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Overview | Glossary | Frequently Asked Questions | Merchant Helpdesk

Glossary I-M

< | I | J | K | L | M | >

ICA (Interbank Card Association)	The four-digit number assigned by MasterCard to identify its members (unique to MasterCard).
Imprint	An impression on a sales draft obtained from a bankcard either manually with an imprinter, or electronically by swiping the card through a terminal and printing a sales draft.
Imprinter	Piece of equipment used by merchants to manually imprint a card’s information onto a sales draft for transaction purposes. An imprinter is generally used only when the merchant is unable to capture card data via the terminal card reader.
INET	MasterCard’s settlement data transport network. After acquiring a merchant’s deposits, the acquiring bank sends the MasterCard transaction to INET. VISA’s equivalent network is called “BASE II”.
Interchange	The term used to describe the exchange of credit card transaction data between Acquirers and Issuers (or the clearing and settlement system).
Interchange Network	An electronic network, maintained by VISA/MasterCard that exchanges data related to the value of card sales and credits among Issuers and Acquirers.
Interchange Rate	The percentage fee (set by VISA/MasterCard) that is taken from each credit card sale and paid to the Issuing Bank by the Acquiring Bank for processing the transaction.
Interchange Summary Report	A report that breaks down a merchant’s total sales for a given month.
Internet	The Internet is the world’s largest computer network. It consists of millions of commercial, educational, government, and personal computers linked by telephone, cable TV, and fiber optic lines and microwave and satellite signals.
Intranet	Intranets are private networks, usually maintained by corporations for internal communications, which use Internet protocols, software, and servers. They are relatively cheap, fast, and reliable networking and information warehouse systems that link offices around the world.
IP Address	Internet Protocol Address. Every system connected to the Internet has a unique IP address which consists of a number in the format A.B.C.D. where each of the four sections is a decimal number from 0 to 255. Most people use Domain Names instead and the resolution between Domain Names and IP addresses is handled by the network and the Domain Name Servers.
ISDN	Integrated Services Digital Network lines are high-speed dial-up connections to the Internet. The speed is the positive, however, the cost and availability is determined by local telephone companies. This means in some locations they are available and in others they are not; sometimes they are cheap, sometimes they are not.
ISO	An independent sales organization.
ISP	An Internet Service Provider is a business that provides access to the Internet. Its services are available to either individuals or companies, and include a dial-in interface with the Internet, software supply as well as web site and intranet design.
Issuing Bank (or Issuer)	Any financial institution that establishes and maintains customer credit lines that are accessed through the use of a card.
^ top Java	Java is a computer program developed by Sun Systems which enables browsers to display animation on web pages.
JCB	Japanese Credit Bureau.
^ top Keyword	Words that can be secured through search engines that web users frequently employ when searching for information on products, etc.
^ top Link	A n electronic connection between two web sites (also called “hot link”).
Linking	A component of a hypertext document which, when clicked with a mouse, takes the user to another document or a different section of the document.
Listserver	A program that automatically sends e-mail to a list of subscribers. It is the mechanism that is used to keep newsgroups informed.
Load	Usually used with upload or download meaning to transfer files or software (to load) from one computer or server to another. Simply, it’s the movement of information online.
Login	The identification or name used to access-log into-a computer.
^ top Magnetic Stripe	A stripe on the back of a bankcard that has been encoded with the cardholder’s account information.
Master Session	(also known as “Fixed Key:) A POS Pin-pad encryption method that uses a single, unchanging “master key” for encryption.
MCC Code	Merchant Category Code, also called SIC Code. A numeric merchant classification code that identifies a merchant based on the type of business they conduct and the transactions they process.
Merchant	A company or organization that requires credit card authorization services to process the sale of goods and services.
Merchant Account	An account that allows merchants to process credit cards in a non-retail environment.
Merchant Agreement	Terms and conditions set forth by written agreement between the merchant and Bank/Processor
Merchant Bank	Acquiring bank.
Merchant Fees	Fees charged to the merchant’s DDA on a monthly basis. These fees cover all costs for processing merchant transactions.
Merchant Number	The identification code required for a merchant to process a particular type of credit card.
Merchant Type	Identifies what industry a merchant is associated with (i.e., retail, restaurant, lodging, automotive, MOTO, Internet).
Merit III	A qualified MasterCard interchange rate that is mag stripe read and submitted into interchange within 48 hours of the sale transaction.
Mid-Qualifying Transaction	A transaction that does not qualify for the lowest quoted interchange level. Usually a manually key-entered transaction with the consumer present, or the use of AVS.
MIP (Member Interface Processor)	A communications interface between the processor and MasterCard.
Mirror Site	A server which contains a duplicate of another WWW or FTP site. Mirror sites are created when the traffic on the original site becomes too heavy for single server. Often mirror sites are located in different geographic areas allowing users to choose the site closest to them.
Modem	A contraction for modulation/demodulation. It is the device that converts a digital bit stream into an analog signal (and back again) so computers can communicate across phone lines.
Monthly Seasonality Factor	The percentage of the run rate achieved during the specified month. (See Run Rate)
MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order)	The purchase of goods and services by credit card when the card itself is not present. (I.e., catalogue, Internet)
Multi-Threaded Process	A program that can process more than one transaction message at once.

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