Glossary

3D Secure eVBV / MasterCard SecureCode

3D Secure is the technology developed by Visa & MasterCard to ensure internet transactions are secure. E-VBV and SecureCode are the individual brand names

American Express (AMEX)

A card issuer, card scheme, and merchant acquirer. We can transfer over existing AMEX merchant accounts. Yorkshire Payments can also offer new AMEX merchant accounts at 1.9%. AMEX bill the merchant separately.

ATV

Average Transaction Value. Increasingly important in pricing calculations

Authorisation Fee

A fee charged to the merchant every time a transaction is made. Sometimes includes declined transactions.

AVS

Address Verification Service – address details taken during CNP transactions and passed on to the acquirer for onward checking with the card issuer.

Bluetooth

Wireless technology using short wavelength radio transmissions to exchange data over short distances.

Card Issuer

The bank that issued the specific payment card being used.

Card Scheme

The payment scheme that banks and other financial institutions become members of in order to issue or acquire payment card transactions.  E.g. Visa, MasterCard or Amex.

Cashback Fee

Yorkshire Payments do not charge merchants a fee for a cashback facility.

Cashback

The facility where a merchant can take a debit card payment and in exchange provide the consumer with an equivalent amount of cash.

Chargeback Fee

A fee that is charged to a merchant when the card issuer forcibly reverses a payment and returns the funds to the customer.  This could be for a number of reasons such as fraud, credit disputes or refund disputes.

ClientLine

A service provided by First Data and Cardnet to merchants. Gives online access to their transaction history.

CNP

Cardholder Not Present

CVV/CV2

Three digit code on the signature strip on the back of a card, used to increase the security of CNP payments

E-Commerce

A term used to refer to online payment processing via a secure website

GPRS

Technology that allows mobile payments

Gratuities

A feature that allows customers at a bar / restaurant to add a tip to their card payments

Ingenico

Our preferred terminal supplier

Interchange

A small fee paid by a merchant acquirer to the card issuer. Some acquirers show this separately while others include the interchange in the headline rate.

ISO

Independent Sales Organisation – a company that sells payment card products on behalf of a merchant acquirer.  E.G. Yorkshire Payments, PaymentSense, Cardsave, RMS

MCC

Merchant Category Code. A code specifying the industry sector of a business which is used in conjunction with other contributing factors to assess risk.

Merchant Account

The account that a merchant holds with their card acquirer

Merchant Acquirer

A bank or financial institution that processes payment card transactions for their merchants. E.G. First Data, Elavon, Barclaycard, Global Payments, AIB

Merchant Statement

A statement from a merchant’s previous provider.  This allows us to get a full picture of a merchant’s agreed deal with their current provider, and also to determine factors such as ATV and turnover.

MID

Merchant Identification Number. Issued by the acquirer to identify customers. Multiple locations, currencies, MOTO and recurring transactions will require their own MID even if they are the same merchant.

MMSC

Minimum Monthly Service Charge – The amount that will be charged should a merchant’s monthly card processing fees amount to less than this amount. 

MOTO

Mail Order / Telephone Order accounts (also known as VT – Virtual Terminal) – uses a web interface to process CNP transactions

Non-Qualifying Rates

All CNP transactions are now classified as Non-Secure, and as such incur a premium fee per transaction.

NTC (New to Cards)

A merchant who does not currently use a card payment facility

PED/PINPAD

Pin Entry Device. Some merchants have a separate ‘terminal’ for the customer to enter their PIN

PIN

Personal Identification Number – a 4 digit number used to verify a cardholder’s identity.

Pre-Auth

Allows the merchant to obtain advanced approval or verification that sufficient funds are available to make a subsequent purchase. Often used as an alternative to deposits.

Proof of Bank

Documentation required for every application in order to prove that funds will be going into a bank account that is owned by the merchant account holder

PSP

Payment Service Provider.  Provider of a secure payment page for e-commerce merchants to take payments. The PSP passes the card details straight onto the merchant’s acquiring bank to be processed.

Recurring Transactions

A facility that enables e-commerce merchants to take repeat payments from the same customer at set intervals without the customer having to enter their details each time.

Refund Fee

A charge that is applied every time a refund is processed through the MID

Switcher

A merchant who is currently processing with another acquirer, or has done in the recent past.

TID

Terminal ID. A unique reference number for each terminal in our estate.

Verifone

An alternative terminal provider.

Virtual Terminal

Also called MOTO. Uses a web portal to process CNP payments.

Outage warning

We have been advised of an ongoing Spire SPg7 GPRS service disruption that some merchants may be seeing.

This is currently under investigation by Spire as a priority.

We will update as more information becomes available.

Please try restarting your terminal every 30 minutes. 

Please monitor our social media or this website for updates or alternatively, you can call us on 01422 323785.

– Yorkshire Payments Support Team.