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Card Knowledge Glossary

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S

Sales Draft

A paper record evidencing the purchase of goods or services by a cardholder.

SDP (SDP Program)

SDP is an acronym for Site Data Protection program. An information security standard sponsored and promoted by MasterCard that applies to any organization that stores or handles their credit card account numbers.

Settlement

The reporting of settlement amounts owed by one member to another, or to a card issuing concern, as a result of clearing. This is the actual buying and selling of transactions between the merchants, processors, and acquirers; along with the card issuing entities.

Settlement Bank

A bank, including a correspondent or intermediary bank, that is both located in the country where a member's settlement currency is the local currency, and authorized to execute settlement of interchange on behalf of the member or the member's bank.

SIC Code

Standard Industry Classification Code. A system used to categorize businesses by industry group. This system is being replaced by the NAICS Coding system.

Site Data Protection Program (SDP)

An information security standard sponsored and promoted by MasterCard that applies to any organization that stores or handles their credit card account numbers.

Smart Card

A plastic card containing a computer chip with memory and CPU capabilities. Such a card may be used for identification, to store information or financial amounts, or other forms of data. Also called an integrated circuit card or a chip card.

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer - An encryption standard devised by Netscape Communications for secure communication over the World Wide Web.

Standard Floor Limit

A floor limit that varies by merchant type. This refers to a dollar limit on transactions above which authorization requests are required.

Statement

A written record prepared by a financial institution, usually once a month, listing all transactions for an account, including deposits, withdrawals, checks, electronic transfers, fees and other charges, and interest credited or earned. The statement is usually mailed to the customer.

Stored-Value Card

A stored-value card is a credit-card-sized device, implanted with a computer chip, with stored money value. A reloadable stored-value card can be reused by transferring value to it from an automated teller machine or other device. A disposable card cannot be reloaded.

T

T&E

An abbreviation for Travel and Entertainment.

T&E Merchant

An airline, car rental company, or hotel whose primary function is to provide travel-related services. A travel agency (excluding one that is primarily engaged in the sale of transportation or travel-related arrangement services by mail/phone order) is a T&E merchant to the extent that it acts as the agent of an airline, car rental company, or hotel.

TCP/IP

Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A standard format for transmitting data from one computer to another. TCP deals with the construction of the data. IP routes the data from one computer to another.

Terminal ID

In the payment card industry, a number provided to a merchant by a credit card processor when that merchant retains the services of that credit card processor to uniquely identify a terminal. Also sometimes called the terminal number. A credit card processor may assign several terminal IDs to a given merchant's terminals although that merchant has a single merchant ID with that processor.

Third-Party Transaction Processor

An entity that validates and authorizes credit card purchases. They may also service the actual accounts on behalf of the issuers, emboss cards, and mail cards to cardholders.

Transaction

(1) any agreement between two or more parties that establishes a legal obligation. (2) the act of carrying out such an obligation. (3) all activities that effect a deposit account that are performed at the request of the account holder. (4) All events that cause some change in the assets, liabilities or net worth of a business. (5) Action between a cardholder and a merchant or a cardholder and a member that results in activity on the cardholder account.

Transaction Identifier

A unique 15 character value that VISA assigns to each transaction and returns to the Acquirer in the authorization response. VISA uses this value to maintain an audit trail throughout the life cycle of the transaction and all related transactions, such as reversals, adjustments, confirmations, and chargebacks.

Transaction Processor

An entity that validates and authorizes credit card purchases. They may also service the actual accounts on behalf of the issuers, emboss cards, and mail cards to cardholders.

Transaction Type

A specific type of financial detail transaction activity that can be submitted to the clearing system.

Travel Card

Travel Card(s) are one type of corporate/commercial card. They are typically issued to individuals who have to travel and incur travel-related expenses on behalf of their organization. A travel card program may be configured in many different ways by the card-holding organization and its issuer to meet a variety of business needs.

Triple DES (DES3 OR 3DES)

A data encryption algorithm based on DES in which information is processed through the DES algorithm three times.

U

UN/SPSC Code

Universal Standard Product and Service Classification Code. A Global commodity standard - 10 digit, hierarchical code used to consistently classify products and services.

Unbundled Fees

Other fees paid by the merchant to the merchant bank or other contracted party for transaction processing.

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

A set of business-related laws dealing with the sale of goods, their transportation and delivery, financing, storage, payments, and various other commercial transactions. These model laws have been adopted, with minor modifications, by most states to provide some consistency among states' commercial laws. They were drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.

Uniform Commercial Code Article 4a (UCC 4A)

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a comprehensive body of state law governing commercial transactions. Article 4A covers certain funds transfers, including ACH credit transactions not subject to the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

User Authentication

Process of validating that a user is who they represent themselves to be.

User ID

The identity of the person authorized to log on to the system.