Credit Card Processing Acronyms

Like many other industries, the credit card processing business has its own unique acronyms. And like other forms of specialized language, these acronyms make life easier for those who work in the industry-- in this case credit card processors and agents.

We work with these terms every day, and they make it much easier for us to communicate. Think about it. They can shorten a 12 syllable phrase to 3 letters. That's taking a mouthful and making it into a tiny morsel--so much easier to say and digest.

But what makes it easy for credit card processors and other practitioners makes it hard for the layperson. When it comes to acronyms, those not acquainted with the credit card processing industry are completely left in the dark. Our three letter acronyms are a completely new language--and not one most people took in high school.

Recently, I've received a lot of questions about industry acronyms. Why are there so many? How often do you use them? Who thought of them all?

I can't answer all those questions, but I can define some of the acronyms we use most often. Here's a list of some of the most popular, the terms we use almost every day.

• MLS: Merchant Level Salesperson, could mean an individual agent or a company
• PIN: Personal Identification Number; a very common term that most lay people have encountered--often after they swipe their debit card
• ISA: Independent Sales Agent
• VAR: Value Added Resource or Value Added Reseller
• EMV: Europay, MasterCard and Visa, Merchant Value Card or Enhanced Member Card; these are basically chip cards
• ABR: Agent Bank Referral
• IP: Internet Protocol; means a terminal that connects via the Internet; some may also use IP when generally referring to Internet access
• ETF: Early Termination Fee
• NFC: Near Field Communication; comparable to its better established relative, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification); these are used for contactless payments
• CAP: Chip and PIN
• MSP: Merchant Services Provider; MasterCard originally called MSPs ISOs; currently, the term refers to the company that performs the actual settlement
• DSL: Digital Subscriber Loop or Digital Subscriber Line; means a type of Internet service

These are some of the most common credit card processing acronyms. Hopefully this list will help you understand our industry at least a little better. Did you know any of them? Or had you at least encountered one or two before?

Do you use any other acronyms or jargon that is specific to our industry? Let us know with comment below.

As Vice President of ISO Channel Management at Clearent™, Jeff Fortney has 35 years of experience in financial services and has worked in the debit and credit card processing industry for almost two decades. If you're looking for a new credit card processor, Clearent will give you service you can count on, from cutting edge technologies to competitive prices.

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