| Term |
Description |
| ACH |
Automated Clearing House is a payment network for inter-bank
clearing and settlement. The ACH system is governed by the National Automated
Clearing House Association (NACHA). |
| ACH Credit |
An ACH transaction in which an agency's
customer initiates the transfer of funds through their financial
institution. The customer provides their financial institution with
the amount to be transferred and the agency’s depository bank
account information. The customer’s financial institution then
initiates an electronic transaction through the ACH network which
debits the customer’s bank account and credits the agency’s bank
account. |
| ACH Debit |
An ACH transaction in which an agency's
customer provides their bank account information and the amount owed to the agency to which
they owe money. The agency then instructs its financial services provider to
initiate an electronic transaction through the ACH network which debits the
customer’s bank account and credits the agency's account. |
| ACH Network |
A nationwide electronic funds transfer system governed by
the ACH Operating Rules and Guidelines, which processes electronically originated
credit and debit transfers for participating financial institutions. |
| ACH Transaction |
Automated Clearing House transactions include
both ACH Credit and ACH Debit which utilize the ACH network
for the electronic payments of funds. |
| Address Verification |
A service associated with credit card
authorization which verifies the
cardholder's address. Primarily used for non-face-to-face transactions. |
| Association Rules |
The rules, regulations, releases, interpretations and other
requirements imposed or adopted by the Visa or MasterCard associations. |
| Authorization |
The process which verifies that a cardholder account
is valid, that they are not above any credit limit, and
which reserves the credit amount on the account. |
| Authorization Approval Code |
A number provided to the agency by their
financial services provider confirming the authorization for a credit or debit card transaction. |
| Authorization Request |
An electronic message sent from the agency
to their financial services provider to request an authorization code for a
credit or debit card transaction. This message is forwarded by
the financial services provider to the appropriate card issuing
entity. |
| Authorization Response |
An electronic response sent by a card issuing
entity to a financial services provider in response to an
authorization request. This response is forwarded by the
financial services provider to the agency. Responses include
approvals, declines and referrals (soft declines). |
| Authorized User |
State agencies and departments, public
authorities, political subdivisions and other entities authorized by
statute to utilized Office of General Services contracts. |
| Backdrop Contracts |
State centralized contracts established by
the Office of General Services
which use pre-qualified contractors to provide products and obtain computer
consulting, systems integration and other computer related services. |
| Batch Authorization |
An off-line authorization process used for
a large number of transactions, which are batched and transmitted to a
financial services provider on a scheduled basis. Batch
authorization is best suited for non-face-to-face transactions. |
| Batch Processing |
A group of credit card transactions made by an
agency during a specific
period of time, usually one business day. Batches may include
transactions awaiting settlement or authorization and settlement. |
Blended Rates/
Bundled Fees |
Credit card processing fees that combine
Visa and MasterCard interchange and assessment rates (Blended Rates) and
financial services provider's fees
(Bundled Fees) into a single rate. |
| Cardholder |
The person to whom a credit card is issued. The
cardholder uses a payment card that has been granted by an issuer. |
| Card Issuer |
The entity which issues the credit or
debit card to the cardholder. American Express and Discover
directly issue cards to their cardholders. Visa and MasterCard
cards are issued by financial institutions (issuing banks) which are
members of the Visa and/or MasterCard association. Debit cards
are issued to cardholders by the financial institutions in which they
maintain their account. |
| Card Present Transactions |
Face-to-face transactions in which the
credit card is present and the card information is captured from the
magnetic strip by swiping the card into a point-of-sale device or, by
entering the card information into the agency's payment device. |
| Card Not Present Transactions |
A transaction made without the presence of
a credit card. Examples include: telephone order, mail order, or
Internet order |
| Chargeback |
Dispute procedure that occurs when a
cardholder or card issuer questions the validity of a previously
settled transaction. When the dispute is found in favor of the
cardholder or card issuer, Chargeback also refers to the reversal of a
charge by which the cardholder is credited for the amount of the
disputed transactions and the agency is invoiced for the amount. |
| Chargeback Percentage |
The percentage of chargebacks calculated by dividing the
agency's total monthly chargeback items by the number of the agency's
total monthly transactions. |
| CHIPS |
Clearing House Interbank Payment System - an electronic
payment system developed by the New York Clearing House that transfers funds and settles
transactions in U.S. dollars among the world. The central clearing system in the
United States for international transactions. |
| Class A Certified |
Point-of-sale terminals or software which
Global has certified for use on its network and which is supported by
Global through its help desk services. |
| Class B Certified |
Point-of-sale terminals or software which
Global has certified for use on its network but is not supported by
Global through its help desk services. |
| Convenience Fee |
A payment mechanism by which, at the direction of
and through fees imposed by an agency, a service provider (e.g., Internet or Interactive Voice Response service provider)
or the agency is reimbursed indirectly by cardholders for costs associated with providing such
services. |
| Credit |
A refund or price adjustment given for a previous purchase
transaction. |
| Credit Card |
An electronic payment card issued either by a bank
(in the case of Visa or MasterCard) or a proprietary entity (in
the case of American Express or Discover) that enables the
cardholder to purchase goods or services which may be payable over a period of time. |
| Credit Limit |
The credit line set by the card issuer for the cardholder's
account. |
| CVC2 |
Card Validation Code matches a
three digit code which is printed on a credit card, but which is not a
part of the account number, against values on file with MasterCard's
processing
system. See CVV2 below. |
| CVV2 |
Credit Card Verification Value 2 matches a
three or four digit code which is printed on a credit card, but which is not a
part of the account number, against values on file with Visa and American Express' and Discover's processing
system. See CVC2 above. |
| Debit Cards, Off-line |
An electronic payment card issued by a bank and bearing the
Visa or MasterCard logo. These cards are processed like a credit card except
that rather than being billed monthly by their card issuer, funds are debited from their
checking account. Off-line debit cards are
sometimes referred to as check cards. Throughout the EVT
Guidelines, the term credit card is inclusive of off-line debit cards. |
| Debit Cards, On-line |
An electronic payment card, such as an ATM
card, issued by a bank which may also be used for the purchase of goods or services in a face-to-face environment
with funds being directly debited from the cardholder's account. Entry of a PIN
number is required to process an on-line debit card. Throughout
the EVT Guidelines, the term debit card refers to on-line debit cards. |
| Dial-Up Terminal |
Processing equipment which
dials a financial services provider for authorization and settlement of
credit and debit cards (e.g., point-of-sale terminal). |
| Discount Rate |
The per transaction rate charged to
agencies by American Express. |
| Downgraded Transactions |
Higher Interchange and Assessment rates will
apply to transactions which do not qualify for the best available
rate. Transactions which would be downgraded include when a
transaction is not settled within 3 days of authorization or where a
credit card number is manually keyed into a POS device rather than
swiped in a face-to-face transaction. |
| Electronic Funds Transfer |
Any transfer of funds initiated through an electronic
terminal, telephone, computer, or magnetic tape. The term includes, but is not
limited to, credit card payments, Automated Clearing House transfers, Fedwire transfers,
and transfers made at automated teller machines and point-of-sale terminals. |
Electronic Value
Transfer |
Any transfer of funds which is initiated by the use of an
electronic value transfer device so as to order, instruct or authorize a financing agency,
device issuer or processor to initiate a transaction in any manner which results in a
payment to a state agency. |
| Electronic Value Transfer Administrator |
Designated as the New York State Department of Taxation and
Finance. |
Electronic Value
Transfer Device |
A credit card, debit card, electronic fund
transfer or other electronic value transfer device. |
| Encryption |
A process used in Internet transactions
whereby credit card information and transaction information is encoded
so that the information has no logical meaning making it difficult or
impossible to steal. |
| Face-to-Face Transaction |
A transaction where the cardholder is physically present for
a card-swiped transaction; conversely a “Non-Face-to-Face” transaction is when a
cardholder is not physically present for a transaction so the card is
not swiped. |
| Fedwire |
An electronic payment system owned and operated by the
Federal Reserve Banks that act as an intermediary in funds transfer for Fedwire
participants. |
| Financial Services Provider |
A processor of the four nationally recognized
credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express branded cards),
on-line and off-line debit cards, Automated Clearing House credit and
debit transactions, Fedwire,
CHIPS and SWIFT and/or other future forms of electronic payments.
Global Payments Inc. is a financial services provider |
| Form EVTA-1, Program Plan Application |
A document prepared by State agency
seeking to implement an Electronic Value Transfer program or a
non-State entity seeking to utilized any of the EVT Contracts. |
| Form EVTA-2, Work Order |
A document mutually agreed upon by the
authorized user and
the EVT Contractor. The Work Order must be consistent with the
Form EVTA-1, Program Plan Application, and shall contain the program specifications, design requirements and development
timeframes for each Authorized Users’ electronic payment application.
There are separate EVTA-2 forms for each EVT Contract. |
| Global Access @dvantage™ |
A web based transaction information tool
for use by agencies in obtaining transaction and payment information
from Global. |
| Hexagon |
A software product available to agencies
for obtaining transaction and payment information from their Interim
Working Account. |
| Host Capture |
The process by which a batch credit card settlement
file is created on the financial services providers system, which
capture's the necessary payment information for authorized
transactions. |
| Imprinter |
A manual or electronic device used to physically imprint the
agency's name and ID number as well as the cardholder's name and card number on a
sales draft. |
| Interchange and Assessment |
Transaction fees set by the Visa and
MasterCard that are
passed through to the agency by their financial services provider. |
| Interim Working Account |
An account owned by Global at HSBC, which
is used to deposit all funds fronted by Global for MasterCard and Visa
transactions. It may also be used for receipt of funds from ACH,
Fedwire, CHIPS and SWIFT transactions. |
| ISDN |
Integrated Services Digital Network, a system of digital phone connections, which has been
available for over a decade. The system allows data to be transmitted simultaneously
across the world using end-to-end digital connectivity. |
| Issuing Bank |
A financial institution which issues Visa
and/or MasterCard credit cards or on-line debit
card to cardholder. |
| IVR |
Interactive Voice Response - a system that enables a caller
to use a touch-tone phone to enter information (e.g., credit card numbers,
dollar amounts, invoice
numbers) in order to conduct a transaction. |
| Merchant |
The party which offers goods for sale or provides services
in exchange for payment. A merchant that accepts payment cards must have a
relationship with a financial services provider. Agencies which
accept credit cards for payments are "merchants". |
| Merchant Number |
A number that numerically identifies each
agency, or each payment program within an agency, to the financial
services provider for accounting and billing
purposes. |
| Merchant Initiated Settlement |
The process by which an agency settles the
stored transactions on their financial services providers system by
transmitting the transaction totals (number of items and net dollar
amount) to the provider. |
| NACHA |
National Automated Clearing House
Association, a not-for-profit banking
trade association that promulgates the operating rules and guidelines for the ACH
network. |
| Non-Face-to-Face Transaction |
A transaction where the cardholder is not physically
present and the card is not swiped during the transaction (e.g. Interactive Voice Response, Internet
transactions, etc.); conversely a “Face-to-Face Transaction” is where the
cardholder is physically present for a card-swiped transaction.
Non-Face-to-Face transactions have a higher interchange rate due to a
higher associated risk factor. |
| OFT Request for Funding Application |
A document prepared by a State agency
seeking central funding to support the development and implementation
of e-Commerce/e-Government Initiatives which may include an EVT
component. |
| ODFI |
Originating Depository Financial Institution -
financial institutions participating in the ACH network that are qualified to originate
ACH entries at the request of and by agreements with its device users.
HSBC is an ODFI. |
| Open-to-Buy |
Applies to credit cards with limits, and
is the amount of the credit limit minus the amount of the credit limit
used and the amount of authorized transactions. |
| Payment Gateway |
An entity logically located between an
agency's Internet payment application and their financial services
provider which supports the encryption of data transmitted over the
Internet. |
| Payment Program |
Any payment collection program which is authorized by law to
be collected by means of currency, a credit card card, debit card or other
electronic value transfer device. For state agencies these payment programs include,
for example: fines, fees, rates, charges, taxes, interest, penalties, special assessments,
revenue, financial obligations or other amounts. For local governments these payment
programs additionally include, for example: civil penalties, rents, special assessments,
or interest owed to local governments. |
| Personal Identification Number (PIN) |
A number, usually related to an on-line
debit card, which must be entered along with the card to initiate any
transaction. The PIN is the equivalent in function to a
password in that a user cannot use the card without providing the PIN. |
| Peripheral Devices |
Devices such as PIN pads or printers that
attach to point-of-sale terminals. |
| Plural Interface Processing (PIP) |
The process that routes (via
an American Express terminal or software) Visa, MasterCard
and Discover card transactions to a financial services provider and
American Express transactions directly to American Express for both
authorization and settlement. See also Reverse PIP and Split
Dial |
Point-of-Sale
Terminals |
Processing equipment placed in an agency's
location which is connected to their financial services provider's
system via telephone lines for authorizing and settling credit and
debit card transactions. |
| Preauthorized Payments |
A transaction where a customer authorizes
an agency to make one or more future charges to such customer’s
credit card account or to initiate ACH Debit transactions at a future
date. |
| Pre-Funding |
A service provided by Global whereby an
agency is
provided with expedited settlement funds for Visa and MasterCard
transactions. |
| Processing Fee |
A fee charged by financial services
providers to agencies for processing services. |
| RDFI |
Receiving Depository Financial Institution -
financial
institutions participating in the ACH network that are qualified to receive ACH entries.
HSBC is an RDFI. |
| Rebuttal |
A written reply to a chargeback that provides documentation
proving that the transaction was valid and the proper procedures were followed. |
| Recurring Payments |
An arrangement in which a customers agrees to allow an
agency to bill against a specific account at predetermined time intervals for
a predetermined amount using credit cards or ACH Debit
transactions. |
| Referral (Soft Decline) |
An authorization response message requesting
the agency to call to the card issuer's voice authorization center. |
| Real-time (On-line) Authorization |
A process of transmitting credit card
information on-line to the agency's financial services provider to
receive approval that the cardholder's account is open, and has the
appropriate credit limit to allow authorization of the transaction. |
| Reconciliation |
A process of verifying that all funds for
authorized transactions batched and submitted for settlement, were
received by the agency's bank. |
| Research Fee |
A fee charged by financial services
providers to the agency for chargebacks that require extraordinary research. |
| Retrieval Request |
A retrieval request occurs when a card issuer requests a
copy of the transaction information document (e.g., charge slip) for a transaction.
The request may be the result of a cardholder inquiry, or it may be required to initiate a
chargeback or for use in investigating a credit or fraud problem. |
| Reverse PIP |
The process that routes (via a
non-American Express terminal or software) Visa,
MasterCard and Discover transactions to a financial services provider
and American Express transactions directly to American Express for
both authorization and settlement. See also Plural Interface
Processing (PIP) and Split Dial. |
| Roll Printer |
A dot matrix printer connected to a point-of-sale terminal
used to print receipts and reports on carbonless roll paper (not an imprinter). |
| Routing Number |
A nine digit number (eight digits and one check digit) that
uniquely identifies a financial institution. The routing number is printed on
checks, deposit slips, etc. and is used to route all financial transactions (e.g., ACH
Debits) to the appropriate bank. |
| Sales Draft |
Evidence of a purchase of goods or services by a cardholder
from an agency using a credit card, regardless of whether the form of such evidence is
in paper, electronic or otherwise. |
| Secure Sockets Layer |
An Internet protocol used to securely
transmit confidential information, such as credit card numbers. |
| Settlement |
A process in which an electronic sale transaction is settled
financially between the agency, their financial services provider, and the
customer and their card issuing entity. |
| Settlement Account |
An account at a financial institution designated by the
agency as the account to be credited for payment transactions. |
| Smart Cards |
Credit card sized micro-processors, which
can be programmed to perform multiple functions. Many of the smart card based systems
currently being developed will use smart cards as "stored value" cards or
"electronic purses". These cards will carry electronic money as a substitute for
cash, which can be used for small retail purchases, telephone calls, travel on public
transport and a host of other small value transactions. Smart cards can store
identification information about the owners (e.g., health care information). |
| Soft Decline (Referral) |
An authorization response message requesting
the agency to call to the card issuers voice authorization center. |
| Split Dial |
A routing process (via a terminal or
software) which has the capability of sending authorization requests
directly to American Express for their cards and to a financial
services provider for Visa, MasterCard, and Discover
transactions. Split dial does not support direct settlement with
American Express, batch settlement files containing American Express
transactions are routed through a financial services provider.
See also Plural Interface Processing (PIP) and Reverse PIP. |
| Statewide Aggregate Volume Discount |
A percentage discount that will be applied to
blended rates/bundled fees for
credit card transactions when the total
number of blended/bundled transactions processed under the Global
contract exceeds 100,000 transactions per month. |
| Submission |
The process of electronically submitting
batch settlement files to the financial services provider. |
| SWIFT |
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications
- a bank-owned global financial telecommunications payment network utilized by customer
financial institutions. |
| Terminal Capture |
The process by which a credit card settlement file is
created on the agency's payment device or third party processors device
(such as an Internet payment gateway), which captures the payment
information for all authorized transactions. |
| Time Initiated Settlement |
The process by which a financial services
provider automatically closes a settlement batch at a predetermined
time. |
| Voice Authorization |
Credit card authorization obtained
by telephoning an operator. |
