3
- 3-D Secure (3DS)
- An online authentication protocol that lets the card issuer verify the cardholder at checkout, often shifting fraud liability to the issuer. Read the guide →
A
- Account Termination
- An acquirer's closure of a merchant account, which may include holding funds and a MATCH listing. Read the guide →
- Acquirer (Acquiring Bank)
- The bank that holds a merchant's account, processes its card transactions, and carries the risk of its chargebacks.
- AML (Anti-Money Laundering)
- Rules requiring financial institutions to detect and report suspicious activity, which shape merchant underwriting.
- Assessment Fee
- A fee charged by card networks on transaction volume, passed through to merchants. Read the guide →
- AVS (Address Verification Service)
- A check that compares the billing address entered with the address on file at the issuer.
B
- Batch
- A group of authorized transactions submitted together for settlement, usually daily.
- Billing Descriptor
- The merchant name and details that appear on a cardholder's statement. Read the guide →
- BIN (Bank Identification Number)
- The first digits of a card number, identifying the issuing bank and card type.
C
- Capped Reserve
- A reserve withheld from sales until it reaches a set dollar amount. Read the guide →
- Card Testing
- Fraudsters running small transactions to check whether stolen card numbers work.
- Card-Not-Present (CNP)
- Transactions where the card is not physically presented — online, phone, or mail orders.
- Chargeback
- A forced reversal of a transaction initiated by the cardholder's issuing bank after a dispute. Read the guide →
- Chargeback Fee
- A fee charged to the merchant for each chargeback received. Read the guide →
- Chargeback Ratio
- Chargebacks divided by transactions in a period; the key metric networks and acquirers monitor. Read the guide →
- Compelling Evidence 3.0
- Visa rules allowing merchants to use prior undisputed transaction history to fight certain fraud disputes. Read the guide →
- Cross-Border Fee
- A network fee applied when the card issuer and merchant acquirer are in different countries. Read the guide →
- CVV / CVC
- The three- or four-digit security code on a card, used to verify card-not-present purchases.
D
- Delayed Funding
- Settlement held for a set number of days before deposit, used as a risk control instead of or alongside a reserve. Read the guide →
- Dynamic (Soft) Descriptor
- A descriptor sent per transaction, allowing different disclosed brands or products on one account. Read the guide →
E
- Early Termination Fee (ETF)
- A fee for closing a merchant account before the contract term ends. Read the guide →
- Ethoca Alerts
- A Mastercard-owned service notifying merchants of disputes so they can refund before a chargeback. Read the guide →
- Excessive Chargeback Merchant (ECM)
- Mastercard's program for merchants exceeding a 1.5% chargeback ratio and 100 monthly chargebacks. Read the guide →
F
- Friendly Fraud
- When the real cardholder disputes a legitimate purchase. Read the guide →
H
- High-Risk Merchant
- A business an acquirer classifies as elevated risk due to industry, billing model, or history.
I
- Interchange
- The fee paid to the card-issuing bank on each transaction, set by the card networks. Read the guide →
- Interchange-Plus Pricing
- A pricing model that passes through interchange and adds a disclosed processor markup. Read the guide →
- ISO (Independent Sales Organization)
- A company registered with card networks to sell and support merchant accounts on behalf of acquirers.
- Issuer (Issuing Bank)
- The bank that issued the customer's card and decides disputes on its behalf.
K
- KYC (Know Your Customer)
- Identity verification of a business and its owners required before an account is opened. Read the guide →
L
- Liability Shift
- The transfer of fraud chargeback liability from merchant to issuer, typically after 3DS authentication. Read the guide →
- Load Balancing
- Routing transactions across multiple disclosed merchant accounts by rules. Read the guide →
M
- MATCH List
- Mastercard's database of merchants terminated by acquirers for specific reasons; listings typically last five years. Read the guide →
- MCC (Merchant Category Code)
- A four-digit code classifying a merchant's business type, used in pricing and risk decisions.
- Merchant Agreement
- The contract between a merchant and its acquirer governing fees, reserves, and termination. Read the guide →
- Merchant-Initiated Transaction (MIT)
- A charge a merchant initiates under a stored agreement, such as a subscription renewal. Read the guide →
- MID (Merchant ID)
- The unique identifier assigned to a single merchant account. Read the guide →
- Multi-Currency Processing
- Charging customers in their local currency and settling in one or more currencies. Read the guide →
N
- Negative Option Billing
- Billing that continues unless the customer cancels, such as free-trial-to-paid offers; heavily scrutinized by banks and regulators.
P
- Payment Facilitator (PayFac)
- A provider like Stripe or Square that onboards many merchants under its own master account. Read the guide →
- Payment Gateway
- Software that securely transmits transaction data from a website or app to the processor.
- PCI DSS
- Security standards every business that accepts cards must follow to protect cardholder data.
- Personal Guarantee
- An owner's promise to personally cover amounts the business owes the acquirer. Read the guide →
- Pre-Arbitration
- The stage after representment when an issuer challenges the merchant's evidence again.
- Principal
- An owner or controlling officer of a business who is verified and often guarantees the account. Read the guide →
- Processing Statement
- A monthly statement from a processor showing volume, fees, refunds, and chargebacks. Read the guide →
R
- RDR (Rapid Dispute Resolution)
- A Verifi/Visa tool that automatically resolves qualifying disputes before they become chargebacks. Read the guide →
- Reason Code
- The code an issuer assigns to a chargeback describing why it was filed. Read the guide →
- Representment
- The merchant's formal response to a chargeback with evidence the charge was valid. Read the guide →
- Risk Appetite
- The types and levels of merchant risk a particular acquirer is willing to accept. Read the guide →
- Rolling Reserve
- A percentage of daily sales held for a fixed period and released on a rolling basis. Read the guide →
S
- SCA (Strong Customer Authentication)
- European regulation requiring two-factor authentication for many online payments. Read the guide →
- Settlement
- The transfer of funds from the acquirer to the merchant's bank account for processed sales.
T
- TC40
- A Visa fraud report filed by an issuer when a cardholder reports a transaction as fraudulent. Read the guide →
- TMF (Terminated Merchant File)
- Another name for the MATCH database. Read the guide →
- Tokenization
- Replacing card numbers with tokens so sensitive data isn't stored by the merchant.
- Transaction Laundering
- Processing transactions for an undisclosed business through another merchant's account; prohibited by card networks. Read the guide →
U
- Underwriting
- The acquirer's review of a business's risk before approving a merchant account. Read the guide →
- Upfront Reserve
- A fixed deposit held at account opening as security against future losses. Read the guide →
V
- VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program)
- Visa's program combining fraud and dispute ratios to identify excessive-risk merchants. Read the guide →
- Volume Cap
- The maximum monthly processing amount approved for a merchant account. Read the guide →
High-Risk Processing Guides
In-depth answers to the questions high-risk merchants ask most.
Rolling Reserves Explained
How rolling, upfront, and capped reserves work, what percentages are typical, and how to negotiate them down over time.
Chargeback Management
The dispute lifecycle, prevention tools like alerts and RDR, and how to win representments with compelling evidence.
The MATCH List
Why merchants land on the Mastercard MATCH list, the reason codes, how long it lasts, and options if you're already listed.
Underwriting Document Checklist
Every document high-risk underwriters ask for, why they ask, and how to prepare a file that moves quickly.
Billing Descriptors
How the name on a customer's statement drives disputes, and how to set up static and dynamic descriptors correctly.
Visa & Mastercard Monitoring Programs
The dispute and fraud programs that can add fines to your account, how ratios are calculated, and how to stay out.