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Glossary of Terms

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Name Description

Address Verification Service (AVS)

A service that verifies the cardholder’s billing address in order to help combat non-face-to-face fraud.

Authorization

A number or code obtained by you through your point of sale station or Global’s manual authorization system when a credit card transaction is confirmed by the issuer of such credit card to have available credit.

Automated Fuel Dispenser (AFD)

Point-of-sale payment processing equipment used by oil and gas merchants.

Authorized User

A person, other than the cardholder, whose signature appears on a card.

Average Ticket

The average value per credit card or debit card transaction processed by you.

 

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Banking Day

Any day the bank branch where you have your merchant bank account is open for business (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays)

 

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Card

Any credit card or debit card approved by Global Payments.

Cardholder

The person whose name is embossed on a card.

Chip Card

A credit or debit card that contains an embedded computer microchip that securely stores encrypted confidential information such as the cardholder’s account number and Personal Identification Number (PIN).

Code 10

A universal code that provides merchants with a way to alert the Authorization Centre that a suspicious transaction is occurring without alerting the cardholder (or other person presenting the bankcard).  The Code 10 operator asks a series of questions that can be answered with yes or no response.  Follow the operator’s instructions.  NEVER ENDANGER YOURSELF.

Commercial Card

A business card, corporate card, fleet card or purchase card issued for commercial use, often with a higher discount expense than consumer cards.

Consumer Card

A card issued to a consumer for personal use.

Credit Card

A valid and unexpired card approved and processed by Global Payments under your Merchant Agreement.  This term may also be used to refer to offline signature-based debit cards, which do not require the cardholder to enter a PIN, and which are processed by the merchant in the same manner as credit card transactions.

Credit Voucher (or credit draft)

A record of a return or refund transaction presented to Global Payments by the merchant for processing by debiting the merchant bank accounting and crediting the cardholder’s account.

 

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Daily Discount

The debiting of your merchant bank account on a daily basis for the discount fees you owe for credit card processing services.

Data Storage

The temporary or permanent retention of account data in any form (including logs) for subsequent processing, retrieval, or other use.

Data Storage Entity (DSE)

Any entity other than the acquiring Member, merchant, or TPP that stores MasterCard account data on behalf of merchants, web hosting providers, and payment gateways.  They may include terminal drivers and processors.  Storage may be temporary or permanent and in any form (including logs).

Debit Card

A card providing access to the Interac Direct Payment service or such other debit network organization approved and processed by Global Payments under your Merchant Agreement.  In the case of Interac Direct Payment service, the user must be in possession of both the card and its corresponding PIN.  Please refer to “credit card” definition above for signature-based debit card transactions.

Draft Deposit Service

A service that lets you use a Point of Sale terminal to settle and deposit sales drafts and credit vouchers to your merchant bank account.

 

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Electronic Capability

A Point of Sale capability where all of the following are true:  zero floor limit applies (or the terminal is capable of reading and acting upon the service code in the magnetic stripe or information provided in the chip); authorization response is obtained online; and authorization response and transaction receipt data are captured electronically. 

Electronic Commerce (or e-commerce)

A transaction conducted over the internet or other network using a cardholder access device, such as a personal computer or terminal.  Additionally, such transactions may be referred to as Web-based transactions or E-business.

EMV

Refers to the standards managed by EMVCo, formed by Europay International, MasterCard International and VISA International. EMVCo’s primary role is to manage, maintain and enhance the EMV Card Specifications to ensure worldwide interoperability and universal acceptance of chip payment cards.

End of Day (EOD)

A procedure where you instruct the terminal to transfer funds to your merchant bank account.

Equipment

An imprinter, Point of Sale (POS) terminal, printer, or any other device approved by Global Payments for transactions covered by your Merchant Agreement.

Extending Credit

Allowing customers to purchase goods and services from you using a MasterCard or VISA card.

 

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Factoring (or draft laundering)

A merchant's presentation to Global Payments of what would otherwise be a sales draft but is not, because the underlying transaction is not between the merchant and the cardholder. .

Floor Limit

The maximum amount of any single credit purchase you can accept without obtaining an authorization from Global Payments.  Unless otherwise noted, the floor limit is zero.

 

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Interac Direct Payment Service

The debit network in Canada. Allows customers to pay for goods and services by debiting money directly from their accounts using a Point of Sale terminal with PIN verification.

Interchange

The standardized electronic exchange of financial and non-financial Visa and MasterCard transaction data between acquirers and issuers.

Interchange and Assessment

Transaction fees set by the Visa and MasterCard that are passed through to the agency by their financial services provider.

Interchange Fee

Fee paid (percentage of each transaction) by the acquirer to card issuing banks. Covers cost of fraud, accounts paying off monthly balance, etc. MasterCard and VISA have multiple interchange fees based on card type, merchant type, and market data requirements; covers the risk of loss and the cost of processing the transaction.

Issuer

The financial institution that holds a contractual agreement with, and issues a card to, the cardholder.

 

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Link

The network between the Point of Sale station and Global Payments’ host computer.

 

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Magnetic Stripe

The stripe on a bankcard of magnetically encoded cardholder account information.

Member

The bank that is party to your Merchant Agreement for the purpose of complying with operating rules and regulations of the applicable credit card association, e.g., National Bank of Canada for MasterCard International and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) for VISA International and VISA Canada.

Merchant Bank Account (sometimes referred to herein as a “deposit account”)

An approved account maintained at a Member branch or another financial institution that you have designated in writing as an account for VISA, MasterCard, other credit card deposits, and Interac Direct Payment transactions.

 

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Payment Network Chargeback Fees

Fees that the cardholder bank may collect for items that result in a chargeback.  A merchant may be subject to the Association Chargeback Fees if the merchant failed to follow card acceptance and authorization procedures and the card issuer has a valid chargeback.

PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC)

An independent body founded by Visa International, MasterCard Worldwide, American Express, Discover Financial Services and JCB to govern the security standards for the payments industry. PCI Co. owns, develops, maintains and distributes the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) which is located on their Web site at: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)

Common standards for merchants and third parties resulting from the alignment of MasterCard, Visa, and other card associations with the similar goal of protecting payment card account data wherever it is received or stored.

PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire

A compliance questionnaire required annually for merchants, Third Party Processors and Service Providers) to determine adherence to PCI DSS.

Personal Identification Number (PIN)

A cardholder’s individual, confidential code, known only to such cardholder, which is used to verify the cardholder’s identity and to activate an Interac Direct Payment transaction at the Point of Sale.

PIN Pad

The equipment into which a cardholder enters a PIN to verify his or her identity.

POS

Stands for “Point of Sale.”

Point of Sale (POS) Terminal

The electronic device located on your premises that you use to authorize credit card transactions, deposit credit card sales drafts, and process Interac Direct Payment transactions.

Point of Sale Station

The terminal, printer and, if appropriate, PIN Pad which are inter-connected at your premises.

Primary Account Number (PAN)

The number that is embossed, encoded, or both and that identifies an issuer to which the transaction is to be routed and the account to which it is to be applied.

Printer

The equipment that produces a record of a transaction.

 

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Receivables

The amounts owing to you by VISA, MasterCard, Interac, or any other card network as a result of a transaction processed under the terms and conditions of your Merchant Agreement.

Recurring Payments

A series of transactions in which sales drafts are processed by the merchant on an ongoing basis unless and until the arrangement is cancelled by the cardholder.

Reserve Account

An account established by Global Payments or Member to secure the performance of your obligations under your Merchant Agreement.

Retrieval Request

The request for either an original or legible copy of the transaction information document or substitute draft as identified in the electronic record.

 

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Sales Draft

A paper or electronic record of a sale, rental or service transaction which the merchant presents to Global Payments for processing so that the cardholder’s account can be debited and the merchant bank account may be credited.

 

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Terminal

The equipment that meets Global Payments’ specifications and into which you enter information with respect to a transaction.

Third Party Processor (TPP)

A MasterCard Third Party Processor requires registration directly with MasterCard if the TPP provides services to MasterCard member financial institutions.

Third Party Servicer (TPS)

VISA Third Party Servicer includes non-members other than the merchant and processor that receive, pass, or store transaction data on their internal systems on behalf of the Member, the merchant, or another Third Party.  TPS includes merchant vendors, including Web hosting company or shopping cart, and media back-up company.  These merchant vendors are classified as Merchant Servicers.  Also includes Independent Sales Organizations (ISO), loyalty program vendor, risk management vendor, chargeback vendor and credit bureau that provide services to member financial institution or its merchants.

Transaction

Any sale that is paid for with a card, or any adjustment or return that is credited to a card.

Truncation

A printer’s suppression or masking of a card’s expiration date and all but four digits of the account number on the cardholder receipt.

TSTR

The Interac-specific technical specifications and testing requirements.

 

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VisaNet

The systems and services, including the VIP System and Base II, through which VISA delivers authorization, clearing, and settlement services to members.

Voice Authorization

The authorization of a transaction that is obtained by telephoning a Global Payments voice operator.

 

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Zero Floor Limit

A term that refers to a merchant being required to obtain authorization for all transactions. This is the only acceptable floor limit for Global Payments merchants.

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