the merchant. [top]CHEQUE GUARANTEE CARD A card issued by a bank or building society for the purpose of guaranteeing payment by, or supporting the encashment of, a cheque up to a specified value (£50, £100 or £250). These cards double up as debit cards. All cheque guarantee cards in the UK Domestic Cheque Guarantee Card Scheme depict the bust of William Shakespeare in either the cheque guarantee hologram or logo on the card. [top]CHIP & PIN A system of verifying Cardholders by the use of a 4 digit Personal Identity Number, PIN, in a similar manner to using ATMs. PINS were introduced to payment cards in the UK in 2004/5. [top]CHIP CARDS/Chip & PIN Cards/Smart Cards New generation of credit and debit cards incorporating a chip. Replacing magnetic swipe in an effort to combat fraud. [top]CNP Cardholder Not Present/Card Not Present – transaction undertaken via telephone/coupon/letter or online where the merchant does not see the card. [top]CONTACTLESS Contactless payment systems are credit cards, key fobs, smartcards or other devices which use radio-frequency identification for making secure payments. The embedded chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card over a reader at the point of sale. [top]CORPORATE CARD A payment card typically issued to larger companies for staff to make business-related transactions, for example travel and entertainment (see also business card), but now also for businesses themselves to pay suppliers rather than using cheques. [top]CREDIT CARD A payment card (e.g. MasterCard, Visa) linked to an account which, provides a revolving credit facility. Cardholders are billed monthly and usually have 2-3 weeks to make a payment either in full or partial (for which the Cardholder will then be charged interest). Cardholder typically can enjoy an interest free period of up to 56 days, which is in part funded by the Merchant Service charge that the Acquiring Bank levies. [top]CSC/CVC/CVV Card Security Code (CSC), Cardholder Verification Value (CVV) and Cardholder Verification Check (CVC) is a three digit code printed on the signature strip on a credit or debit card. As this is only ever printed on the card itself it is intended to verify that the Cardholder is actually in possession of the Card. NB American Express use a 4 digit code printed on the front of the card [top]CUTOVER See Banking Window [top]DEBIT CARD A card (e.g. Maestro/Visa Debit) issued to the Cardholder by the Bank holding his current account. The card allows the holder of the card pay for goods and services by transferring money directly from his/her current account. [top]DYNAMIC CURRENCY CONVERSION/DCC Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is a financial service where holders of credit cards have the cost of a transaction converted to their local currency when making a payment in a foreign currency. [top]E-COMMERCE The supply of goods and services conducted electronically over the Internet. [top]EFT Electronic Fund Transfer – a generic term for electronic payments. [top]ELECTRON A Visa International Debit Card for use in on-line POS devices operating within a zero floor limit. Cards are not normally embossed. Participating merchants must meet electronic requirements and display “Electron” decals. Issuers have the choice of branding cards Visa Electron or Electron, and are able to coexist with domestic brands e.g. Delta, with the domestic brand taking precedence in the home market. [top]END OF DAY The routine which must be completed on a terminal. Depending upon terminal type and configuration parameters, many terminals are configured to perform the End of Day routine automatically. [top]EMV FALL-BACK The general term used to denote facilities for effecting certain transactions in a situation in which part or all of a card scheme system at the point of sale is unavailable for normal processing. [top]FALL-BACK VOUCHER A multi-part document used to record transaction details when a transaction cannot be performed electronically on a merchant terminal. Information from the card is captured using a card imprinter. [top]FLOOR LIMIT The level agreed between an acquirer and a merchant over which authorisation must be sought for a single transaction. [top]GSM/GPRS A wireless communications system that utilises the mobile telephone network for the transmission of data. Commonly used in the UK for mobile payment terminals were Merchant need to transact away form a telephone line, or were speed is important. [top]IP or TCP/IP Communications protocol used to transfer data between a terminal and Acquirers host system. It is the communication system that is used by the Internet. [top]JCB Japan Credit Bureau – issuer of the JCB Card, the leading Japanese travel and entertainment card, accepted in over 100 countries world-wide. [top]KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER (OR “KYC”) Know Your Customer is the name given to the due diligence that financial institutions and other regulated companies must perform to verify the identify of their clients and ascertain other relevant information pertinent to doing financial business with them. KYC policies have become increasingly important globally to prevent identity theft fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. [top]LIABILITY SHIFT From 1st January 2005 – failure of merchants to process a Chip & PIN transaction will lead to them becoming liable for any fraud committed. [top]MAESTRO A domestic and international Debit Card scheme launched in 1993. It is now part of the MasterCard card scheme [top]MASTERCARD An international payments systems organisation controlled by its members. [top]MCC Merchant Classification Code is a system categorising merchants in small vertical niche markets e.g. food retailers, tour operators, fashion clothing, etc. [top]MERCHANT Any business that accepts cards as settlement for goods and/or services provided to their customers. [top]MERCHANT SERVICE CHARGES /MSC All charges for the processing of transactions that an Acquirer levies on a Merchant. Typically this will be a small percentage of credit card transactions and a fixed charge for debit transactions. It also includes any adjustments and charge-backs that can be made. [top]MOTO [top] MSC Merchant Service Charge – a charge levied by an Acquirer on a Merchant for processing card transactions. It is calculated as a percentage of credit card turnover for credit/charge card transactions or a fixed charge per transaction for debit cards. [top]NTC Means New to Cards and refers to new merchants that at the time of recruitment do not offer any payment services by card. [top]ON-LINE AUTHORISATION This refers to a transaction that is approved or declined by a card issuer or an acquirer on behalf of a card issuer. The authorisation process includes an real time dialogue between the merchant terminal and the acquirer’s host system. [top]ON-LINE TERMINAL A merchant terminal that generates an on-line authorisation request for each transaction and where data capture of a transaction by an outlet’s acquirer occurs during on-line authorisation processing. [top]PAN KEY A service which may be provided to a merchant’s terminal enabling card details to be keyed into the terminal as opposed to the card being swiped through the terminal. [top]PAYMENT CARD A generic term for any plastic card (Credit, Debit, Charge, etc) which may be used on its own to pay for goods and services, or to withdraw cash. [top]PCI The Payment Card Industry is a worldwide set of information security standards defined by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. The standards were created to help payment card industry organisations that process card payments prevent credit card fraud through increased controls around data and its exposure to compromise. The standard applies to all organisations that hold, process, or exchange cardholder information from any card. [top]PIN Personal Identification Number – a set of characters, usually a four digit sequence, used to authenticate cash withdrawals or instructions initiated by a payment card through a customer activated terminal such as an ATM or Chip and Pin cards for transactions on terminals. [top]PINPAD A device that a Cardholder enters his/her PIN to verify that they are the authorised holder of the payment cards being used to purchase goods or services. The PINPad is connected either to a terminal, or till systems, or can be integral to a terminal. PINPads must meet both international security standards (PCI), and UK security standards APACS Common Criteria) as well as being approved by the Acquiring Bank [top]PHISHING Phishing is the name given to the practice of sending e-mails at random purporting to come from a genuine company operating on the Internet, in an attempt to trick customers of that company into disclosing information at a bogus website operated by fraudsters. These e-mails usually claim that it is necessary to "update" or "verify" your customer account information and they urge people to click on a link from the e-mail which takes them to the bogus website. Any information entered on the bogus website will be captured by the criminals for their own fraudulent purposes. [top]POS Point of Sale or Point of Service – the physical location at which a merchant terminal is sited and where card transactions are conducted. [top]PROCESSING DAY SETTLEMENT Transactions performed by a merchant during non-banking days (i.e. Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays) are consolidated with the transactions performed during the nearest immediately preceding banking day to produce single credits per card scheme. [top]PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network – the standard voice telephone system which may also be used for data. [top]PWCB Purchase with Cash Back – an optional transaction type offered on debit cards within the Maestro and Visa Debit Card schemes allowing a merchant, with the approval of its acquirer, to allow a cardholder to draw cash up to a limit agreed with its acquirer (but maximum £50) within a standard sale transaction. Also known as “Cash Back”. [top]RECONCILIATION The method by which a merchant compares the business undertaken at his electronic data capture terminal with that recorded by the acquirer and credited to his bank account. [top]RFI Request for Further Information – a request by either the card issuer or cardholder wishing to obtain further information about a particular transaction. [top]SETTLEMENT See PROCESSING DAY SETTLEMENT [top]TERMINAL A machine that accepts and processes card payments, and communications the details to the Acquirer. All Payment Terminals have to be approved by the Acquirer, and meet international standards for security (PCI, APACS) and Card Scheme rules. They come in several different forms dependent upon the business needs of the Merchant. Counter-Top units for fixed locations (e.g. most shops), wireless portable units for restaurants and some shops, and mobile units for homes service providers (plumbers, electricians, etc) or other forms communications are unavailable (market traders) or where speed is important. Terminals will be equipped with either an integral PINPad or have an external PINPad attached to them. [top]TRAVEL & ENTERTAINMENT CARDS /T&E CARDS General term for payment cards, usually charge cards, used primarily by businessmen and women for their travel and entertainment of clients. American Express and Diners Club Cards are often referred to as travel and entertainment cards. [top]VISA An international payment systems organisation controlled by its members. [top]VOICE AUTHORISATION Authorisation by means of communication between merchant and Authorisation Centre by normal telephone. [top]VOICE REFERRAL The procedure which may follow an authorisation request involving the merchant being requested to contact its acquirer for further instructions or the communication of further information about the cardholder or transaction. [top] |
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Buzzworks Card Services Ltd, PO Box 2290 SALISBURY Wiltshire SP3 5WD
Tel: 0800 228 9340 Fax: 0871 528 4776
Registered Office: 65 St Mary Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 3JF Reg No. 7432697 England
Tel: 0800 228 9340 Fax: 0871 528 4776
Registered Office: 65 St Mary Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 3JF Reg No. 7432697 England