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Glossary

Key terms and definitions in payments, chargebacks, and risk management.

A​

AAV (Accountholder Authentication Value) : Mastercard's authentication verification value generated during Identity Check (3DS) authentication.

ABU (Automatic Billing Updater) : Mastercard's service that automatically updates stored card credentials when cards are replaced or renewed.

ACH (Automated Clearing House) : Electronic network for financial transactions in the United States, including direct deposits and bill payments. → ACH Operations

Acquirer : The financial institution that processes card transactions on behalf of merchants. Also called "acquiring bank" or "merchant bank."

Allocation : Visa's dispute process where liability is automatically assigned based on transaction data without merchant response.

ARN (Acquirer Reference Number) : A 23-digit number assigned by the acquirer to uniquely identify a transaction. Critical for dispute tracking.

ATO (Account Takeover) : Unauthorized access to and control of a legitimate user's account. → Account Takeover

Authorization : The process of verifying a transaction can proceed by checking available credit/funds and card validity. → Authorization & Capture

AVS (Address Verification Service) : Fraud prevention measure comparing billing address provided by customer to cardholder's address on file with issuer. → AVS & CVV

B​

BIN (Bank Identification Number) : First 6-8 digits of a card number identifying the issuing bank. Also called IIN (Issuer Identification Number).

BRAM (Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation) : Mastercard program for high-risk merchant category oversight.

Bust-Out : Fraud pattern where credit is built legitimately over time, then all available credit is maxed out before disappearing.

C​

CAVV (Cardholder Authentication Verification Value) : Visa's cryptographic value proving cardholder authentication during 3D Secure.

Central Site Business Date : Mastercard's reference date found in PDS 0158, subfield 5, used for calculating chargeback time frames.

Chargeback : Forced reversal of a transaction initiated by the cardholder's bank. Also called "dispute" in some contexts. → Chargebacks Overview

CIT (Cardholder Initiated Transaction) : A transaction initiated directly by the cardholder, as opposed to merchant-initiated.

CNP (Card Not Present) : Transactions where the physical card is not present, such as online, phone, or mail orders.

Collaboration : Visa's dispute process where merchant can respond to disputes with evidence before final decision.

Compelling Evidence : Documentation that proves cardholder participated in or benefited from a disputed transaction.

CP (Card Present) : Transactions where the physical card is used at a terminal or point of sale.

CVV/CVC (Card Verification Value/Code) : 3-4 digit security code on card used for CNP verification. CVV2 specifically refers to the printed code. → AVS & CVV

D​

DE (Data Element) : Specific field in ISO 8583 message format used for payment card transactions. Example: DE 72 contains message text.

DPD (Days Past Due) : Number of days a payment is overdue from its due date.

E​

ECI (Electronic Commerce Indicator) : Value indicating the authentication level of an e-commerce transaction. Key values: 05 (fully authenticated), 06 (attempted), 07 (not authenticated).

ECP (Excessive Chargeback Program) : Mastercard's monitoring program for merchants exceeding chargeback thresholds.

EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) : Global standard for chip card payments providing enhanced security over magnetic stripe. → EMV & Contactless

F​

False Positive : A legitimate transaction incorrectly flagged or blocked as fraud.

First-Party Fraud : Fraud committed by the actual customer using their own identity, with intent to defraud. → First-Party Fraud

Friendly Fraud : Legitimate cardholder disputing a valid transaction they actually made. Also called "first-party misuse." → Friendly Fraud

FRR (First Ride Risk) : Mastercard transit program allowing initial ride without prior authorization.

G​

GCMS (Global Clearing Management System) : Mastercard's transaction clearing system.

I​

Identity Check : Mastercard's brand name for 3D Secure authentication.

Interchange : Fee paid by merchant's acquiring bank to cardholder's issuing bank for each transaction. → Interchange

IPM (Integrated Product Messages) : Mastercard's clearing message format.

Issuer : The bank that issues cards to consumers and is responsible for cardholder accounts.

K​

KBA (Knowledge-Based Authentication) : Identity verification using questions only the user should know.

KYC (Know Your Customer) : Process of verifying customer identity, required by regulations.

L​

Liability Shift : Transfer of fraud loss responsibility between parties based on EMV/3DS compliance. When implemented correctly, liability shifts from merchant to issuer. → 3D Secure | EMV Liability

M​

Mastercom : Mastercard's online dispute management platform.

MCC (Merchant Category Code) : Four-digit code classifying merchants by business type.

MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) : Authentication requiring multiple verification methods.

MIT (Merchant Initiated Transaction) : A transaction initiated by the merchant without cardholder interaction, such as recurring billing.

Metro 2 : Standard format for reporting credit information to bureaus.

N​

No-Show : Hotel/travel charge when customer makes reservation but doesn't arrive and doesn't cancel.

P​

PAN (Primary Account Number) : Full card number, typically 16 digits.

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) : Security standard for handling cardholder data. → PCI-DSS Compliance

PDS (Private Data Subelements) : Mastercard's extended data fields in ISO messages.

PII (Personally Identifiable Information) : Data that can identify a specific individual.

POI (Point of Interaction) : Location/device where card transaction occurs (terminal, website, etc.).

Pre-Arbitration : Dispute stage after representment where issuer challenges merchant's response before arbitration.

Q​

QMAP (Questionable Merchant Audit Program) : Mastercard program listing merchants with concerning fraud/chargeback patterns.

R​

RDR (Rapid Dispute Resolution) : Visa's program allowing pre-dispute resolution before chargebacks file. → Chargeback Alerts

Reason Code : Code indicating the specific category/reason for a chargeback. → Reason Codes Reference

Representment : Merchant's response to a chargeback with evidence disputing the claim. Also called "second presentment" (Mastercard). → Representment Workflow

ROC (Record of Charge) : American Express's term for transaction record.

S​

SafeKey : American Express's brand name for 3D Secure authentication.

SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) : EU requirement under PSD2 for multi-factor authentication on certain transactions. → 3D Secure

Second Presentment : Mastercard's term for representment - merchant's response to a chargeback.

SLI (Security Level Indicator) : Mastercard's indicator of authentication level. Values: 1 = first-party authenticated, 2 = delegated authentication.

Stand-In : Network-level authorization when issuer is unavailable.

Synthetic Identity : Fabricated identity combining real and fictitious information, not belonging to any real person. → Synthetic Identity Fraud

T​

Third-Party Fraud : Fraud committed using stolen identity of an innocent victim. → Third-Party Fraud

TLID (Transaction Link Identifier) : Mastercard's identifier linking related transactions.

3DS (3D Secure) : Authentication protocol for card-not-present transactions providing liability shift. → 3D Secure Guide

U​

UCAF (Universal Cardholder Authentication Field) : Mastercard's authentication data field containing AAV and authentication details.

V​

VAU (Visa Account Updater) : Visa's service that automatically updates stored card credentials.

VCR (Visa Claims Resolution) : Visa's dispute resolution system including Allocation and Collaboration workflows.

VDMP (Visa Dispute Monitoring Program) : Visa's program monitoring merchants exceeding dispute thresholds.

Velocity : Rate of transactions or activities over time. Velocity rules detect unusual transaction patterns. → Velocity Rules

VFMP (Visa Fraud Monitoring Program) : Visa's program monitoring merchants exceeding fraud thresholds.

Visa Secure : Visa's brand name for 3D Secure authentication.

VROL : Visa Resolve Online - Visa's dispute management platform.

X​

X-Code : Network authorization when issuer declines but network approves based on risk assessment.

See Also​