Glossary

ACH: Bank-to-bank payments. Merchants can sometimes accept them depending on setup.

Address verification (AVS): A check that the billing address a customer gives matches the address their card issuer has on file.

Authorization: The card issuer's approval or decline of a sale at checkout.

Batch: The group of approved sales you submit for processing, usually once a day. Also called closing out.

Card not present (CNP): A sale where the card is not physically there, such as online, phone, or invoice payments. These carry more fraud and dispute risk.

Card present (CP): A sale where the customer's card or phone is at your terminal or Tap to Pay phone.

Chargeback: A disputed charge reversed by the cardholder's issuer. See Chargebacks and disputes.

Chip (EMV): The secure chip on a card. Chip and tap sales are more secure than swiped ones.

DBA: "Doing business as," the name customers know your business by.

Deposit: Money paid into your business bank account from your processed sales, after fees and adjustments.

Deposit delay: Extra business days set on some accounts before sales are deposited.

Interchange: The cost set by card networks and paid to the card issuer on each sale. It varies by card and sale type.

Issuer: The bank or company that gave the customer their card.

MCC (merchant category code): A code that describes what type of business you are.

MID (merchant ID): The number that identifies your merchant account.

PCI DSS: The security standard for businesses that handle card data. See PCI and security.

Reserve: A portion of sales held back to cover possible chargebacks, refunds, or fees, if your account has one.

Retrieval request: A request from the issuer for details about a sale, sometimes before a chargeback.

Security code (CVV): The three- or four-digit code on a card, used to help verify online and keyed sales.

Settlement: The step after a batch is submitted when sales are processed and your deposit is prepared.

Statement descriptor: The business name customers see on their card statement.

Underwriting: The review of your application that decides whether your account is approved and on what terms.

Void: Canceling a sale before its batch closes. See Refunds and voids.