Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms - A
These Terms Occur Frequently on Our Website

ACH
See Automated Clearing House.

Address Verification Service (AVS)
A fraud-reduction service that allows the Merchant to verify a Cardholder's billing address prior to completing a Card Not Present Transaction.

Application Programming Interface (API)
An Interface which is used for accessing an application or a service from a program. An API makes it possible to use programs from within programs, therefore it is the foundation for modular systems with clearly defined Interfaces between separate components.

Approval Code
An Authorization Code indicating that the Transaction is approved and the Card may be honored.

ATM
See Automated Teller Machine.

Authorization
A required procedure by which a Merchant requests approval of a Transaction from the Issuer. See also Magnetic Swipe Authorization, Manual Entry Authorization or Voice Authorization.

Authorization Code
The code sent by the Issuer in response to an Authorization request that indicates whether the Transaction is approved. Responses may include: "Approved", "Declined", "Declined Pick-Up" or "Referral" ("Call Auth").

Automated Clearing House (ACH)
The funds transfer system governed by the rules of the National Automated Clearing House Association. ACH allows financial institutions to clear interbank entries electronically. A Merchant's DDA is debited and credited via ACH.

Automated Recurring Billing (ARB)
A convenient and easy-to-use tool used for submitting and managing recurring, or subscription-based, transactions. ARB provides multiple methods for creating subscriptions. Simply create a subscription in the Merchant Interface that includes the customer’s payment information, a billing amount, and payment schedule. Or allow your online customers to choose installment payments from your custom payment form when you integrate your Web site directly to our ARB application programming interface (API).

Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
Automated Teller Machines, cash points, allow you to access cash with a credit card or other card associated with your bank account. You need to enter your Personal Identification Number (PIN) into the machine to access cash.

AVS
See Address Verification Service.