Merchant Account Glossary (K-N)

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><br /><strong>Key</strong><br />When used in the context of encryption, a series of numbers which are used by an encryption algorithm to transform plaintext data into encrypted (ciphertext) data, and vice versa.<br /><br /><strong>Keyed Transaction</strong><br />A credit card number is manually entered into a POS terminal rather than swiped due to bad magnetic stripe or when cardholder is ordering merchandise or services via the telephone or Internet. <br /><br /><br /><strong>Large Ticket Rate</strong><br />Visa and MasterCard have created special interchange rates that incent the merchant to process higher dollar credit card transactions. Large ticket transactions are often greater than $100,000.00 and may exceed several million dollars.<br /><br /><strong>Level III</strong><br />Level III purchase card information refers to the ability to process detailed purchase information with the financial credit card transaction. The supplemental information typically includes data elements like a Customer Code, Invoice and Order number, Part Number, Item Description, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Unit Price, etc. Level III (Level-3) is a feature associated with purchase card (or purchasing card) programs.<br /><br /><strong>Level-3</strong><br />Level-3 purchase card information refers to the ability to process detailed purchase information with the financial credit card transaction. The supplemental information typically includes data elements like a Customer Code, Invoice and Order number, Part Number, Item Description, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Unit Price, etc. Level-3 (Level-III) is a feature associated with purchase card (or purchasing card) programs.<br /><br /><strong>Line Item Detail</strong><br />Line item detail is the specific information that is carried in a Level-3 (Level III) purchase card (or purchasing card) transaction. The supplemental information typically includes data elements like a Customer Code, Invoice and Order number, Part Number, Item Description, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Unit Price, etc.<br /><br /><strong><br />Magnetic Stripe</strong><br />A stripe of magnetic information affixed to the back of a plastic credit or debit card. It contains customer and account information required to complete electronic financial transactions. The physical and magnetic characteristics of this stripe are specified in the International Organization for Standardization standards 7810, 7811, and 7813. <br /><br /><strong>Magnetic-Stripe Reader</strong><br />A device that reads information from the magnetic stripe and transmits that information to a transaction processor or computer terminal. Also referred to as card reader.<br /><br /><strong>Magnetic-Stripe Terminal</strong><br />A terminal that reads the magnetic stripe on a plastic card. <br /><br /><strong>Mail Order Telephone Order (MO/TO)</strong><br />Card and cardholder not present at the POS at the time of sale. Internet processing is also referred to as MOTO. <br /><br /><strong>Mail/Phone Order Merchant</strong><br />A merchant that transacts business by mail or phone. <br /><br /><strong>Mail/Phone Order Transaction</strong><br />A transaction where a cardholder orders goods or services from a merchant by telephone, mail or other means of telecommunication, and neither the card nor the cardholder is present at the merchant outlet. <br /><br /><strong>Manual Close</strong><br />A batch close that must be initiated by the merchant on a daily basis, as opposed to an auto close at a pre-set time.<br /><br /><strong>MasterCard</strong><br />MasterCard International Inc., and all of its subsidiaries and affiliates. <br /><br /><strong>MasterCard Acquirer</strong><br />A member that signs a MasterCard merchant or disburses currency to a MasterCard cardholder in a cash disbursement, and directly or indirectly enters the resulting transaction receipt into interchange. <br /><strong><br />MasterCard Card</strong><br />A card that bears the MasterCard symbol, enabling a MasterCard cardholder to obtain goods, services, or cash from a MasterCard merchant or an acquirer. <br /><br /><strong>MasterCard Issuer</strong><br />A member that issues MasterCard cards. <br /><br /><strong>Merchant</strong><br />An entity that contracts with merchant banks or ISO&#39;s to originate transactions.<br /><strong><br />Merchant Agreement</strong><br />A written agreement between a merchant and a bank containing their respective rights, duties, and warranties with respect to acceptance of the bankcard and matters related to the bankcard activity.<br /> <br /><strong>Merchant Bank</strong><br />Bank that has a merchant agreement with a merchant to accept (acquire) deposits generated by bankcard transactions. <br /><br /><strong>Merchant Category Code</strong><br />Four-digit classification codes used in the warning bulletin, authorization, clearing, and settlement systems to identify the type of merchant business in various stages of transaction processing. <br /><strong><br />Merchant Depository Account</strong><br />Demand deposit account established by a merchant with the acquiring bank to receive payment for sales drafts submitted to the bank card plan. <br /><br /><br /><strong>Merchant Number</strong><br />A series or group of digits that uniquely identifies the merchant to the merchant signing bank for account and billing purposes. <br /><strong><br />Merchant Services Provider</strong><br />A bank, an ISO, or any other firm that provides the various services required for the processing of a merchant&#39;s credit card sales.<br /><br /><strong>Merit</strong><br />MasterCard&#39;s requirements for obtaining favorable interchange rates. Similar to CPS requirements by Visa. <br /><strong><br />MID</strong><br />Acronym for merchant identification number. In the credit card industry, a merchant ID is a number provided to a merchant by a credit card processor when that merchant retains the services of that processor. Also sometimes called the merchant number. Account number assigned to an approved merchant account by a processor <br /><br /><strong>Mid-Qualified</strong><br />A credit card transaction that is downgraded from a qualified transaction level for various reasons such as a hand keyed transaction or a transaction batch that has not been closed in the proper time frames <br /><br /><strong>Monthly Minimum</strong><br />A merchant&#39;s minimum charge for a month of service. If the monthly discount charge is less than the minimum charge requirement, the difference will be charged, totaling the monthly minimum. The minimum amount that will be charged to a merchant by a merchant services provider in any given month. If the merchant account activity does not generate the monthly minimum, the account holder is automatically charged the difference.<br /><strong><br />Multi Merchant</strong><br />Some POS equipment will process more than one merchant on the same unit. (Used in Salons, medical offices, where more than one merchant may process).<br /><br /><strong>Multiple Transaction Processing (Multi-Trans)</strong><br />Electronic communications process where multiple authorization requests and responses are exchanged during a single phone connection with the third-party transaction processor. <br /><br /><strong>NAICS Code</strong><br />Acronym for North American Industry Classification System. Common industry definitions for Canada, Mexico and the United States. This system is replacing the SIC Code system. <br /><strong><br />NAPCP</strong><br />Acronym for the National Association of Purchase Card Professionals. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use and growth of Purchasing Cards. More information may be found at www.napcp.org.<br /><br /><strong>Network</strong><br />Company and system used to authorize and capture credit card transactions.<br /><br /><strong>Non-Qualified Transaction</strong><br />A credit card transaction that is downgraded from a qualified and mid-qualified transaction level for various reasons such as when a corporate or purchase card is used rather than a personal card or if a batch is not transmitted within specific time frames. <br /><br /><strong>Non-Qualified Transaction Fees (NON-Qual)</strong><br />Bankcard sales transactions that do not meet set Visa/MasterCard criteria for that particular merchant and are processed at a higher interchange rate. An example of this is a merchant that is retail (card present) that processes a card-not-present transaction (or manually enters card data rather than swiping the magnetic stripe through the terminal). The merchant will pay the difference between what they should have paid on retail and what they actually qualified for (card not present). This difference is called non-qualified interchange fees.<br /><br /><strong>Non-Repudiation</strong><br />Cryptographic assurance that a message sender cannot later deny sending a message, or that the recipient cannot deny receipt</font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><strong><a href="http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com/offshore_merchant_account_terminologies_h_to_i.html">previous </a> <a href="http://www.offshoremerchantexperts.com/offshore_merchant_account_terminogies_o_to_r.html"> next </a></strong></font></p>