Merchant Account Glossary - C

Card
A valid credit card issued under license from Visa U.S.A, Visa International Inc., or MasterCard International, Inc. or any other valid credit card accepted by a merchant.

Card Association
Visa / MasterCard or any other card issuer that provides cards that are accepted by a merchant.

Cardholder
The person who the credit card is issued to and whose name is embossed upon the face of the card.

Card Issuer
The financial institution or company that has provided a card to a cardholder.

Chargeback
A chargeback is a reversal of a previous sales transaction and is a dispute process that is initiated by the card issuer.

Chargeback fee
A fixed fee charged to the merchant when a chargeback occurs.

Credit Voucher
A document executed by a merchant evidencing any refund or price adjustment relating to products to be credited to a cardholder’s account.

Checklister
A system that acts as the gatekeeper of merchant processing.  Applications are entered into the system, checked for completeness, and are summarized to quickly determine the status of a file.

Contingent Liability
Contingent Liability refers to a situation created when a merchants processes transactions before the date a cardholder receives the goods or services purchased.  Travel agencies and mail order / telephone order merchants pose contingent liability risks to the bank.

Corporate Resolution
A document used by a corporation that designates individuals to allow them to act as signers on behalf of the company.

Credit Report
A credit report is run on every signing principal on the merchant account application and is used to make approval decisions.

CVV2
A three digit security code that is printed on the back of most credit cards and is sometimes asked by the merchant along with the card information.  This code helps aid in reducing fraud in a card-no-present environment and helps validate a genuine Visa / MasterCard credit card.