Glossary of terms

A debit card issued by a card issuer, which meets the Maestro (Domestic) Card Scheme standards and contains a Maestro (Domestic) Switch logo.

Reports and expenditure analysis for monitoring your purchasing card spend.

An electronic debit card scheme through which Maestro (Domestic) cards issued by all card issuers can be used in merchant terminals approved by acquirers to make payment for goods and/or services.

Contains magnetically encoded information relevant to the cardholder and is affixed to back of a card.

An international payments system organisation controlled by its members.

A business, which accepts, cards and provides goods and/or services and possibly other facilities to cardholders.

An EPOS or EFTPOS terminal. It includes a controller or device to which the terminal is connected and to whose data the terminal has access.

A charge paid by a merchant to their acquirer, calculated as a percentage of turnover or fixed charge per transaction or a combination of both. Usually credit cards are charged on turnover and debit cards on transactions

The Merchant Identification Number with the bank acquirer.

Where a Merchants takes an order and card details over the telephone or by post.

A payment card which fulfils two or more roles, e.g. credit or debit card, cheque guarantee and ATM card.

This refers to a transaction that is approved or declined at a merchant terminal where there is no on-line dialogue with the acquirer.

A merchant terminal where successfully completed credit and debit card transactions are stored securely within the terminal for periodic electronic delivery to the outlet's acquirer.
 

This term is used to define a connection or data transmission via a data communication link.

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 on-line dialogue between the merchant terminal and the acquirer's host system.

A merchant terminal, which normally 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.

A grouping of EFTPOS/EPOS terminals in one location, all operated by the same legal entity and using the same delivery and control mechanisms

The cardholder number (up to nineteen digits) which is embossed on a card and encoded on the card's magnetic stripe and usually, although not invariably, embossed on the front of the card.

A service which may be provided at a merchant terminal where card details embossed on a card are keyed into the terminal instead of the terminal reading the card's magnetic stripe.

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.

Payment Service Provider

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.

A tamper resistant device featuring a keypad with which a cardholder may enter their personal number (PIN).

A means of cardholder verification in which PIN checking is performed at card acquirer or card issuer

The collection of data stored in a terminal by a central computer or polling service

The physical location at which a merchant terminal is sited and where card transactions are conducted.

A merchant terminal on which above floor limit, and certain below floor limit, transactions normally result in electronic authorisation requests being sent to the outlet's acquirer.

An authorisation transaction intended to be followed by a separate financial transaction within a specific time interval. Pre-authorisations are used primarily in situations where the cardholder/merchant wishes to obtain advance approval or verification that sufficient funds are available to make a subsequent purchase using a payment card. Generally restricted by card schemes to Hotel and Car Hire sectors.

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. (MasterCard/Visa credits are merged for NatWest acquired merchants.) Processing Day Settlement is available for all terminal types and data delivery methods.

A card issued to employees of major corporates to facilitate corporate purchases to reduce administration costs. Merchants may be asked by their customers to become VAT accredited which means that the merchant in addition to the transaction amount will enter either Summary or Line Item VAT information into their terminal or computer software. This transaction is accredited by HM Customs & Excise and in many cases eliminates the need for the supplier to issue a VAT invoice

An optional transaction type within the Maestro (Domestic) previously Switch and Delta card schemes where a merchant may, with the approval of its acquirer, 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'.