Hardware a PIN debit cardholder uses to enter their PIN at the POS. Also called a keypad.

This is a nine digit number that appears on all checks along with the bank account number. ABA actually stands for American Banker’s Association. It is also sometimes called the Transit Routing Number. The ABA number identifies which banks the account is from. Each bank is issues its own ABA number. When you send a bank wire or an ACH transaction f [..]

An acquiring bank provides credit card merchant accounts. The acquiring bank is a bank that has a relationship with Visa®

This is the term given to the process of validating funds available on a credit card or debit card. It is done at the time the transaction is entered or swiped through a point-of-sale terminal. When a merchant enters a credit card transaction, a response comes back from the issuing bank to the acquirer and back to the merchant, all in a second or s [..]

Authorization code is the response code from the issuing bank returned to the merchant at the time of authorization. This code is usually 6 or 7 digit number and is recorded either by the point-of-sale terminal or software, as well as printed on any receipt or sales draft. If doing a phone or voice authorization, the merchant should record the auth [..]

This is also called a transaction fee. This is the amount charged to a merchant account each time a communication happens between the software or point-of-sale terminal and the authorizing network. The communication can occur either over a dial up telephone line, leased line, or an Internet IP line. In all cases, each time the merchant communicates [..]

An issuing financial institution’s electronic message reply to an authorization request, which may include:

Basis points are the percentage that you are charged on a credit card transaction. One basis point is equal to 1/100th of 1 percent. Thus a rate of 2.33% is equivalent to 233 basis points. Often times in merchant processing you will hear the term basis points in regards to rates. You may hear this in terms of surcharge rates, also called mid qualif [..]

The process of acquiring account information from a payment card required for processing. This occurs at the point of sale either by swiping the card through a card reader or by manually entering the information.

A payment card transaction where the cardholder/card are not physically present — for example, in an online or mail/telephone order sale.