Glossary of Terms

Face-to-face Transaction

A transaction by where the card and cardholder are both present at the merchant's location to facilitate the magnetic stripe of the credit card being read by the merchant's terminal or a manual imprint being obtained.

Financial Institution

Any commercial bank, federal, or state savings and loan association, federal or state savings bank, or credit union. (See Bank Card)

Fraudulent Transaction

A transaction where a cardholder's account number or credit card was used without the cardholder's consent or authorization.

Hologram

A laser-created photograph that produces a three-dimensional image. Used as an anti-counterfeiting measure on bankcards.

Imprinter

A device used by the merchant to produce an image of the embossed characters of the bankcard on all copies of sales drafts and credit slips. (See Card Imprint)

Interchange—System managed by Visa and MasterCard where data is exchanged between the Issuer and Acquirer.

Interchange Fee

The amount paid by the merchant bank (acquirer) to the cardholder institution (issuer) on each sales transaction. Interchange rates vary according to the type of merchant (retail, travel, and entertainment, mail order, etc.) and the method or processing (paper, EDC).

Issuer

Financial institutions, that allow their customers (cardholders) to access deposit accounts and credit lines through payment cards, such as credit or debit cards.