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Glossary

3DS 1​

Protocol for authentication using OTP only.

3DS 2​

Protocol for SCA authentication.

Credit to card​

Transaction that injects funds into the card. It does not start from any initial transaction, so, a priori, there is no maximum amount.

Acquirer​

Financial entity licensed to capture, manage and move funds between a credit or debit card to a merchant's bank account. May not necessarily be a bank.

API​

Application Program Interface. Communication protocol between two programs, allowing the integration of complementary or differentiated services or functionalities.

API Hub​

Software service that unifies different APIs to be served from a single superior API.

APM​

Alternative payments methods. Alternative payment methods. e.g. Sofort, Bizum, iDeal.

Authentication​

Process to verify the identity of an individual, device or process.

Delegated authentication​

The ability for a merchant with its PSP and merchant to raise an SCA which sends it to another merchant and the merchant can use that SCA on another PSP and merchant. e.g. Booking.com to hotel.

Auth code​

Code generated by the tags indicating that the funds are validated and ready to move.

Authorization​

In a payment card transaction, authorization occurs when a merchant receives approval of the transaction after the acquirer validates the transaction with the issuer/processor.

AVU / BAU​

Account Value Update / BIN Account Update. Protocol to update any changes to the card data, PAN or expiration date without the need to re-request the data from the cardholder, it is done by updating the PAN <-> Token relationship.

BedBank​

BedBank. Centralized system where hotel beds are pre-purchased for later purchase and sale in distribution channels. e.g. Melia places its rooms and prices in WebBeds and offers these beds to travel agencies.

BIN​

The first 6 digits of a card.

Booking Engine​

Booking Engine. System used by hotels to be able to sell on their website.

Clearing House​

Chamber where the funds managed by the processor are managed and where the movements determined by the clearing are registered.

Card PIN​

Number used to verify and authenticate the payment at POSs. It is the 4 or 6 digit key that the cardholder dials on the physical keyboard of a POS or electronic teller.

Card Wallet​

A PSP's ability to link card tokens to a user.

Cardholder​

Cardholder and card owner

Cashout​

Some acquirers charge for the settlement process, this is called cashout.

Channel Manager​

System used by hotels to publish and manage bookings on different distribution channels such as Booking.com, Expedia, TUI, etc.

Chargeback​

The ability of the cardholder to request a refund of a payment from the issuer for reasons related to problems with the product or service. e.g.: I buy the payment but the package does not arrive, I ask my bank to refund the money. If the payment was not made with 3DS the refund is automatic, if it is made with 3DS 1 or 2 the cardholder must argue the reasons and present evidence for the correct return of the funds.

Checkout​

PCI form for card data capture.

Clearing​

Clearing of bank transactions of a local or national payment network. Process by which the movement of funds between payment schemes and financial institutions is established.

COF​

A Credential-On-File (COF) transaction is a transaction where the merchant is using the card stored in Paylands because the user gave consent when storing the card for the merchant to use for subsequent payments. To do this, when the card is tokenized by 3DS, the brands return a COF identifier, which is used in future charges to that card where the user is not involved. For more info visit the Redsys website.

Trade / Merchant​

Name given by acquirers or PSPs to a company that orders a payment terminal to charge cards or alternative payment methods both physically and online.

Credentials​

User, Pass, encryption code, or any data that allows you to connect to the PSP.

Trust or safekeeping account​

An account that can only be opened by licensed financial institutions for payments, acquiring, remittance or credit. These accounts prevent the funds from being counted in the merchant's balance sheet and guarantee their safekeeping since neither the merchant nor the payment or banking entity can use them for investments or other financial operations other than those determined for the use of the funds. Ex: a marketplace must use it to guarantee the payment to its suppliers and that these funds cannot be used by the marketplace for payment of costs or marketplace's own operations such as payment of taxes, payroll or business expenses.

Omnibus account​

Accounts used by banks to transfer currency between countries.

CVV​

Card Verification Value. Number to verify that the card is real in ECOM payment processes.

DCC​

Dynamic Currency Conversion. Ability of the PSP to offer the cardholder to pay in the currency of their card.

Descriptor​

Ability for the gateway to add a dynamic field in the transaction which is visible in the transaction entry on the card statement, it can also be sent to the reconciliation files to facilitate the financial management of payments. With Redsys it works their way as they use the merchant description and not the dynamic data.

Return​

Transaction of return of funds captured by authorization. It can be executed by the merchant via PSP or the merchant can request the acquirer to execute it from his side.

ECOM​

Channel that identifies the transaction as online.

eCommerce Cart / eCMS​

System for creating online stores, e.g. Prestashop, Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.

Issuer​

Regulated financial institution with permission to issue credit or debit card PANs licensed under the payment schemes.

Escrow​

Payment process over a trust account, in this process a transaction can be split into 2 or more parts to manage the payment from a receiver to a third party. Method used for marketplaces

Schemes / Brands​

Visa, Master, Amex, Dinners, etc.

Exemption​

Ability offered by both the acquirer and PSP to bypass the SCA application, thus facilitating payment and reducing steps and therefore friction during online payment.

Keyentry​

Payment process by manually typing PAN data into a POS.

Settlement​

Transfer of funds of transactions associated with a merchant from the acquirer's account to the merchant's account.

Marketplace​

eCommerce that collects on behalf of third parties.

MID / in Spain FUC​

Merchant ID. Merchant ID number. Each acquirer creates its own number in conjunction with the processor.

MIT​

Merchant Initiated Transaction. Merchant Initiated Transaction. New transaction type part of the new 3DS 2 / SCA payment protocol.

MIT "reason" field​

Field used to send the flag or mark indicating the type of MIT being sent. e.g. noshow for hotel noshow collection. Incremental, in hotels minibar consumption charges or extra expenses in car rental, recurrence.

MOTO​

Mail Order - Telephone Order. Collection process by typing the PAN of the card at a POS or via online interface of a PSP. e.g. Normally used by call center collection.

MPI​

Merchant Plug-in. Service for the connection of the 3DS payment protocol. Own or third party part integrated in the PSP previously validated by the Processor.

No show​

A hotel reservation payment failure generated by the non-payment of a hotel reservation.

NOUS​

Name of the cards that are not from the acquirer's own issuing bank.

ONUS​

Name given to cards transacted on a PSP or Acquirer that has its own issuer. e.g. caixa card in caixa commerce via caixa psp.

Order​

Payment request, within an order there can be several transactions.

OrderID​

Unique transaction identifier

OTB​

Open to Buy. Validation of a card through a zero-value authorization transaction. Method mainly used

OTP​

One Time Password. SMS message with a password to be entered before payment. Used by 3DS 1.0 protocol.

PAN​

Primary Account Number. 12 to 16 digits that identify a credit or debit card.

Payment Wallets​

Mobile applications that associate a card or bank account with a user to allow payment to be made with the phone, nfc, email or any user identifier. e.g. alipay, apple pay, google pay, wechat pay, paypal.

Payout​

Although similar to Cashout, this term is more used for the payment made from a wallet to a merchant, mostly used by marketplaces.

PCI DSS​

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Protocol for the processing and securization of card data.

PMS​

Property Management System. Tool for the 360° management of a hotel's operations.

POS​

Point of Sale. Physical POS. Dataphone. Hardware to be able to collect cards in person.

Pre-authorization​

Transaction that blocks a certain amount of funds on a card, this blocking can be on the credit of the card or on the operating limit in the case of debit cards.

Prepayed Card​

Prepaid cards, they are not nominative and can be used for both POS and ECOM payments. VCCs are prepaid credit cards. Restaurant ticket cards are usually prepaid. Gift cards are also prepaid.

Processor​

Payment processor where clearing takes place. System that receives the authorizations and authentications of a transaction, organizes them and validates them against the different banks or issuing entities.

PCI Proxy​

Service that mediates the sending of data that incorporates a PAN, which is tokenized and secured in a PCI environment as part of the PnP payment gateway. Mainly used by hotel providers such as booking engines, channel managers or PMS.

PSP / Gateway​

Payment service provider. Payment gateway. IT service that allows the display of a PCI DSS compliant checkout form plus connection to schemes, APMs, Processor and Acquirers. Allows the management of authorization transactions, returns, tokenization and other functionalities around the transaction.

Branch / MCC​

Merchant Category Code. Number that identifies the sector in which a merchant operates. This is important because depending on the sector the merchant can accept certain types of payments and even the risk associated with the acquiring service.

Reconciliation​

Process by which the amounts recorded in the transactions within the PSP and those settled in the merchant's account are correlated.

Refund​

New transaction that injects funds into the card, from an initial charge. The maximum amount that can be loaded on the card is the amount initially charged.

Risks​

This is the name given to the financial analysis performed by the acquirer prior to the creation of the merchant's MID.

SCA​

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Typically, authentication occurs through the use of one or more authentication factors, such as:

  • Something you know, such as a password or passphrase.
  • Something you have, such as a token device or smart card.
  • Something you are, such as a biometric system.

SEPA​

Single Euro Payment Area. Protocol for bank transfers between European IBANs.

Split payment​

Split payment, used for escrow payments.

SWIFT​

Electronic funds transfer. International wire transfer protocol.

TID​

Terminal ID. Payment terminal. Service activation number for the PSP to send the transaction. Hierarchy: MID > TID

Token​

Encryption of card or APM data.

Transaction​

Recording of card data capture and payment authorization within a PSP.

VCC​

Virtual Credit Card. Virtual Credit Card. Traditionally used by travel agencies to pay airlines or hotels. These cards are not nominative and do not need to be authenticated as they function as a guarantee of payment. They can only be used once, for payment via ECOM PSP, MOTO PSP or Keyentry POS.

Wallet​

In the case of marketplaces each "actor" is walletized, allowing to register the payment movements from the marketplace to the vendor or extra payments through wallet 2 wallet movements.