Jargon Buster:
The world of merchant services can be incredibly confusing, so we at Service Central wanted to explain some of the terms and what they mean.
Acquiring Banks – An acquiring bank (or acquirer) is a bank that accepts and processes card payments across networks including MasterCard and Visa on a merchant’s behalf.
E-Commerce – E-commerce is short for ‘electronic commerce’, a term used to describe any commercial transactions conducted across the Internet.
Payment Gateway – A payment gateway is the software that transmits financial information between the acquiring bank and the issuing bank in order to authorise payments
Interchange – Interchange fees describe the fees that the merchant’s bank account pays each time a customer makes a card-based transactions. The fees are paid to the acquiring bank to cover the potential cost associated with approving payments.
Merchant Account – A merchant account is a type of bank account that enables businesses to accept payments in multiple ways, usually credit and debit card transactions.
Point Of Sale – Point of sale is the physical location a payment for goods or services are carried out – and cover everything from cash payments to card transactions
Electronic Point of Sale – Also known as EPOS, specifically refers to digital or electronic till systems that encompass transactions made outside of the point of sale (POS) location. EPOS systems have wide-ranging functionality and companies often use them to draw accurate stock-level statistics or sales data to help run operations more efficiently.
Contactless – Contactless refers to technologies that allow certain types of debit or credit cards to contact wirelessly to an electronic card reader in order to make a card payment
Payment Terminal – A payment terminal is a device that interfaces with debit or credit cards to make electronic funds transfers
Shopping Cart – A shopping cart is an electronic commerce software that acts as the user-interface for customers shopping online.
Merchant Accounts:
CHP – Cardholder Present – A payment details are captured in person, at the time of the sale.
CNP – Cardholder not Present – A card, not present (CNP) transaction occurs when neither the cardholder nor the credit card is physically present at the time of the transaction. EG, over the phone payments.
MID – Merchant Identification – A unique number assigned to a merchant account to identify it throughout the course of processing activities
MMSC – Minimum Monthly Service Charge – Most merchant account providers charge a Minimum Transaction Fee if the total transaction processing fees for the month do not add up to a minimum amount. Please note, that Service Central does not charge this fee.
PCI DSS – The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards formed in 2004 by Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, JCB International and American Express. Governed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), the compliance scheme aims to secure credit and debit card transactions against data theft and fraud.
If you would like, a FREE review of your current costings, or would like some more information about what Service Central can support you with then please get in touch with our dedicated UK based team on;
0333 9969 334
