Now called First Data® Payment Software. ICVERIFY software is a fully integrated PC-based credit, debit, and purchasing card authorization and settlement system. The ICVERIFY system communicates directly with the First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) platforms to authorize payment transactions, then stores them for end-of-day settlement.

See “Agent”.

This acronym refers to conventional terminals that are "smarter" and more sophisticated in that they may be set-up to communicate with like terminals owned by the same merchant even if they are located at different locations and with different merchant numbers.

Acquirer pays interchange fees to the issuer. They reimburse the issuer for the risk of loss (fraud and credit losses) and the cost of processing the transaction.

Refers to the connection type of a merchant’s point of sale set-up. Examples of IP connections are high-speed Internet connections, T1 lines, cable modems, DSL, etc. In order to be considered an IP merchant, the merchant must only use an IP connection. If an IP merchant’s terminal needs to be reprogrammed, the download must be performed on a dedicated analog phone line, not an IP line.

Abbreviation for Independent Sale Agent. See “Agent”.

Cardmember's bank, or the bank which has issued a MasterCard or Visa card to a cardholder.