Jargon
Demystified
Terms from the world of cost reduction and payment processing. Explained in plain English: what each term is, what it costs you and what to do about it.
A
- Accel →A U.S. debit card network that routes eligible card payments through its branded network.
- Account Data →The card information PCI DSS groups into cardholder data and sensitive authentication data.
- Account Data Compromise (ADC) →A card-network event involving unauthorized access to or disclosure of payment account data.
- ACH →Moves money between bank accounts through a US network, usually in batches rather than card rails.
- ACH Credit →A bank transfer that sends money into your business account after the payer initiates it.
- ACH Debit →An electronic payment that lets your business pull funds from a customer's bank account with permission.
- ACH Operator →The clearing facility that sorts ACH payment instructions and routes them between banks.
- ACH Originator and Receiver →Identifies who sends an ACH instruction and whose bank account receives a credit or debit.
- ACH Return →A bank sends a failed ACH payment back with a code explaining why it could not be completed.
- ACH Return Code →A standardized R-code that tells you why an ACH payment was returned.
- Acquirer →The financial institution that handles card payments on your business’s side of the transaction.
- Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) →A transaction reference banks use to trace a card payment or refund through the payment network.
- Address Verification Service (AVS) →Checks a customer's billing address against issuer records to flag suspicious card payments.
- Adjustment →A debit or credit that corrects a payment amount or settlement balance after a transaction changes.
- Affinity Card →A credit card linked to an organization, with the issuer funding a donation when the cardholder makes purchases.
- Afterpay →A checkout option that lets customers split purchases into installments while you receive payment through Afterpay.
- Agent Bank →A bank that performs defined services for another bank or supports its merchant-processing program.
- Alipay →A digital wallet used mainly in China, accepted by some businesses for online and in-person payments.
- Alternative Payment Methods →Wallets, bank transfers, and installment plans give customers ways to pay beyond a standard card checkout.
- Amazon One →A discontinued Amazon service that linked a customer's palm scan to an eligible card for in-person payment.
- American Express (Amex) →A card network and card issuer that charges businesses fees when customers pay with Amex.
- Amex SafeKey →American Express's 3-D Secure service adds risk-based identity checks to online and in-app card purchases.
- Annual Fee →A recurring yearly charge for keeping your merchant account active, separate from per-transaction processing costs.
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML) →Rules and safeguards that detect and prevent illicit funds moving through businesses and financial systems.
- API →A defined set of rules that lets one software system request data or actions from another.
- Apple Pay →A digital wallet that lets customers pay with cards stored on Apple devices in stores, apps, and websites.
- Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) →A PCI SSC-qualified company that scans internet-facing systems for vulnerabilities tied to card data security.
- Arbitration →A card network’s final ruling when a merchant and issuer cannot resolve a chargeback.
- Assessment Fees →Card-network charges for processing card payments, separate from interchange and processor markup.
- Attestation of Compliance →A signed summary of your PCI DSS assessment, its scope, and whether requirements were met.
- Authentication →A check that confirms the person using a payment method is its legitimate account holder.
- Authorization →The issuer approves or declines a card payment, then reserves approved funds until you capture the transaction.
- Authorization Code →The six-character approval reference returned for an approved card transaction.
- Authorization Hold →A temporary card-fund reservation after approval, before you submit the final transaction amount.
- Auto-Close →A scheduled setting that closes your payment batch without requiring you to close it manually.
- Automatic Funds Transfer (AFT) →A pre-arranged transfer that moves money between bank accounts on a schedule you set.
- Average Monthly Volume (AMV) →The average dollar value of card transactions your business processes each month over a stated period.
- Average Ticket →Your total sales divided by the number of transactions in the same period.