Systems Jargon

Merchant Service Provider (MSP)

A 3rd party entity that provides merchants with the products and services necessary to accept debit and credit cards

Merchant

A business engaged in the sale of goods or services; required to have a merchant account from an acquiring bank to accept credit cards.

Acquiring Bank

A card association member which contracts with merchants to maintain a merchant account. Deposits funds into the merchants' bank and is repaid by the issuing bank

Payment Processor

A company appointed by a merchant to manage credit card transactions for the acquiring bank. Supplies authorizations, settlements, and transfers money between the issuing and acquiring bank

Batch

A group of approved credit card transaction usually accumulated during one business day. Batches are typically used by the merchant in the settlement procress at the close of business each day.

Issuing Bank

A member of the card association issuing the credit card to consumers. The issuing bank pays the acquiring bank for purchases by the consumer. They hold the risk of the consumer paying their credit card bill(s)

Titan

A non-merchant facing software that provides a detailed history of all direct interactions with merchants and sales offices including: -Pricing, hardware, monthly processing, and processing volume. -Current account pricing. -Terminal types. -Banking & Deposits -Monthly processing volumes. -Includes records on all merchants that have ever done business with Shift4. The system is used to complete the verification step prior to disclosing information to a merchant caller.

Rolling Reserve

A type of cash reserve that withholds a small percentage of all of a merchant's gross sales in a non-interest-bearing account for a predetermined amount of time before releasing the funds to the merchant (e.g. low credit score). This is a risk management strategy to protect the merchant and its banks from potential loss due to chargebacks. A portion of the credit card volume processed will be secured to cover the potential business risk relating to chargebacks. Acquiring banks calculate the rolling reserve amount based on a certain percentage of each transaction (for example, between 5-15% on every transaction). Kept on hold for a defined period of time and will be released at the end of this period.

Token

A unique ID to reference the actual data associated with a card number or specific transaction.

FA - Full Acquiring Accounts

Accounts are completely integrated into Shift4. We are their processor, gateway, and Merchant Service Provider (MSP). The Shift4 merchant services facilitate card acceptance utilizing the company's gateway and front and back-end processing networks.

GWO - Gateway Only Accounts

Accounts that use the Shift4 gateway only but do not have Shift4 systems. These accounts do not have Shift4 systems nor are we responsible for depositing their funds as these are sent to their Merchant Service Provider (MSP). These accounts utilize the gateway-only services to route transactions to other third-party Full Acquiring/ Full Payment Processing providers.

AVS

Address Verification System: Verifies the billing address entered is the same as the one associated with the cardholder's account. System available to merchants who key transactions which matches the street number and zip code of the cardholder with the information given to the merchant. This allows the merchant to verify that the person requesting the goods or services is the person who owns the cards.

Retail/Moto

Address the way credit card transactions were processed. Retail Transactions have a higher percentage swiped. All POS accounts will be listed as Retail. Moto (Mail Order/Telephone Order) Transactions have a higher percentage of keyed.

Monthly Discount

Also known as Monthly/Daily or Funding Time. The combined number indicates when processing fees are applied and when the merchant receives funding. The 7 and 11, indicate when the merchant's processing fees are applied: 7 = monthly (at the beginning of the next month). 11 = daily. The 24 and 48, indicate when the merchant will receive their funding (when their batch will be deposited). 24 = Next Day Funding (NDF) if batched by 11 pm EST. 48 = Two business day funding if batched by 5 am EST.

FE/BE

Also referred to as Front End Processor and Back End Processor to explain that relationship between the two processors and the information that flows between them with the gateway (TSYS) as the conduit.

Cardholder

Anyone who presents a credit card to a merchant to purchase goods or services. Person to whom a financial transaction card is issued, or an additional person authorized to use the card.

API

Application Program Interface: A software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other A set of rules and protocols that tells separate software programs how to communicate with one another.

Auth Code

Authorization Code aka Auth Number aka Approval Code is a number that confirms a card transaction is approved. Number - alphanumerical code sent by the card issuer, given to a sales transaction as verification that the sale has been authorized. The authorization code is always included on the merchant sales draft.

Auth Fee

Authorization Fee aka Per Swipe Fee: Merchant is billed per transaction/attempt at the time of the authorization (during credit card process where cardholder swiped or dipped their credit card at the terminal to pay for their transaction).

ACH

Automated Clearing House: A network used to electronically move money between (US) bank accounts A group of financial processing institutions in the United States linked by a computer network-based clearing and settlement facility was established to process electronic payment transactions between financial institutions. Nationwide electronic funds transfer network enables participating financial institutions to distribute electronic credit and debit entries to bank accounts and to settle such entries.

BIN

Bank Identification Number: The initial 4-6 digits the issuing bank, (who the payment card is through) and is key in the process of matching transactions to the issuing bank. For cardholders, a BIN is an identification number consisting of a two-part code assigned to banks and savings associations. The BIN makes up the first 6-8 digits of a card number, with the first part showing the location and the second identifying the bank itself. This identifies the institution that issued the card to the cardholder, as well as the card type (e.g., debit, credit, gift card).

CVV/CVA

Card Verification Value or Card Verification Code (CDC): A combination of features used to establish the owner's identity and minimize fraud. A unique value calculated from the data encoded on the magnetic stripe of a VISA card, validating card information during the authorization process.

Front End Processor (FE)

Communicates with the issuing bank to provide authorizations for credit card transactions. At the end of the day, the merchant will batch or settle their system with these transactions for the day and send them to the back-end processor. In Titan, we can identify if the front-end processor for our merchant's account is going through TSYS (or Paymentech).

CBOS

Comprehensive Back Office Solution: The overall suite that MReports is a part of CBOS is our Shift4 Payment(s) portal to TSYS. The web based portal needed to get to modules and links Shift4 subscribes to. This portal is used to build stage only files, and is required for all accounts processing on TSYS. Transaction and Batch information can be viewed in CBOS as well.

DDA

Direct Deposit Account: Merchant's bank account where deposits and withdrawals are made.

Risk Site Survey

Displays if a location inspection has been ordered. Done to verify if a business is legitimate. Also located in the Account Notes tab inside Titan. Typically takes 7-10 business days to complete from the Date Created. NEVER share that there is one scheduled or occurring with our merchants!

DBA

Doing Business As: name merchant is commonly known by. Refers to the specific name, location, and phone number of the merchant establishment where credit card purchases are made. May be different then the legal business name used with the IRS or other government entities.

DOTN

Dollars on the Net: Prior name for Lighthouse Transaction Manager. (LTM) This is a website where gateway merchants will be able to access their batches, reports, edit transactions, and many other features.

Call Notation

Each interaction with the merchant must be documented via the Ticket System and via Titan. Documentation is required for all: Internal notes Calls Emails Live chats Call notes should include: Method of verification who you spoke with and method to contact All issues discussed all solutions provided If transferred direct to another agent, their name/ext If scheduled callback the time/date and method of callback

ECR

Electronic Cash Register.

EIN

Employer Identification Number same as Federal Tax ID or 95 Number. A 9-digit number issued by the IRS. This is an IRS-assigned number given to a business after it files an application form called "SS-4." Once received, the merchant's EIN is to be used on all business tax returns and other significant documents.

FNMS

First National Merchant Solutions acquired by TSYS.

GC

Gift Card: A reusable, stored-value payment card for a specific merchant that is usually preloaded with a set monetary value. This provides merchants with an electronic alternative to paper gift certificates.

HT

Harbortouch was our company name prior to Shift4.

ISO

Independent Sales Office Firm or organization that offers to process online credit card transactions, usually in exchange for transaction fees or a percentage of sales. Merchants must generally establish a merchant account before contracting for ISO services, although some ISOs claim not to require separate merchant accounts. See also factoring.

Merchant Rank

Indicates the profitability of the account and can change from month-to-month. This is determined on a monthly basis (can move from 999 to 10 from month-to-month). 1 (lowest) through 10 & 999 (highest) 999 is the highest rank available. It is based solely on the credit card processing return of a merchant's monthly profitability.

IRS

Internal Revenue Services: is the revenue services of the United States Federal government.

MCC/SIC

Merchant Category Code/Standard Industrial Classification: 4 digits used by the credit card industry to classify businesses into market segments(e.g., Food Services). A universal four-digit merchant classification code that identifies the merchant by type of processing, authorization and settlement.

MID

Merchant Identification or Merchant ID: a # used to identify merchants. An identification number that, to the merchant bank, represents a single merchant's profit center or revenue center for the purpose of processing and tracking credit card transactions.

Funding Time Request Form

Merchants requesting to change their funding time from daily to monthly or vice versa use this form. Approval is based on 90-day risk, collections, and chargeback history.

POS

Point of Sale: A payment terminal or credit card terminal.

Simulation

Practice activities to assist class with key topics.

PMS

Property Management System: A computerized system that streamlines operations by simplifying processes through the use of a single software solution to coordinate tasks and activities such as accounting, budgeting, forecasting, maintenance, and more.

RMA

Return Merchandise Authorization: Researches, monitors, and addresses inactive accounts and manages merchant concerns. Responsible for ensuring customers are satisfied, disabling systems for legal purposes, reacquiring equipment, and assisting with insurance claims. A part of the process of returning is a decision to receive a refund, replacement, or to avoid being charged.

Back End Processor (BE)

Settles the authorizations and transactions from the merchant, calculates any fees, and sends this information to the acquiring bank. The acquiring bank transfers funds from the issuing bank to the merchant bank.

Gateway

Technology that exists between the POS software & the payment processor to facilitate the transaction and provides additional security such as tokenization. Also analyzes and transmits data while authorizing the transfer of funds between the issuing bank and the cardholder.

TID

Terminal Identification Number or Terminal ID An identification number that, to the merchant bank or card association, represents a particular point-of-sale register or terminal/device collecting payment information. It is often important that the device collecting payment information has its own TID, or another such equivalent value so that the Card Associations can, for fraud mitigation purposes, track the origin of a particular transaction.

Backup Withholding

The IRS requires Shift4 to withhold 24% of the merchant's gross batch(es) due to a mismatch. A required withholding from an investment account that results when the merchant refuses/fails to provide a tax identification number

IMS

The Interactive Merchant System was the precursor to Harbortouch. IMS was created by Brendan Lauber (Shift4's co-founder & Chief Technology Officer).

Merchant Verification

The act of confirming the identity of merchant prior to sharing proprietary information via phone call or email conversation. This is necessary for the protection of both the merchant and Shift4. We never want to proactively offer personal information, instead you should be asking the caller to provide info about themselves. Key step in call flow that is heavily weighed by the Quality Assurance call evaluation process. Method of validation and results are always included in notation.

Settlement

The merchant sends all of the transactions authorized that day back to the front-end processor, who forwards them to the back-end processor.

Funding

The point at which funds are electronically transferred from the issuing bank to the acquiring bank, and then deposited by the acquiring bank into the merchant's bank account.

Interchange Fees

These fees are charged by credit card networks and banks help to cover the costs of fraud, bad debt, and the overall risk associated with taking credit card payments.

TSYS

Total System Services (used by new accounts) & Paymentech (used by older accounts) are our Front End and Back End processors. They provide payment processing services, merchant services & related payment services.

UBC

United Bank Card original name of Shift4.

Chargeback

a return of funds to a credit card company resulting from a card holder's refusal to pay a credit card charge

Processing Fees

term-38 These fees are charged by Merchant Service Providers and payment processors and are paid to the company that accepts the credit card payments and sends that information to the payment network and gateway. Each payment processor/MSP sets its own pricing strategies. They also charge service fees for things like keeping equipment up to date, chargeback fees, contract fees, and etc.