Glossary of terms

A financial institution that provides facilities for businesses to accept payments by cards and receive these funds.

Fraud-prevention mechanic that verifies a customer address against a card.

The American Express equivalent of AVS & CVC2.

The Association for Payment Clearing Services – who are responsible for matters relating to money transmission and payment clearing activities generally in the United Kingdom.
Their remit includes:

1. BACS Limited, which operates the bulk electronic clearing.
2. The CHAPS and Town Clearing Company Limited, which operates the high value same-day clearings.
3. The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company Limited, which operates the bulk paper clearings in London.
   
   APACS also oversees the London currency clearings and cheque card and eurocheque schemes.
    

Average transaction value or ticket value of good/services sold by the business

A process whereby a transaction for a specified amount is approved or declined by a card issuer or an acquirer on behalf of a card issuer. This approval confirms that the card number is valid, not reported lost or stolen and that funds were available at the time of the transaction.

The authorisation request may be generated by a merchant terminal and processed electronically or may include voice contact between the merchant and the acquirer.

A telephone call made from a point of sale to obtain authorisation for a transaction.

A code (which must not be all zeros) which is generated by a card issuer or by an acquirer on behalf of a card issuer when an authorisation request is approved.

Bankers Automated Clearing Services Limited - an electronic funds transfer service whereby customers may enter debit and/or credit entries directly into the UK bank clearing system. The automated transactions may be created either by their own computer installation or by a service bureau on their behalf.

Any day other than a Saturday or Sunday, or a day which is celebrated as a Bank Holiday in any part of the UK.

This is specific to merchants with on-line terminals. A merchant has a banking window ( e.g. 16.00-19.00) allocated, and during this time he/she is expected to perform the End of Day reconciliation on the terminal.

It is important that the end of day is completed otherwise transactions may be delayed and appear for crediting on a different trading day.

A batch is a collection of transactions held at a single terminal or outlet. A batch may contain any number of shifts or days' data.

The bank identification number with the card schemes.

An Institution which issues a payment card to the cardholder

An individual to whom a card has been issued or an individual authorised to use such a card.

The use of a card by a customer (normally assumed to be the cardholder) in order to purchase goods or services from a merchant or obtain cash from an ATM or financial institution.

e.g., Visa and MasterCard

An anti-fraud device used by some card issuers as a means of protection against invented or altered magnetic stripe content.

A discreet code, known only to the card issuer which is included in the electronic authorisation as a means of verifying that the card, which has been presented, is genuine.

The Servebase enablement functionality for Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) through various providers.

A payment card linked to an account, which has to be settled in full by a stipulated date.

The term used where a card issuer can charge part or all of the value of a transaction back to the merchant via their acquirer.

Chip and PIN is a programme aimed at reducing fraud for those transactions where the cardholder and card are present at the time of the transaction.

The Chip (silver or gold coloured square on the front left side of the card) is embedded into a card to provide highly secure memory and processing capabilities. In addition to holding the same personal data as the magnetic stripe, the chip provides additional security features to safeguard against counterfeiting.

The PIN is a four-digit number that the cardholder will enter into the PIN pad instead of signing a card receipt. From January 2005, liability for counterfeit card transactions and lost and stolen card fraud, will pass to the party that is not chip & PIN compliant. Where all parties are compliant, then counterfeit transactions should reduce significantly and there will be no recourse by the cardholder saying they did not authorise the transaction.

A transaction undertaken via telephone/coupon/letter, where the card is not seen by the merchant.

VISA specified codes for categorising the actual commodity (eg: nuts and bolts). Approximately 300codes.

The process by which data is entered into a merchant terminal so as to 'personalise' it to the merchant's particular requirements.

A Commercial card issued to businesses to facilitate business expenditure.

Applying internal cost coding to each Purchasing Card Cardholder (eg: cost centre number, department number or budget number).

A payment card (e.g. MasterCard, Visa) linked to an account which may be settled in full by a set date or may be repaid over a period of time, subject to minimum monthly repayments being made. Interest will normally be charged on the outstanding balance.

VAT capable suppliers can input a CRC at the Point of Sale up to a maximum of 16 digits being alpha or numeric. An example would be a job costing number.

The transaction file that includes all of your Purchasing Card spend for the previous 48 hours.

A foreign exchange mechanism provided by banks and third parties that gives a cardholder an option to pay either in the merchant’s local currency or their home currency at the point of sale

A card (e.g. Visa Delta or Maestro (Domestic), which is designed to enable a customer to transfer money from a current account (including a savings or deposit account, which provides for transfers without notice to third parties), or an account on which cheques can normally be drawn to the account of some other person.

The UK Visa debit card badged with the Delta mark, comparable to Maestro (Domestic). Like Maestro (Domestic), it can support purchase with cash back and cheque guarantee functions. Unlike Maestro (Domestic) it can be used in a paper only environment and by virtue of Delta being a Visa product, is acceptable worldwide, wherever the Visa logo is displayed.