Credit Card Machines 101.com: Buying guide to credit card terminal & check reader equipment

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Credit Card Payment Glossary

Address Verification System (AVS) - service that checks to see if the billing address given by the customer matches the credit card.

Automatic Check Handling (ACH) - ACH can also stand for Automatic Clearinghouse. ACH is a form of electronic payment. There are two ways payments can be transferred: by wire transfer, or through an automated clearinghouse. All ACH transactions are settled the same way checks are.

Card Verification Value (CVV2) - the 3-digit security number printed on the back of Visa credit cards. Requiring this number during checkout can reduce credit card fraud

Card Verification Code (CVC2) - security number printed on the back of MasterCard credit cards. Requiring this number during checkout can reduce credit card fraud

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - The electronic communication and transfer of business transactions, such as orders, confirmations, and invoices.

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) - Allows a customer to authorize transfer of government benefits such as food stamps to make a purchase.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) - The transfer of money initiated through an electronic terminal, ATM machine, computer or telephone.

Electronic Data Capture (EDC) - using a credit card terminal for submitting credit card information to a merchant account provider.

EMV - Stands for Europay, MasterCard, Visa, and is the global standard for ensuring that smart card systems can interoperate.

Gateway - Software that resides on a 3rd-party system that processes customer credit card transactions between a virtual terminal or ecommerce website and the merchant bank.

Magnetic Swipe Reader (MSR) - an electronic device designed to read and interpret the information contained in the magnetic stripe of a credit or debit card.

Merchant account - A bank account established by a merchant to receive payment for goods and services using credit cards.

Merchant Identification Number (MID) - number provided by a merchant bank to identify the merchant in an ecommerce transaction.

M-Commerce - term used to describe the transaction of goods and services via wireless devices such as a PDA, Blackberry, smartphone or cell phone.

Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO) - acronym for mail-order/telephone-order.

Merchant Service Provider (MSP) - bank that provides processing for credit card transactions and that issues merchant accounts.

National Check Network (NCN) - Service bureau that has over 4.5 million records in it's database used to verify and authorize transactions that involve customer payment by check.

Point Of Sale terminal (POS) - Electronic device, also called a credit card terminal, used by retail businesses to process credit card transactions at a checkout counter.

Personal Idenification Number (PIN) - Bank code used to identify a person using a credit card or debit card.

Payment gateway - Software that resides on a 3rd-party system that processes customer credit card transactions between a virtual terminal or ecommerce website and the merchant bank.

Real-time processing - processing a credit card transaction immediately after the purchase has been made, such as on an ecommerce website.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) - software used to encrypt and decrypt credit card information from an online order on an ecommerce website.

Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) - A secure payment protocol developed by Visa and MasterCard to ensure security for credit card transactions over the Internet.

Smart cards - Similar to credit cards, but have a micro-chip embedded in the card that holds information about the cardholder.

Virtual terminal - credit card terminal implemented in software, allowing a merchant to enter a customer's credit card information from a phone or fax order.

Sellers of credit card machines