Skip to main content

Acronyms

TL;DR
  • Every abbreviation used across this site, A to Z
  • Covers payments, chargebacks, fraud and compliance in one list
  • Looking for a plain-English definition rather than an expansion? Use the Glossary

Abbreviations used in payments, chargebacks, fraud, and risk management.

A​

AcronymFull Term
AAVAccountholder Authentication Value
ABUAutomatic Billing Updater (Mastercard)
ACHAutomated Clearing House
ACMPAcquirer Chargeback Monitoring Program (Mastercard). The umbrella over ECM, HECM and EFM. It has no threshold of its own
ACSAccess Control Server
AMLAnti-Money Laundering
APIApplication Programming Interface
ARNAcquirer Reference Number
ATOAccount Takeover
AVSAddress Verification Service

B​

AcronymFull Term
BINBank Identification Number
BRAMBusiness Risk Assessment and Mitigation
BSABank Secrecy Act

C​

AcronymFull Term
CAVVCardholder Authentication Verification Value
CBChargeback
CCPACalifornia Consumer Privacy Act
CITCardholder-Initiated Transaction
CNPCard Not Present
CPCard Present
CDRNCardholder Dispute Resolution Network. Run by Verifi, a Visa company
CVV/CVCCard Verification Value/Code

D​

AcronymFull Term
DCPDiscover Chargeback Program. An industry label, not a program Discover publishes. Discover states no ratio and no count anywhere
DEData Element
DFIDepository Financial Institution
DPDDays Past Due

E​

AcronymFull Term
ECIElectronic Commerce Indicator
ECMExcessive Chargeback Merchant (Mastercard)
ECOAEqual Credit Opportunity Act
ECPExcessive Chargeback Program (Mastercard). The ECM and HECM tiers together
EFMExcessive Fraud Merchant (Mastercard). Four tests at once: 1,000+ transactions, $50K+ fraud, 0.50%+ fraud-to-sales, and thin 3DS coverage
EFXEquifax
EMVEuropay, Mastercard, Visa
EXPExperian

F​

AcronymFull Term
FCRAFair Credit Reporting Act
FFIECFederal Financial Institutions Examination Council
FIDOFast Identity Online
FPFalse Positive
FRRFirst Ride Risk

G​

AcronymFull Term
GCMSGlobal Clearing Management System
GDPRGeneral Data Protection Regulation
GLBAGramm-Leach-Bliley Act
GMAPGlobal Merchant Audit Program (Mastercard). Suspended since 15 October 2020. Its 3%/5%/8% tiers are history, not live thresholds
GMRGlobal Merchant Review (Amex)

H​

AcronymFull Term
HECMHigh Excessive Chargeback Merchant (Mastercard)

I​

AcronymFull Term
ICPImmediate Chargeback Program (Amex)
IINIssuer Identification Number
IPInternet Protocol
IPMIntegrated Product Messages
ISOIndependent Sales Organization

K​

AcronymFull Term
KBAKnowledge-Based Authentication
KYCKnow Your Customer

L​

AcronymFull Term
LTVLifetime Value

M​

AcronymFull Term
MATCHMember Alert to Control High-Risk Merchants (Mastercard)
MCCMerchant Category Code
MERPMerchant Elevated Risk Program (Visa). AP Region only, effective 9 April 2026. Thresholds sit in a non-public guide
MFAMulti-Factor Authentication
MIDMerchant ID
MITMerchant-Initiated Transaction
MLMachine Learning
MOTOMail Order/Telephone Order

N​

AcronymFull Term
NACHANational Automated Clearing House Association
NRINever Received Issue

O​

AcronymFull Term
ODFIOriginating Depository Financial Institution
OFACOffice of Foreign Assets Control
OTPOne-Time Password

P​

AcronymFull Term
PANPrimary Account Number
PCI DSSPayment Card Industry Data Security Standard
PDSPrivate Data Subelements
PIIPersonally Identifiable Information
PINPersonal Identification Number
POIPoint of Interaction
POSPoint of Sale
PSD2Payment Services Directive 2

Q​

AcronymFull Term
QMAPQuestionable Merchant Audit Program (Mastercard). Reason code 4849 belongs to QMAP, not to GMAP. MATCH code 08 is the QMAP listing

R​

AcronymFull Term
RDRRapid Dispute Resolution. Also run by Verifi, a Visa company
RDFIReceiving Depository Financial Institution
ROCRecord of Charge (Amex) / Report on Compliance

S​

AcronymFull Term
SAQSelf-Assessment Questionnaire
SCAStrong Customer Authentication
SECSEC code (ACH transaction type)
S/EService Establishment (Amex merchant)
SLAService Level Agreement
SLISecurity Level Indicator
SMMPScam Merchant Monitoring Program (Mastercard). Enforceable since 24 July 2026. A 72-hour acquirer investigation, no fines and no ratio
SSASocial Security Administration
SSNSocial Security Number

T​

AcronymFull Term
TCTransaction Code
TILATruth in Lending Act
TMFTerminated Merchant File (Visa, an acquirer-held file, not the same as MATCH or VMSS)
TLIDTransaction Link Identifier
TOTPTime-based One-Time Password
TRATransaction Risk Analysis
TUTransUnion

U​

AcronymFull Term
UCAFUniversal Cardholder Authentication Field
UDAAPUnfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices

V​

AcronymFull Term
VAMPVisa Acquirer Monitoring Program
VAUVisa Account Updater
VCRVisa Claims Resolution
VDMPVisa Dispute Monitoring Program (now part of VAMP)
VFMPVisa Fraud Monitoring Program (now part of VAMP)
VFMP-3DSVisa Fraud Monitoring Program for 3-D Secure. Retired 1 April 2025 into VAMP. While it ran, it stripped your 3DS liability shift
VMSSVisa Merchant Screening Service (Visa's shared terminated-merchant database, the real counterpart to MATCH)
VROLVisa Resolve Online
V.I.T.A.L.Visa Integrity Risk Analysis Tool

3​

AcronymFull Term
3DS3D Secure

Network-Specific Terms Quick Reference​

Mastercard​

TermMeaning
Identity Check3DS brand name
Second PresentmentRepresentment
Central Site Business DateDate reference for time frames
MastercomDispute platform

Visa​

TermMeaning
Visa Secure3DS brand name
AllocationAuto-liability assignment
CollaborationEvidence-based resolution
VROLDispute platform

American Express​

TermMeaning
SafeKey3DS brand name
ROCTransaction record
S/EMerchant

Discover​

TermMeaning
ProtectBuy3DS brand name

See Also​

Last updated on