A merchant submitting a .cvs or .xcl file to a gateway for processing of electronic transactions (either ACH or credit card). Many telemarketing firms use a spreadsheet to gather sales for the day, and then upload that file to the gateway instead of manually entering each sale for processing.

When a merchant transmits the “batch” of daily sales for processing. An “open” Batch is one that is not yet “closed.” Batching generally occurs at the end of the day. A retail merchant will batch or settle their POS terminal at the end of the business day, while a gateway will batch the sales in

The average Visa/MasterCard dollar amount of each transaction the merchant anticipates processing or actually processes over time. Your maximum ticket may be $1000, but your average ticket may still be $200.

The process when a transaction is approved by an issuing bank, authorized agent, or Visa/MasterCard on behalf of that issuer, before the transaction is completed by the merchant via telephone or terminal. A merchant can process an “Authorization” (sometimes called a pre-authorization) via telephone, a POS terminal, or their gateway.

A fee for processing the paperwork and setting up the account. Most reputable processors will only charge a “Setup Fee” where they only invoice you for their services after the account is established. If someone wants you to pay money up front, BEWARE!

A fee charged to Merchants by the processing bank.

AVS is a tool for merchants to reduce the risk associated with “card not present” transactions, such as mail order, telephone order or Internet transactions. The billing address given by the customer is passed in the transaction and it is checked against the billing address on file at the customer’s card issuing bank. AVS can

The Visa/Master Card member bank that establishes and maintains the merchant relationship and processes all merchant transactions.

A processing organization networked with others to exchange (clear and settle) electronic debit/credit transactions (no physical checks are actually presented to a bank). ACH transactions are regulated by NACHA. eCheck, ACH, and Demand Draft are all 3 types of electronic checking payments, all with slightly different regulations and benefits.