Glossary of Terms

Magnetic Stripe

A stripe located on the back of a card. This stripe contains magnetically encoded cardholder account information.

Magnetic Stripe Reader

A device capable of reading the encoded information contained within the magnetic stripe of a credit card, debit card, ATM card, etc.

Mail Order

A transaction engaged in by a cardholder through correspondence with a merchant. (See also Non-Face-to-Face Transaction.)

Manual Entry

Also known as key-entered; manual entry is a transaction where the credit card number, expiration date, and transaction information are entered by hand into a terminal or computer.

Merchant

Any business having met the qualification standards of Visa, MasterCard and Discover® Network and has been approved by an acquiring member, to accept credit cards as payment for goods and services.

Merchant Agreement

A written contract between a merchant and an acquirer that details their respective rights responsibilities, and warranties.

Merchant Bank

The financial institution selected by the merchant where their business checking account will be maintained. This account is used for all debits and credits to be processed for the merchant account.

Merchant Category Code (MCC)

A classification code identifying the merchant's business type with MasterCard.

Merchant Identification Number

A number each merchant is provided under the card acceptance agreement, which is unique to that merchant.

Merchant Plate

A plastic or metal plate containing merchant information such as the merchant name, merchant account number, city and state. The merchant plate is affixed to the imprinter so that the merchant information can be embossed on the sales drafts.

Merchant Statement

A summary of merchant transactions, which is produced and mailed to a merchant on a monthly basis.

The monthly fee usually includes the customer service and statement fee. The fee generally ranges from $10 to $25.

Monthly Minimum

A monthly minimum may be charged for merchants. For example, if a $25 minimum fee is charged, and you do not incur $25 worth of processing fees (discount rate plus per authorization fees) in a month, you will be charged the difference. Generally, if you process $1,000 a month, you will not be charged this fee as you will have met your monthly minimum.

Monthly Service Fee

The monthly service fee usually includes customer service support and the statement fee.

Monthly Volume

The total dollar amount of all sales accepted for Visa, MasterCard or Discover Network in a given month.