---
title: Glossary
description: Plain-language definitions of payment terms Points Business merchants see on statements, reports, and the Merchant Dashboard.
url: https://thepoints.io/docs/merchants/glossary
audience: [merchants]
---

# 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](/docs/merchants/chargebacks).

**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](/docs/merchants/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](/docs/merchants/refunds-and-voids).