3D Secure

The 3-D Secure™ protocol (named for the Three Domains of online card transactions: Issuer, Acquirer and Interoperability/Internet/Settlement Network) addresses this issue by ensuring that participating cards may only be used in a card-not-present environment if a correct password or other identity verifying information is provided for that card upon authorization – an identifier selected by the registered owner of the card upon registration with the service.

Address Verification

The Address Verification System (AVS) is a system used to verify the identity of a person claiming to own a credit card. The system compares the billing address of the credit card provided by the user with the address on file with the credit card company. Other credit card security features include the CVV2 (Card Verification Value or Card Security Code) number and the expiration date.

ADS

Activation During Shopping (ADS) gives cardholders the opportunity to enroll in Verified by Visa (VBV) while they are shopping at a participating VBV merchant.

APACS

APACS is the British trade association of the financial service companies (Association for Payment Clearing Services). It provides a forum for banks to discuss future development of the banking system.

ATM

Automatic Teller Machines provide a solution to access cash with a credit or debit card. A PIN number has to be entered for security. Other terms include cash point (UK), Geldautomat (Germany), Bankomat (Austria), Bancomat (Switzerland, Italy).

Authentification

Authentification is the validation of the identity of a cardholder or merchant or a transaction.

Authorisation Services

Consist of authorisation requests only, routed through the acquirer’s systems. Neither capture nor reconciliation services available.

Authorization

Authorization means getting approval from the bank of the consumer making an online payment.

Bank transfer

A bank transfer is made from one entity’s bank account to the other entity’s bank account. It’s the most common payment method in Europe with several million transactions processed each day. It includes payment in stores with debit cards and payment of bills through direct transfer. A special variant of bank transfer is wire transfer.

BIC

The Bank Identifier Code (BIC or SWIFT code) is the unique identification code of a particular bank. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, international wire (bank) transfers and also for the exchange of other messages between banks. The codes can also be found on account statements. It is often used in conjunction with IBAN, as some bank outside Europe do not yet recognize it. Banks in Mexico use a similar system called CLABE.

Capture

A merchant might choose to submit a payment to a bank or credit card company only when the order has been carried out. In this case, authorization  and capture as separated. While authorization refers to getting approval for a payment, capture refers to actually submitting the payment and deducting the amount from the cardholder’s account. Thereby subsequently it is the start of money flow from the customer to the merchant. It’s also common to describe this two-part process as first authorization and then clearing and settlement.

Capture Services

Consist of both authorisation and capture processes, routed through the acquirer’s systems.

Card Association

A card association is network of issuing banks and acquiring banks that process payment cards for a specific brand, such as VISA or MasterCard. The card associations VISA and MasterCard are each comprised of over 20.000 card issuing banks.

Card Not Present

CNP or Card Not Present is a general term describing situation where the card holder is not physically present at the retailer at the time of the transaction, for example at online transactions and MOTO transactions.

Card Security Code

The Card Security Code (CSC), also known as the Card Verification Value or Code (CVV or CVC), is a security feature enabled for credit or debit card transactions, giving increased protection against credit card fraud.

There are two types of security codes:

The first code, called CVC1 or CVV1, is encoded on the magnetic strip of the card and used for transactions made in person. The second code is CVV2 or CVC2. This CSC (also known as a CCID or Credit Card ID) is often asked for by merchants in order to secure transactions taking place over the Internet, by mail, fax or over the phone; transactions where the card is not physically present for the merchant to verify. Due to increased attempts at card fraud, it is now often mandatory to provide the CVV2 code when cardholder is not present in person. The code is usually to be found on the back of the credit card, appearing as the numbers following the standard 16-digit credit card number.

Cash Management Services

Consist of the authorisation, capture and settlement processes, including cash management services (reconciliation and settlement of funds, plus financial reporting).

Chargeback

When a Chargeback occurs, a credit card transaction is reversed (Reversal): a customer has ordered the card issuing bank to credit back to the card the value of the purchases made. The issuer, then, in turn, bills the payment provider (acquiring bank), where the cost of the chargeback is borne ultimately by the merchant.

Chargebacks occur in case of unauthorized activity on a given card or when the customer is dissatisfied with product or service obtained. Chargebacks may also arise from technical deficiencies – duplicate purchases, failure to credit back accounts for product returns/ cancellations and unapproved authorizations by the merchant bank.

CQR Merchant account

A merchant account allows a business to accept credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and other forms of payment, widely known as "payment processing". Merchants who wish to receive non-cash payment for their goods or services, must typically apply for a merchant account through a merchant bank or PSP (Payment Service Provider). Therefore, in order for merchants to have CQR process payments on their behalf, an account with CQR is required.

Credit card

In the payment system named after the small plastic card the issuer lends money to the consumer (or user) to be paid later to the merchant. Credit card issuers usually waive interest charges if the balance is paid in full each month, but typically will charge full interest on the entire outstanding balance from the date of each purchase if the total balance is not paid (revolving credit).

Cross-border payments in Euro

Due to the European’s Commission regulation on cross-border payments in Euro the price difference between cross-border and national payments concerning credit transfers (bank transfers using IBAN and BIC), cash withdrawals at cash dispensers and payments by means of debit and credit cards. This regulation applies to all EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Island and Norway.

Debit card

A card provides a convenient payment alternative to cash – funds are withdrawn directly from a bank account or the remaining balance on the card. In some cases, the card is used exclusively on the internet with no physical card existing.

Direct debit

Direct debit is a payment system that allows an organization to instruct their bank to collect varying amounts directly from customers’ accounts. Depending on the form and country the customer has give an authorization either to the bank or to the organization (merchant).

ECB

European Central Bank

ELV

The Elektronisches Lastschrift Verfahren (ELV) is the German direct debit payment method.

EMV

EMV (= Eurocard, MasterCard & VISA) is a standard for embedding chips on a credit card to provide secure transactions at online terminals.

Eurozone

The Eurozone are those European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their sole official currency. Currently (2008) the Eurozone has fifteen members.

e-Wallet

An e-Wallet is a payment method where an amount of money gets prepaid into a wallet to be used for (micro) payments on the internet.

Many e-Wallet solutions also provide the possibility to credit this account from a credit or debit card (“top-up”). The e-Wallet may also be used for online purchases with the stored credit card data.

FSA

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is an independent non-governmental, quasi-judicial body and a company limited by guarantee regulating the financial services industry in the UK.

FTP

The File Transfer Protocol is used to send files from one computer to another over the internet.

HTML

The HyperText Markup Language is used to describe the structure, appearance and semantics of a document, in particular of a web page residing on a web server on the WWW or a local network.

HTTP and HTTPS

HTTP(S) is a scheme to identify a connection between a browser and a web server. In particular, HTTPS indicates a secure (SSL) connection.

IBAN

International Bank Account Number

ID

A number or code identifying an individual or company, e.g. the merchant identification number identifies the merchant towards the payment processor.

Internet

The internet is a network of world-wide interconnected computer networks transmitting data using the standard Internet protocol (IP). Often used interchangeably with the web or World Wide Web, the internet consists of many more services that just the web – services including email, file transfer, file sharing and many others.

Issuing bank

An issuing bank is bank offering card association branded payment cards directly to consumers.

MasterCard Secure Code

MasterCard Secure Code is a technology marketed by MasterCard for securing credit card transactions on the internet. As called 3-D secure, credit card holders have to enter an additional code to identify themselves against their credit card issuer.

Merchant

A merchant represents a single company. A company is also often an e-commerce entity with one or more websites or shops.

Micro payments

Micro payments are payments involving very small amounts of money. Often this term relates to payments too small to be affordably processed by credit card e.g. music tracks priced at EUR .99 in an online music store.

Mobile commerce

Mobile commerce includes in general any e-commerce transaction or payment done over wireless networks or telephony. In particular it is referred to e-commerce concluded by WAP or SMS over a mobile operator’s network.

Mobile operator

A mobile operator is either a company that operates it’s own mobile network – such as T-Mobile in Germany, Orange in the UK or KPN Mobile in the Netherlands – or virtual mobile operators (MVNO) with an own network (such as Debitel in Germany or Virgin Mobile in the UK).

MOTO

The transaction type MOTO (Mail Order / Telephone Order) is – besides online payments – another example of CNP transactions.

(Offline) bank transfer

A bank transfer or wire transfer is achieved by messages sent through a secure system, such as SWIFT, between two banks holding reciprocal accounts with each other. Due to EU regulation (cross-border payments in Euro) very low or no fees for transfers within the Eurozone apply; while transfers between this zone and external area can be expensive. An alternative are offers from companies offering Wire transfer for individuals, such as Western Union.

Online banking

Banks offer online banking service for their customers to perform internet banking, initiate transactions and to purchase financial services.

Payment Provider

A payment provider (acquirer or acquiring bank) is a bank providing a service to its business customers which allows them to accept card payments for sold merchandise. Acquiring banks are charged fees by the card companies which in turn are passed on to the merchants. There may be intermediate providers between the acquiring banks and merchants, so called Payment Service Provider (PSPs). The role of an acquiring bank differs from that of a card scheme or issuing bank, whose role is to issue credit cards to their customers.

Payment Reconciliation

Payment reconciliation allows merchants to match the funds deposited into their accounts by their acquirers or Payment Service Provider with the information in their own host systems. This process consists of two stages; first, from the acquirers to CQR (provider reconciliation) and second, from CQR to the merchant (merchant reconciliation), resulting in reporting mechanisms that allow the merchant to match incoming funds with processed payments.

PSP / Payment Service Provider

A Payment Service Provider is a company offering merchants online services for accepting electronic payments by a variety of payment methods. A PSP will typically connect to several acquirers, bank and networks, offering technical, economic and operational services.

PCI

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover have defined worldwide payment security standards that together form the PCI (Payment Card Industry) standard. All companies transmitting, processing or storing credit card data are encouraged to conform to the PCI standard.

Phishing

Phishing means to trick people into handing over sensitive and confidential information to unauthorized people. Gathered information, such as online banking login credentials and PIN numbers will be used by criminals to transfers funds, perform identity theft or presume other illegal activities.

PIN

A PIN is a personal identification number used for security reasons for retrieving cash at an ATM or for online transactions.

POS

Point of Sale

Pre-Paid / Post-Paid

A payment made in advance is also called a pre-paid payment. In contrast to this a payment made after a service has been consumed/started/purchased will be called post-paid.

PS Admin

The CQR Payment Service Backend Administration Tool, or PS Admin, is a secure web interface which allows merchants to access their pertinent transaction information in an easy-to-use format. Merchants can access detailed reporting tools, view the current state of any submitted payment, view merchant & shop specific security checks and access current and historical exchange rates. It’s the primary tool for merchants in configuring and administering their connection with the CQR system.

PSD

The Payment Service Directive is a European legislation targeted at the harmonization of the regulatory regime for payment services in EU member states (SEPA). It was approved by the European Parliament in 2007 and has to be implemented in the national legislations by (latest) 1 November 2009.

Reversal

A consumer may reverse a payment order, if e.g. the underlying transaction – such as goods or services ordered – did not take place or the consumer was not satisfied with the quality of the service. It may also happen if the consumer thinks the payment transaction was done erroneously.

Reconciliation

When items are being compared or matched, this process is also called reconciliation. Related to online payments, reconciliation refers to the matching of funds deposited into merchant’s accounts with the merchants own information. Reconciliation happens between the acquirers & CQR and also between CQR and the merchant.

Risk Management Services

Consist of a number of risk checks applied during the processing of online payments, which provide anti-fraud and security services that help merchants reduce fraud exposure, safeguard their business, and reduce internal costs.

SEPA

SEPA is the abbreviation for ‘Single Euro Payments Area’, the new European payments infrastructure for the Euro zone. The vision and goal of the European commission is to provide a single set of payment instruments for the citizens and companies of the European Union. Through SEPA there will be only domestic payments within Europe.

Settlement

Settlement is the final step in the payment process where CQR or its financial partners pay out the processed transactions (debiting fees and any chargebacks and/or crediting refunds) into the merchant’s bank account. This process is accompanied by CQR settlement reporting.

Settlement Services

Consist of both the authorisation and capture processes, routed through the acquirer’s systems, including the processing of payment files. Acquiring banks submit the Electronic Payment Advice (EPA) reconciliation files to CQR Payment Solutions systems for settlement purposes.

Shop

A shop is the equivalent of a merchant’s website.

SSL

SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a protocol enabling secure communications over the internet and in particular between a website and the customer’s browser (web browser). Data is encrypted to ensure that no one can access it – e.g. credit card numbers. The customer’s browser presents a warning – usually a small key or padlock – during the secure connection. By clicking on it, the customer can view the merchant’s certificate and check the authenticity of the server.

SWIFT

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) operates a worldwide financial messaging network exchanges messages betweens banks and other financial institutions. It’s a cooperative society under Belgian law linking over 8.000 financial institutions in 208 countries.

TAN

A transaction authentication number, or TAN, is used in online banking as a single use password to authorize financial transactions. TANs come in different forms: printed on a list (TAN), sent by SMS (mTAN), in an indexed list (iTAN) or with a sm@rt-TAN generator.

Transaction and Settlement Currencies

Transaction currencies are the currencies in which our merchants price their products. Settlement currencies are the currencies in which CQR and its financial partners use for remittance.

URL

A URL or Uniform Resource Locator is a string representing a resource available on the internet. Such a resource could be a web page, but could also identify a video file or an email address.

User

User is the entity which represents the end-user, consumer or shopper, who wants to buy a certain product or service from a specific merchant’s website. In the CQR Payment Service users are associated with a merchant, and not with a shop. This means that a user of a certain merchant can access and use all shops associated with the merchant in question.

VAN

In offline bank transfer, a virtual account number, or VAN, is a customer reference number used to assign a certain bank transfer deposit – incoming into CQR’s system – to a customer.

Verified by ViSA

Verified by VISA is a technology used by VISA for securing credit card transactions on the internet. As called 3-D secure, credit card holders have to enter an additional code to identify themselves against their credit card issuer.

WAP

The Wireless Application Protocol, or WAP, is an international standard for communication in a wireless environment. In particular it is used to access the internet from a mobile phone.

A WAP browser provides similar services as a standard PC-based browser, but simplified to adjust to the restrictions of a mobile phone such as reduced screen size.

Web / World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the èinternet. Content on the web, e.g. web pages, is accessed with a web browser.

Web browser

A web browser is a software application presenting content (text, images, multimedia objects) located on a web page on the web or a local network. Web browsers use HTML to format and display content and HTTP(S) to request content from web servers. Popular browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Web page

A web page is content presented through a web server on the web. Web pages are viewed through a web browser over HTTP or HTTPS. The information is described by HTML or XHTML.

Website

A web site is a group of web pages, images, multimedia and other content hosted on one or more web server. Usually the pages within a website share a common root address (URL), a common domain name or common owner. Often this term is used along with web server or just server.

Wire transfer

The wire transfer – a precursor of the bank transfer - is a product of the telegraph companies, which made it possible to wire a money order from one office to another.

One of the largest companies offering wire transfers is Western Union, allowing transfer to and from individuals with an account at Western Union or any financial institution.