An ABA Routing Number or Transit Routing Number consists of a unique 9-digit code that identifies a banking institution, and is usually found on the bottoms of checks and other…
An Acceptable Indorsement/Endorsement (either spelling may be used) is the payee’s signature on the back of a check. The endorsement allows a proper and legal release of the funds…
A checking, NOW, savings, or other depository account maintained by a member. The Access Account may be used for deposits and withdrawals of funds. An Access Account may be a…
Accounts are legally defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Section 229.2(a) of Regulation CC.
The Account Authorization System, or Issuer Authorization System is used when making a purchase to determine that the funds are there to be spent without complications. These days,…
What is an account holding member?
An account holding member is someone who has full rights to his or her merchant account. All access is owned by the member who holds the account,…
Financial institutions employ a variety of features to ensure that transactions are conducted smoothly. One such feature is the account number. An account number is assigned to an…
The vast number of automated payments made through the banking system–for anything from online retail purchases to insurance premiums, regular monthly investments to payroll–relies…
The ACH (Automated Clearing House) network is the system used to complete the majority of American electronic money transfers. This network is made up of all its affiliated banks,…
Have you ever wondered what those numbers on the bottom of your check represented? In the bottom middle is your account number and the check number, but what is the nine-digit…
Modern credit card processing can be completed in a matter of seconds. As the financial transactions have become more complicated, it has lead Visa and Mastercard to hire…
There are different types of banks in the credit card processing industry. The top American credit card banks are Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Card. These credit…
Many credit card issuing banks hire third-party processors as “acquirers.” The acquirers manage the merchant account transactions and processes. The computer network that is used…
An acquiring bank or merchant bank is a financial institution that permits a merchant to process its debit and credit card transactions. These transactions occur on a daily basis…
The acquiring processor is the credit card processing provider. Typically, a third-party merchant services company or independent sales organization (ISO) works with the acquiring…
Routing Numbers The ABA routing number, also known as the transit number, can often be referred to by banks as the ABA RTN. This is a nine-digit number located at the bottom of a…
Most people know that affiliated companies are somehow related, but few people know the exact legal definition of an affiliate and how it differs from a subsidiary company.…
Many people visit affiliated retailers without even knowing the difference between this and any other sort of business. The truth is that the majority of major chains and large…
An affinity card is a credit card that features a logo and imagery associated with a specific organization, a group or a club that certain people connect with, support or like for…
Altered credit cards are credit cards that have been illegally changed to reflect new cardholder information, numbers and expiration dates. This scheme has been around since credit…
American Express is one of several brands of credit cards that a merchant can accept at his/her business. AMEX is often added by a business owner to his/her merchant account for…
A fully functional credit card processing system requires the adoption of numerous standards at the local, national and international levels. The private, non-profit American…
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is involved in accrediting organizations that set standards for technology. The ANSI prefix (also known as the PAN prefix) is the…
“You have been approved” is the message you receive in the mail for your credit card. It is also the message for when your financial transaction has been completed. When a credit…
An approved auditor is someone who is analyzes a company’s financial papers and control systems to determine if the company’s financial reports are clean, or free of misstatements…
Disputes arising between credit card issuers and customers, or with clients holding merchant accounts, may be settled through a streamlined mediation process known as arbitration.…
The merchant account statement might include something labeled as “Assessments” or “Assessment Fees.” These are industry-wide fees that are determined by each specific credit card…
The credit card issuing banks also have their own associations. When a merchant account is opened, it can draw upon this larger association of financial institutions for services,…
There are fees attached to withdrawing money from an ATM. The fact of the matter is that those who operate the ATM’s have to make a profit for themselves as well. These fees are…
The ATM System
Most people are very familiar with using an ATM, also known as an Automated Teller Machine. What is less common knowledge is the operating system behind the cash…
An identity verification process which allows authentication tokens to be used. Authentication validates a STAR account holder’s identity and is a necessary security process
Programs that verify the identity of an account holder during STAR Internet transactions. Authentication programs use the appropriate authentication tokens for the type of…
An authentication token is something that you use frequently when going online and logging into your favorite websites, but most people don’t know what it is or how it works. This…
The merchant account must be able to handle all types of credit card processing challenges. The online marketplace has placed plenty of obstacles in the way of achieving proper…
Not to be confused with authentication, authorization ensures that the card holder has adequate credit or adequate funds for a transaction. After an authorization takes place,…
When a card holder purchases an item and uses the “credit” option, the merchant obtains an authorization code for the amount of the transaction. The approved authorization code…
An authorization center is a common entity encountered during credit card processing. Nearly all credit and debit card transaction requests go through one of these centers, but…
The merchant account is represented by the acquiring processing bank during certain credit card processing disputes. At times, a chargeback dispute may be settled behind-the-scenes…
Each step of credit card processing is given its own term. When a customer swipes his credit or debit card at a store, the electronic point-of-sale (POS) machine sends an…
The process of crediting funds from a customer to a company to pay a bill, which can be managed automatically via regularly scheduled electronic transactions.
An account generally carries both a current balance and available balance. Before delving into the ins and outs of an available balance, it’s helpful to understand the term,…
The credit that a cardholder has left on an account. Available credit is calculated by subtracting a cardholder’s total outstanding balance from the cardholder’s credit limit.
When a bank representative sets up a merchant’s business to process credit card and other electronic transactions, he asks for the merchant’s monthly average sales ticket amount to…
The “Address Verification System,” also known by its acronym “AVS,” is a credit card processing security system designed to prevent thieves from pretending to be legitimate card…